Latvia’s Ieva Gaine The Woman Behind Catchbox And The Art Of Glass Making

Ieva Gaine is Head of the production at Catchbox – a technology company that has created the World’s First Soft Throwable Microphone.

Ieva is 29 years old and lives in Riga, Latvia. Apart from working at Catchbox, she studied glass at the Art Academy of Latvia. On a weekday you can find her surrounded by complicated technologies – industrial printers and heat press.

Here Women Love Tech looks at a normal week for Ieva.

If you look at Ieva while she’s working you can see that it feels just right – she moves with precision and grace. Each button, each action, different materials, various settings, and even mistake management – she’s in control of it all.

Catchbox doesn’t require elaborate explanations, downloads, or manuals to understand; it’s just like a normal wireless microphone but you throw it. Electronics automatically mute the audio when the device is in the air or being dropped. All audience members need to do is talk into the box.

Ieva has been with Catchbox since the day the company started manufacturing in Latvia in 2014 and for some time she was the only women there.

She’s in charge of everything that is related to production and her work could not be possible without industrial printer and heat press which is responsible for sublimation – a technique that transfers print to a fabric.

“The start is the toughest part,” says Ieva. “When you get the hang of it everything just kinda flows. I start each morning with these technologies and each day I work with them for at least an hour. Some days even up to 4 hours. I really like working this way and even if I need some outside help for repair all of this feels really natural to me.”

Ieva has always been very practical – putting on a shelf or fixing a flat tire is no problem to her. She recalls that most of her childhood she spent with boys and is really used to technical environment “I can’t sit in an office chair all day. I just need to do something with my hands. When I see the outcome – that makes me really happy and motivated.” Ieva also appreciates technology in her everyday life: “I have some favourite gadgets, like a blender – I couldn’t imagine my kitchen without it. I adapt very easily – if there isn’t a gadget for a certain thing or process – fine. If there is, I’ll use it!”

Her hobby and side job also includes some quite complicated technology – she makes plates, dishes and flower pots from glass for her own company Anima Vitrum. Glass Studio. Ieva has mastered glass melting technology, cold processing technology, sandblasting, sawing, drilling, and grinding.

“When I started my studies in Art Academy of Latvia I knew that jewellery wasn’t my passion and very early on I started working on dishes,” she added. “I found my signature technique while melting glass. I liked that little bit of imperfection where you can see that product is made out of two sheets of glass.

“That is what I call my own. And it’s also very important for me to upcycle – everything I make is from old glass windows.”

Ieva has also found her signature in glass colouring and melting temperature – that requires precise work with glass ovens. She used to work in the design studio with stained glass and recalls that she used to cut herself on the glass every day. It was just one of perks of working with glass for industrial volumes.

For now, Ieva is happy where she is – since Catchbox as a company is growing and as a product can be customised, she finds that there still is a challenge and excitement in her main job. And she also wants to keep her glass dreams alive and running.

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