Overview of the research
The Institute of Electrical and Micro Engineering includes a wide-ranging research and educational programs covering the following broad and interconnected domains:
- Electronic Circuits and Devices (Biosensors, Design methods and tools, Digital and mixed-signal VLSI circuit design, Low-power, Nanoelectronics, Computational electromagnetics),
- Micromechanics & Microsystems (MEMS/NEMS, Micro-nanotechnology, Sensor and actuators, Smart sensing systems, Soft materials, Microfluidics, Micro-manufacturing, Surgical instrumentation, Electric and piezoelectric motors and actuators)
- Robotics (Bio-inspired robotics, Flying robots (drones), Bio-inspired AI, Humanoid robotics, Human-machine Interaction, Medical robotics, Exoskeletons)
- IoT and Computer & Communication Engineering (Systems for telecommunications, Embedded systems, Low-power, Co-design methods and tools, Computing architectures, Wearable systems, Photonics and Wave engineering),
- Optics & Photonics (Photonics systems, Photovoltaics, Image sensors, Optical MEMS, Plasmonics, Nanophotonics, Near-field optics, Integrated photonics, Silicon Photonics)
- Information Science and Systems (Signal and image processing, Biomedical imaging, Multimedia communications, Machine learning, Learning and inference, Optimization),
- Power and Energy (Smart grids, Power electronics, Electric power transmission and distribution, Electro-mechanical systems, Energy harvesting, Photovoltaics)
The IEM Institute counts 37 Full/Associate/Tenure-track Assistant Professors, 1 SNSF-funded Professor, 13 Adjunct Professors and 11 Senior Scientists. Some of them are members of the most prestigious professional societies as the US National Academy of Engineering, The American Academy of Arts & Science, the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences or the Academia Europaea and have been awarded major prizes (Zeiss Research Award, IEEE Harry Goode Award, Helmoltz Prize, Fresnel Prize).
Installed on three sites (EPFL main campus in Lausanne, Microcity in Neuchâtel and Campus Biotech in Geneva), the IEM Institute has an excellent infrastructure, in terms of personnel, buildings and laboratories. The Center for Micro-Nano Technology (CMI) is an outstanding, world-class facility with a state-of-the-art fabrication facility. Moreover, the capability of CMI personnel to teach and train graduate students who use the lab lowers the accessibility threshold and increases the success rate for chip fabrication.
IEM has extensive experience in collaborating with industrial partners at all stage of the innovation process, from fundamental academic research to pre-industrial prototyping.
The Institute and its faculty have also a strong record in creating successful start-ups.
Finally, the Institute’s laboratories mix theory and practice in both teaching and research. This is extremely important in order to maintain an excellent research reputation while having a strong impact in industry and with the public.