ETH News

Sport and an interest in healthy eating took Martina Pfeiffer first to ETH Zurich and then to Swiss beverage producer Rivella. Her active lifestyle has always kept her at the top of her game.  

Whether for squats or sit-ups, the software created by the start-up VAY alerts exercisers about incorrect movements via a smartphone screen. Now the ETH spin-off has been acquired by connected fitness equipment manufacturer Nautilus.

Which mental state do we need to be in to perform at our best? ETH Pioneer Fellow Marc Bächinger is working with Sarah Meissner to come up with the answer. Their technology, MyFlow, helps build mental strength. Together, they are about to launch their own start-up.

From the factory hall and not the field: ETH spin-off YASAI should soon be harvesting 20 tonnes of herbs a year from an indoor facility. Their “vertical farming” method offers ecological benefits in particular, as more can be produced with fewer resources.

Using chemical synthesis, Bright Peak Therapeutics can produce proteins that have never before existed. This holds great potential for cancer immunotherapy. The Basel-based spin-off has its beginnings at ETH Zurich.

We can face a crisis better when we work together. This has been illustrated by a study led by ETH Zurich's professor Dirk Helbing: if we share our battery charge with others in the event of a disaster, we could support communication and help to save lives.

During the lockdown last spring, Julian Ferchow put his doctoral project aside to help relieve the strain on hospitals. Together with his team, the 31-year-old researcher discovered a simpler way of turning patients suffering from COVID-19 in intensive care. A company is now producing the Proning Taco.

Sustainable high-tech materials are expensive. However, this may soon change. Through his ETH Pioneer Fellowship, Christoph Schneeberger is developing a process that enables more efficient production of fibre-reinforced plastics.

Biodegradable plastics are very much on trend. But there are still very few sustainable alternatives for products containing foamed plastic. ETH Pioneer Fellow Zuzana Sediva is developing a process that could one day be used to make shoe soles and yoga mats from organic waste.

The technology pioneered by the ETH spin-off incon.ai allows blocks to be positioned with pinpoint accuracy, creating structures with aesthetic designs and augmented acoustics.

Entering invoices, checking delivery slips, auditing expense receipts: these repetitive tasks fill the days of many office employees. The ETH spin-off BLP Digital hopes to provide them with some relief – thanks to algorithms.

Imaging technology helps to detect cardiovascular diseases much earlier; however, precise examinations are still very time-consuming. Researchers from ETH and the University of Zurich have now presented a method that could greatly accelerate dynamic magnetic resonance imaging of blood flow.

Numerous factors affect the spread of coronavirus. To better predict the progression of the epidemic, researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of California, Los Angeles have started a “datathon”. Participants from around the globe are called on to develop models based on publicly accessible data.

ETH Pioneer Fellow Marcel Schuck is developing a robotic gripper that can manipulate small and fragile objects without touching them. The technology is based on sound waves.

ETH spin-off Spectroplast has developed a method to make silicone products using a 3D printer. The young company now plans to bring to market customised medical products such as hearing aids, breast prosthesis for breast cancer patients and eventually even artificial heart valves.

Modern medicine is looking for markers that provide early warning of complex diseases. In its quest to discover these “biomarkers”, the ETH spinoff Scailyte has developed software capable of analysing millions of single cells very efficiently.

The idea of living on the Moon, Mars or an even more distant planet has long captured our imagination. When facts are in short supply, fiction thrives – but science fiction has a habit of eventually becoming science fact.

ANYmal, a robot developed at ETH, can see and hear, and even open doors. An international research team is now working to ensure the robot can function in extreme conditions – a mission that takes them to the labyrinth of drains and tunnels below Zurich.

Fixposition is an ETH spin-off specialising in real-time navigation systems for use in self-driving vehicles, robots or industrial drones. Using a combination of satellite-based positioning systems such as GPS with computer vision technologies, the young entrepreneurs have managed to achieve an unparalleled degree of precision.

ETH doctoral student Kai von Petersdorff-Campen has developed a method to create products containing magnets using 3D printing. He used an artificial heart pump to demonstrate the operating principle – and won an international prototype competition.

ETH researchers are helping Swiss bus manufacturer Carrosserie Hess develop software that could provide major cost and energy savings.

Three ETH alumni have developed a 3D printer capable of manufacturing components from carbon fiber composites. Their ETH spin-off, 9T Labs, could bring a breakthrough for the manufacturing and utilization of extremely lightweight and strong parts.

The first Formula E race in Zurich will take place next Sunday. Before then, ETH Zurich will place the topic of e-mobility in a wider context on Friday as part of its eDays symposium.

Cyberattacks pose a major risk for companies. ETH spin-off Exeon Analytics has developed a piece of software that uses big data to help companies protect themselves against data theft. The first licenses are expected to be sold in the coming weeks.

ETH engineers Vincent Martinez and Luca Hirt are on a mission: to make cables more durable and reliable. This could potentially lead to unbreakable headphone cables, shaking up an industry known for its slow pace of innovation.

ETH spin-off Adaptricity has developed a piece of software that can be used to analyse the increasingly intelligent power grids. It will soon be put to the entrepreneurial test, with sales of software licences set to begin this autumn.