"Investing to streamline construction processes"

ETH News: Mr Affentranger, why have you decided to offer your financial support for a new assistant professorship for innovative and industrial construction?
Anton Affentranger: Construction is one of today's least efficient industries. Other industries have succeeded in achieving striking efficiency gains thanks to the standardisation of processes and comprehensive optimisation along the entire value chain. This has not been the case in the construction industry. Expertise in the field of industrial construction and the promotion of innovative technologies play a key role here. Implenia is already heavily involved in matters relating to operational excellence. We're also celebrating our 10-year anniversary this year. We want to take this occasion to continue investing in our future.

How much influence did you have on defining the focuses and research profile of the future assistant professorship?
ETH Zurich has made it a clear strategic priority to intensify its activities in the field of civil engineering. During the course of these discussions, it became apparent that there was a gap in the field of industrial and innovative construction. Implenia has made significant investments in recent years in the areas of operative excellence, technical development, sustainability, occupational safety and the streamlining of construction processes. We also established the Technical Center, which is an internal competence centre. There is a lot going on in this field in other countries; the idea behind this new professorship is to ensure Switzerland does not fall behind.

The funding agreement provides for a more intensive collaboration with ETH students. To what extent is this research funding also an investment in talent recruitment for Implenia?
The shortage of skilled employees is a challenge facing the entire construction industry. Ultimately, we hope that young people – and especially women – will choose to study civil engineering. The new professorship also reflects the fact that the industry is continuing to evolve and remains at the cutting edge. In our experience, the collaboration with students is very productive, because our company gets to learn more about the goals, ideas and expectations of young graduates. At the same time, we are able to show young people the various career paths that are available to engineering students.

The Sustainable Construction faculty hosts its bi-annual Partnership Council to give ETH's industry partners and professors the opportunity to share their knowledge. What do you hope to achieve in this Council?
We are very interested in this sort of knowledge transfer between researchers and industry experts. I'm convinced that we can gain new insights from research that can be useful on our construction sites. Likewise, research can look to industry for new ideas too.

Implenia will also have one vote on the appointment committee. How much influence does it have within the committee?
When it comes to selecting the candidate for the assistant professorship, it makes sense for us to contribute our experience as a "vote from industry". The standard tender process at ETH Zurich applies to the appointment: the President of ETH Zurich puts together an appointment committee of around 10 members, one of whom is typically a representative from industry. In this case, Implenia is represented by one delegate. The committee suggests potential candidates to the President, who then presents his selection to the ETH Board, which makes the final decision.

There have recently been reports of instances in which third party funding from industry partners was tied to the appointment of their preferred candidate. What about in your case?
No such condition exists. We are just one of ten committee members, all of whom participate in an open dialogue and bring their own perspectives and ideas to the table. It is the entire appointment committee that proposes candidates to the ETH President.

In recent months the public has become acutely aware of potential conflicts between research financing and commercial interests. Doesn't this type of involvement potentially jeopardise your company's image?
We are a commercial enterprise that has a responsibility for the common good. This also means that companies can, and perhaps even should, contribute to research and education – not only financially, but in terms of actual substance as well. I'm convinced that there are models that facilitate the involvement of business, without crushing the principle of academic freedom and teaching autonomy. For this to work properly, it is crucial to have clear rules and transparency. I believe that our partnership with ETH meets these requirements.