A WORD FROM THE DEAN — HIGHLIGHTS — EDUCATION — RESEARCH — INNOVATION — OUTREACH PROGRAMS — FACTS & FIGURES
A WORD FROM THE DEAN
It is with great pride that I present to you the 2024 Annual Report of the School of Engineering (STI) at EPFL.
This past year has marked a significant milestone in our continued ascent. According to the QS World Rankings, the School of Engineering is now ranked among the top ten engineering programs globally—standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the most established institutions in the world. This recognition reflects the unwavering dedication of our faculty, researchers, and students, as well as the strategic vision that drives our community forward.
Our faculty continue to earn prestigious international awards, further boosting the School’s global visibility across multiple disciplines. These accolades not only honor individual excellence but also reflect the collective strength of our research ecosystem.
This year, we welcomed several outstanding new faculty members whose expertise strengthens our ability to tackle today’s most pressing scientific and societal challenges. With their arrival, we continue to expand the frontiers of engineering in areas such as sustainable energy, digital transformation, and intelligent systems.
Our student body continues to grow, affirming the appeal of EPFL’s engineering education. This strong increase in undergraduate and graduate enrollment is a testament to our reputation as a world-class destination for future engineers and innovators.
Collaboration remains at the heart of our success. In 2024, we launched two new initiatives to foster dialogue and exchange. Our inaugural Research Day on Engineering in the AI Age brought together researchers from across our school to explore the transformative impact of AI on engineering disciplines. In parallel, the new Seminar Series on Engineering and Society welcomed distinguished speakers to examine the evolving role of engineers in addressing societal challenges.
We remain committed to five key thematic pillars: life and health sciences, AI and intelligent systems, sustainability and energy science, digital transformation, and fundamental research. These focus areas guide our strategy and reaffirm our mission to lead with purpose and innovation.
Our impact is further evidenced by sustained technology transfer and entrepreneurship activity—underscored by the creation of new start-ups, numerous licenses and patents, and dynamic industrial partnerships.
The School of Engineering’s continued progress is built on the vision, talent, and hard work of our entire community. I invite you to explore the following pages to discover how we are shaping the future of engineering—here at EPFL and beyond.
Ali H. Sayed, Dean of the School of Engineering
HIGHLIGHTS 2024
EDUCATION
« Training the next generation of engineers at EPFL and within the School of Engineering is foremost about imparting fundamental theoretical and practical knowledge. Additionally, it is also about fostering a mindset primed for the complexities awaiting them post-Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD studies, by emphasizing the necessity to work successfully in teams engaged in multidiscplinary projects. Our commitment goes beyond academic excellence; it aims at nurturing individuals’ learning skills, necessary for engineers to cope with the need for continual learning throughout their career. Finally and most importantly, we encourage our engineers to embrace their professional and societal future responsibilities, through a curriculum encompassing courses on data security and privacy, industry standards, environmental awareness and ethics. »
Aude Billard, Associate Dean for Education
Articles
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The Materials Science Section (SMX) in the School of Engineering celebrated its 50th birthday last Thursday with an event highlighting the history and future of materials research and education at EPFL.
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EPFL PhD student Stella Laperrousaz’s crowd-pleasing comparison of her research on electronic fibers to one of Switzerland’s most famous exports won her the audience prize at the My Thesis in 180 Seconds Competition Switzerland 2024.
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Sangwoo Kim, head of the new Mechanics of Soft and Biological Matter Laboratory in EPFL’s School of Engineering, finds inspiration in applying mechanics and physics principles to biological questions.
Key Figures
Number of Students
RESEARCH
« Within the School of Engineering, over 100 laboratories and research groups embark on a collective mission: to unravel the mysteries of our world and enhance its fabric. Spanning diverse realms of science and engineering, these endeavors yield tangible outcomes that resonate across society. Through strategic alliances with global institutions and research hubs, we amplify our impact, pooling our expertise to confront humanity’s most pressing challenges head-on. »
Pascal Frossard, Associate Dean for Research
Articles
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EPFL researchers have developed a novel neural recording device called the « e-Flower » that gently wraps organoids in soft petals.
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Results from a preclinical study in mice, led by EPFL, and a collaborative clinical study in patients show that the type 2 immune response – associated with parasitic infection and thought to play a negative role in cancer immunity – is positively correlated with long-term cancer remission.
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EPFL researchers are targeting the next generation of soft actuators and robots with an elastomer-based ink for 3D printing objects with locally changing mechanical properties, eliminating the need for cumbersome mechanical joints.
Key Figures
Number of laboratories and research groups
130
INNOVATION
“In addition to research and education, technology transfer and innovation are an inherent part of EPFL’s mission. At the School of Engineering, we take this part of our mission particularly serious because it is the very nature of the engineering disciplines that we aim to translate our best scientific achievements into real-world impact. We are striving to create a culture that helps students and researchers to discover the innovative potential of their ideas and research projects, guide them on their way towards establishing startups, or find industrial collaboration partners. Looking ahead, we will particularly focus on innovations that address some of the major societal challenges, such as climate change, sustainability, the energy transformation, food system resilience, public health, as well as the transformative potential and risks of intelligent technologies and ubiquitous data.”
Holger Frauenrath, Associate Dean for Industry and Innovation
Articles
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François Gabella, who graduated from EPFL with a Mechanical Engineering Master’s degree in 1982, has gained vast experience in his 40-year career – including at the helm of various companies.
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MIROS Technology has announced the first commercial implementation of their transformable workspace: a smart system developed using technology patented in the Reconfigurable Robotics lab led by Jamie Paik in EPFL’s School of Engineering.
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Construction is underway on the 85-meter Tilia Tower near Lausanne: the first large-scale building in Switzerland to be built with a low-carbon cement developed in EPFL’s Lab of Construction Materials.
Key Figures
OUTREACH PROGRAMS
Industry Day
The EPFL’s School of Engineering and Vice Presidency for Innovation held the 6th edition of the Engineering Industry Day on Thursday March 14th, 2024.
This event offers a focused platform for PhD students, researchers, professors, and companies to engage in substantive discussions and explore synergies.
EPFL Excellence in Engineering Program
The E3 EPFL Excellence in Engineering Program has been initiated in 2019 by the School of Engineering and offers an intensive research training opportunity to students from foreign universities interested in research careers in any field of engineering, science and technology.
Mandatory industry Internships for master students
Internships in a company are an integral part of the Master curriculum in every master program at EPFL. This represents an excellent opportunity for students to get a crucial insight into the day-to-day work-flow in industry and also provide the company a broad expertise and skills in engineering sciences.
FACTS & FIGURES
115 Professors
1351 Employees (FTE)
4 Campuses
