News

EPFL scientists have developed a metamaterial whose mechanical properties can be reprogrammed on demand and whose internal structure can be modified by applying a magnetic field. 

The latest scientific article by Edoardo Charbon, director of the quantum architecture laboratory, has been selected by the journal "Physics".

Organic waste – whether from households, agriculture or agroforestry – can be used as energy resource, but is often underexploited. A team of the School of Engineering scientists has developed a methodology to better incorporate this resource into existing power grids and gas distribution systems, depending on local availability and demand.

Osteoarthritis is a chronic disease caused by the wearing down of cartilage in the joints and affects over 500 million people in the world [1]. The Inmodi team, led by Dr Jérôme Thevenot and Olga Motovilova from the School of Engineering's Laboratory of Movement Analysis and Measurement (LMAM), plan to change the future of those suffering from knee pain. We caught up with these recent Innogrant winners to find out more about their startup.

An international team of scientists have developed a photonic processor that uses rays of light inside silicon chips to process information much faster than conventional electronic chips. Published in Nature, the breakthrough study was carried out by scientists from EPFL, the Universities of Oxford, Münster, Exeter, Pittsburgh, and IBM Research – Zurich.

Professor at the School of Engineering, Adrian Ionescu was awarded the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Proof of Concept Grant to develop integrated 2D supercapacitors

School of Engineering’s scientists have developed a new computational method to design artificial proteins with functions that are not found in nature. 

Yves Bellouard, an associate professor in the Galatea Laboratory from the School of Engineering, has been named best teacher in the microengineering section.

EPFL scientists have invented a technique to navigate electronic devices that are smaller than human hair inside blood vessels and reach arterioles. The next step will be conducting in vivo tests.

The IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference just awarded Francesco Gramuglia, PhD in Advanced Quantum Architecture Lab (AQUA Lab)

EPFL students are preparing for a second round of exams under coronavirus conditions. It's not easy to stay motivated given the challenges of distance learning, lack of social contact and difficulties in maintaining study habits. But help is available. EPFL is committed to supporting its students, and a range of initiatives have been rolled out to enable everyone to have a stress-free as possible end of the semester.

Professor and Dean of the School of Engineering, Ali Sayed, has been awarded by the IEEE Signal Processing Society

EPFL spin-off Aica has developed AI-based software that makes industrial robots easier to program and more capable of adapting. The software is designed in a modular format so that operators can build a customized application based on their needs. Aica’s advancement expands the range of tasks that robots can perform while cutting implementation costs.

Véronique Michaud, an associate professor in EPFL’s materials science and engineering department since 2017, has been named best teacher for this section.

Under a cross-disciplinary program spearheaded by EPFL, scientists will develop an AI-based system that can predict whether Covid-19 patients will develop severe cardiovascular complications and, in the longer term, detect the likely onset of inflammatory disease.

EPFL scientists have developed a synthetic molecule capable of killing the virus that causes influenza. They hope their discovery will lead to an effective drug treatment. 

The Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology has announced the appointment of 4 professors at EPFL.

Professor Michele Ceriotti, from the School of Engineering, was awarded the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant.

Launched by the School of Engineering, the eSeed initiative aims to encourage collaboration and interdisciplinarity between the laboratories of the faculty.

The Optical Society nominated Luc Thévenaz's research on signal amplification in hollow core optical fibres as one of the year's major advances in optics. 

EPFL scientists have developed a cancer treatment method that destroys tumor cells using the mechanical force of our bodies’ own T cells. They have just completed a proof of concept for their novel immunotherapy approach.

Philippe Renaud, an EPFL professor, has just won the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Electrophoresis Society for his exceptional contribution to the fields of dielectric cytometry and nanofluidics. We spoke with him about his career marked by teaching success and scientific innovation.

Professor Sandro Carrara, from the School of Engineering, has just been reappointed as editor-in-chief of the IEEE Sensors Journal.

The doctoral student of the Advanced Quantum Architecture Laboratory has just received two awards from the Swiss Nanotechnology and the Fritz Kutter Fonds.

The Pully startup specialized in industrial automation won with their project supported by the research group "REHASSIST", directed by Dr. Mohamed Bouri from the School of Engineering.

Professor at the School of Engineering, Giulia Tagliabue has just received an Eccellenza scholarship from the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Skin and cartilage are both strong and flexible – properties that are hard to replicate in artificial materials. But a new fabrication process, developed by scientists at EPFL, brings lifelike synthetic polymers a step closer.

Three EPFL spin-offs – CompPair, Hydromea and Nanogence – have made it through to the finals of the Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge, an international startup competition that is being held virtually this year. The teams will have three minutes to pitch their business ideas to a panel of experts.

Paraplegic athlete Silke Pan brilliantly represented EPFL at the 2020 Cybathlon this weekend. Wearing the TWIICE exoskeleton designed by EPFL scientists, she finished in second place in the finals.

Fiber optic sensors – used in critical applications like detecting fires in tunnels, pinpointing leaks in pipelines and predicting landslides – are about to get even faster and more accurate.

André Hodder has been named this year’s best teacher in the School of Engineering's electrical and electronics engineering section.

PhotonHub Europe is a new European research platform devoted to exploiting the full potential of photonics. The platform brings together pioneering institutes in the field, including EPFL, and has just received 19 million euros in funding under the EU’s Horizon 2020 program.

The School of Engineering at EPFL has launched a new communication tool for its faculty members that aims at providing them with access to different dashboards under a unique platform. The dashboards provide faculty with continuous and up-to-date statistical information about teaching, research, and infrastructure activities related to their laboratories, and allow a global view of the contributions of the School of Engineering in these domains.

Giulia Tagliabue, head of the Laboratory of Nanoscience for Energy Technologies (LNET) just received the first prize of the 2020 Rising Stars of Light Awards.

Researchers from EPFL’s Institute of Bioengineering and the University of Geneva have teamed up to develop new tools for studying water flow across cell membranes.

Salamanders have a unique superpower - they can regenerate their spinal cords and regain full functionality. Scientists are working under a cross-disciplinary research project to uncover the mechanisms behind this restorative capability.

EPFL engineers have developed a computer chip that combines two functions – logic operations and data storage – into a single architecture, paving the way to more efficient devices. Their technology is particularly promising for applications relying on artificial intelligence.

EPFL researchers are at the forefront of developing some of the cutting-edge technology for the European Space Agency’s first mission to remove space debris from orbit.

Nanoscale devices for large-scale challenges: from efficient power electronics to bridging the terahertz gap

EPFL engineers have developed a drone with a feathered wing and tail that give it unprecedented flight agility.

Digital technology is running up against its physical limits. One solution is to build more data centers – but that needs to go hand in hand with a reduction in their carbon footprint.

EPFL scientists have developed a method for changing the physical properties of 2D materials permanently using a nanometric tip. Their approach, which involves deforming the materials, paves the way to using these materials in electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Professor Hatice Altug, head of the Bionanophotonic Systems Laboratory, and Professor Camille Sophie Brès, head of the Photonic Systems Laboratory, have been nominated Fellow Members of the Optical Society at the Society’s recent Board of Directors meeting.

Professor Mahsa Shoaran, leading the Integrated Neurotechnologies Laboratory of EPFL, has been awarded a prestigious grant from the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to develop a new implantable brain stimulation system that can measure and control oscillatory brain networks to treat severe psychiatric illness, especially mood and anxiety disorders.

Optical frequency combs can link frequencies in the microwave domain to high-purity laser emissions, yielding unprecedented precision in time-keeping and metrology. Now EPFL scientists and their colleagues have generated variable low-noise microwave signals by building variable microwave gears with two compact optical frequency combs.

David Atienza, professor at the School of Engineering and Head of the Embedded Systems Laboratory (ESL), has received with his co-authors the IEEE/ACM ICCAD Ten Year Retrospective Most Influential Paper Award for the scientific publication entitled « 3D-ICE: Fast compact transient thermal modeling for 3D-ICs with inter-tier liquid cooling »

Sylvie Roke, professor in bioengineering at EPFL, has just been elected by her peers as a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). This is a rare distinction, that is awarded for her “seminal contributions to scattering and imaging technologies to enable pioneering studies of complex aqueous systems and their interfaces.”

Medtech startup company Rheon Medical, spun out of the EPFL's Laboratory of Hemodynamics and Cardiovascular Technology (Stergiopulos Lab), has won the annual Swiss Medtch Award for 2020, for a device poised to revolutionize the treatment of glaucoma.

The Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology has announced the appointment of 2 professors at the School of Engineering.

Scientists at EPFL, ETH Zurich and Harvard Medical School/Boston Children’s Hospital have developed an implantable technology that enabled the discovery of an interaction between sensory neurons and immune cells.