President of Slovakia visits ETH Zurich

Important visitor at ETH Zurich: As part of his official visit to Switzerland, Slovak President Andrej Kiska together with his host, Swiss Federal President Johann N. Schneider-Ammann, toured the ETH Hönggerberg campus on Friday morning. The President of Slovakia was accompanied by representatives from various ministries and a delegation of some 15 science and business persons.

ETH President Lino Guzzella received his high-ranking guests in the futuristic HIB building. The recently completed complex was specially chosen as a location in order to give the Slovak president a real-life insight into innovative research at ETH, rather than just a verbal account. The delegation also visited the spacious Robotic Fabrication Laboratory at the Arch-Tec-Lab, where scientists are researching building processes, digital fabrication and construction technology.

Cybathlon impresses Kiska

Earlier, Lino Guzzella had given a short presentation of ETH Zurich. President Andrej Kiska was particularly impressed by the report on the Cybathlon, and regretted that not a single university in Slovakia had yet made it into the top 500 worldwide, despite having several leading minds on board, particularly in technology.  Guzella referred to one such Slovak talent in his overview – Kiska’s compatriot Aurel Stodola, who as ETH Professor for Mechanical Engineering had shaped research in that field at the beginning of the 20^th century. Kiska, whose country Slovakia currently holds presidency of the Council of the European Union, called for a more extensive Europe-wide collaboration, and met with ETH staff and students from Slovakia during his visit.

While the Slovak science and business delegates then talked extensively with Detlef Günther, ETH Vice President Research and Corporate Relations, and visited the ETH main building, President Schneider-Ammann and guest statesman President Kiska travelled on to Bern for further talks.