A WORD FROM THE DEAN — HIGHLIGHTS — EDUCATION — RESEARCH — INNOVATION — FACTS & FIGURES
A WORD FROM THE DEAN
It is my pleasure to share with you the 2022 annual report for the School of Engineering (STI) at EPFL.
We are dedicated to academic excellence and to leadership in engineering education, research, and innovation. Through targeted hirings and the strengthening of our research and educational offerings, the rankings of our institutes have been improving steadily.
For example, the Institute of Mechanical Engineering (IGM) has moved from #36 in 2017 to #16 today in the QS World University Rankings. The Institute of Electrical and Micro Engineering (IEM) has moved from #14 in 2017 to #6. And the Institute of Materials Science (IMX) has moved from #11 in 2017 to #8. Both IEM and IMX are today the highest ranked institutes at EPFL, and among the highest ranked worldwide. The ranking in Energy Science has also moved from #5 in 2017 to #4 in the Shanghai Rankings.
The number of BS/MS students in engineering has been growing steadily and more so in the sections of microengineering (SMT) and mechanical engineering (SGM). Specifically, the total number of students at the BS/MS level has increased by 31% since 2017, moving from 2338 in 2017 to 3062 in 2022. These student numbers reflect the appeal of our engineering disciplines to incoming students considering the high-quality training they receive in domains such as electronics, materials, manufacturing, microengineering, circuit design, data science, bioengineering, robotics, and AI. These areas are crucial to the manufacturing and pharmaceutical base that exists in Switzerland and to the network of start-ups and PMEs.
The school is active in engaging industry and society at large. We are a strong partner of the Swiss industry and contribute actively to entrepreneurship and translational activities within EPFL. Close to 40% of the school’s budget originates from external sources, including from funding agencies and Swiss companies. Almost half of all start-ups launched by EPFL, and half of the patents filed by EPFL, originate from the School of Engineering. The school further runs an EPFL Excellence in Engineering Program (E3), which provides research opportunities for undergraduate and early MS students from around the World. The program attracts close to 2000 applicants each year.
We are also dedicated to diversity and gender balance in the school. Since 2017, the percentage of female faculty members in engineering has increased by 50%. In addition, female faculty members now constitute 57% of all faculty at the junior rank.
This year again, we have appointed several outstanding new faculty members, who are experts in their domains. We also continue to provide our students with opportunities to participate in exciting projects of great social value at the national and international levels, such as the Network for Water and Life (NEWAL) program, sponsored by the swissuniversities SUDAC program, where our students create sustainable development projects.
We were also a big part of EPFL’s booth at the BEA fair in Bern, one of Switzerland’s largest, where we showcased how the animal world inspires science. The public had the opportunity to discover several bio-inspired robots and drones and learned more about the way certain technologies, such as intelligent hives, can help protect certain species, among many other amazing demonstrations, workshops, and discoveries.
I welcome you to learn more about our research and our ongoing efforts by browsing through these pages.
Ali H. Sayed, Dean of the School of Engineering
HIGHLIGHTS 2022
EDUCATION
“One of our main missions at EPFL and in the School of Engineering is to educate the next generation of engineers, and prepare them for the challenges they will face in their future life, after the Bachelor, Master or PhD studies. Beyond the acquisition of fundamental science and engineering concepts, including computational thinking, our students develop their ability to contribute to society and industry though exposure to a range of topics including ethics, data security and environmental issues, and are able to experience a multidisciplinary approach, in particular through hands-on or entrepreneurship projects”.
Véronique Michaud, Associate Dean for Education
Articles
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The team unveiled its latest car yesterday evening at EPFL’s new makerspace. Their speedster will compete in four Formula Student Electric races throughout Europe this summer.
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Summer series – Master’s project (4). For her Master’s project in civil engineering, Selina Heiniger took on a challenge that’s aligned with her desire to help preserve the environment. She’s developing a new building material that’s made from plastic waste, concrete and terracotta.
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Maryam Kamgarpour, who recently joined EPFL as a tenure track assistant professor in mechanical engineering, is developing automatic control algorithms for smart systems and robotics.
Key Figures
Number of Students
RESEARCH
“At the School of Engineering more than 100 laboratories and research groups pursue the mission of understanding and improving the world we live in. They lead research in very different fields of science and engineering, with impactful outcomes that are made available to the society. The School of Engineering also promotes partnerships with other world-leading institutions and research laboratories to address the main challenges faced by humanity”.
Pascal Frossard, Associate Dean for Research
Articles
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Researchers at EPFL and the University of Seville have developed a method that allows a flapping-wing robot to land autonomously on a horizontal perch using a claw-like mechanism. The innovation could significantly expand the scope of robot-assisted tasks.
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Scientists at EPFL and the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), the University Federico II, and CEINGE-Biotecnologie avanzate in Naples, Italy, have developed a new method to screen individual cells quickly and reliably without fluorescence labeling. Their work, published in the journal Nature Photonics, opens new avenues in early tumor diagnosis and drug development.
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Borrowing from methods used to produce optical fibers, researchers from EPFL and Imperial College have created fiber-based soft robots with advanced motion control that integrate other functionalities, such as electric and optical sensing and targeted delivery of fluids.
Key Figures
Number of laboratories and research groups
134
INNOVATION
“Technology transfer and innovation are key to EPFL, which is fundamental if we want to have a real impact with what we do. The School of Engineering has been a particularly strong contributor. We have put in place key initiatives to facilitate the collaboration between our researchers, students, and industry partners. A strong focus going forward will be innovation in response to the major societal challenges, including sustainability, the pervasive nature of data, and the role of artificial intelligence”.
Holger Frauenrath, Associate Dean for Industry and Innovation
Articles
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EPFL spin-off ArcoScreen has developed a platform that turns the discovery of new drugs for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and cancer from a marathon into a sprint. The firm’s microfluidic readout system assesses the response of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to new substances, delivering significant time and financial gains for pharmaceutical companies.
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Working closely with users and therapists, EPFL spin-off Emovo Care has developed a light and easy-to-attach hand exoskeleton for people unable to grasp objects following a stroke or accident. The device has been successfully tested in several hospitals and rehabilitation centers.
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EPFL spin-off Leman Biotech has developed a protein that can improve the effectiveness of immunotherapy drugs used to treat some types of cancer. The firm has just completed its first funding round, in the amount of $11 million.
Key Figures
FACTS & FIGURES
116 Professors
1359 Employees (FTE)
4 Campuses
