The perfect ski
A design engineer with a passion for alpine racing
As an amateur racer, Lukas Machtlinger knows all too well that only the most precise production machinery can create the skis for the world champions of tomorrow.
"Skiing is my biggest hobby"
//Lukas Machtlinger, Design Engineering
Lukas is mad about alpine skiing. However, his talent was only discovered accidentally on a ski course which he attended at the age of twelve – he was still very shy and reserved at the time. The instructors recognized his potential immediately, included him in the squad and awakened his enthusiasm for racing. In giant slalom, he has already achieved numerous top placings at Landescup regional races and won the 2014 District Cup. When Lukas shot over the finishing line at the “Fill Night Race 2019” with a massive lead, he demonstrated that he is also by far the fastest skier in the Fill team – his greatest victory from the company perspective.
What I love most of all about skiing is the speed and pushing your boundaries. This sport is also a great balance to work, and in winter I spend every free minute on my skis.“
//Lukas Machtlinger, Design Engineering
In spite of his great skiing talent, Lukas decided to complete his technical training at HTL Ried, where he spent some of his practical training period at Fill and got to know the company. After graduation, he applied for a job in the Design Engineering department and started his professional career – naturally in the field of ski production machines.
Three years ago, Lukas completed instructor training with the Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV). Since then, he has also been training young talents at Hohenzell skiing club – starting with 6-year-old kids through to 21-year-olds.
Even in amateur racing, the optimum ski plays a major role. Lukas owns at least ten pairs of racing skis, which he stores in a dedicated room and prepares specifically for every race. With 10 years of racing experience, Lukas knows precisely what goes to make a perfect ski. To keep fit, he uses the company's fitness studio several times a week for his intensive training.
In recent decades, skis have developed from simple wooden boards into absolute high-tech products. Constant further developments in production machinery have contributed significantly to making them better and, above all, faster than ever. Absolute precision is a must for high-performance skis used in racing: the left and right ski must be as identical as identical twins. Only then can they be adapted precisely to the skiing style and physical data of an athlete. This is important, because racing has long been about fractions of a second. Often, mere hundredths determine who gets those all-important World Cup points.
Since the beginning of industrial ski production in the 1970s, Fill has been one of the most important partners of the ski industry in designing production machines and automating process steps.
When an unmachined ski comes off the press, it must be subjected to up to 20 more machining operations (sawing, milling, grinding, edge tuning, polishing etc.). Only then will the ski be ready for its first outing in the snow. Renowned manufacturers of alpine and Nordic skis and snowboards around the world trust in the expertise of the Innviertel machine builders. The know-how that Fill's design engineers and mechanical engineers have gained through collaborating with ski manufacturers in all these years is constantly incorporated into the further development of new machines.
“As a racer myself, I know precisely what matters if you want the perfect ski. Our high-precision machines allow me as a design engineer to influence the end product. Fill systems create the skis for the world champions of tomorrow. I think it’s simply brilliant that I can combine my work with my favorite hobby.”
//Lukas Machtlinger, Design Engineering
Fill is currently creating a complete production line for alpine and cross-country skis for its customer Fischer Ski. This order is also the largest in this field in the company’s history. As a design engineer, Lukas is part of a project team with 90 members. He works closely with the machine engineers and software engineers in the Production department. This allows optimizations to be incorporated directly into the design, ensuring continuous further development of the machines. That's precisely what makes specialist machine engineering so exciting! Look for limits and you will also find performance.
