April 2017

Cornelius Senn, a measurement engineer in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering (D-BAUG), and his post-doctoral colleague Silvan Leinss have developed a new reflector for radar measurements. The underlying mechanism, however, has many possible applications and could revolutionise furniture construction, for example.

The ETH Zurich 2016 Annual Report provides an overview of the most important achievements, developments and events at the University over the past year, and is published alongside the 2015/2016 Sustainability Report.

Developing new things together and effecting change – that's what gets Moritz Mussgnug out of bed in the morning. The mechanical engineer manages to juggle his doctoral thesis with a startup and a project to optimise the production of walnut oil for people in Nepal.

Whey protein nanofibrils loaded with iron nanoparticles: ETH researchers are developing a new and highly effective way of fortifying iron into food and drinks.

Even small changes in global temperature can trigger a migration of the tropical rain belt. This can also lead to climate change, as described by a team of researchers from ETH Zurich and other universities.

What will it take to make our agroecosystems more diverse and secure? Take buckwheat, for example – an ancient grain-like plant with considerable potential. It's not related to cereals, yet produces storable seeds and can taste anything from deliciously tart to bitter.

A start-up formed by a group of IT specialists at ETH has come up with a simple and user-friendly way to enhance network security. The Futurae team has already won 130,000 Swiss francs start-up capital from Venture Kick.

The way that nanoparticles behave in the environment is extremely complex. There is currently a lack of systematic experimental data to help understand them comprehensively, as ETH environmental scientists have shown in a large overview study. A more standardised approach would help to advance the research field.

Researchers have clarified how vaccinations can combat bacterial intestinal diseases: vaccine-induced antibodies in the intestine chain up pathogens as they grow in the intestine, which prevents disease and surprisingly also hinders the spread of antibiotic resistance.

Patrons of the Excellence Scholarship and Opportunity Programme (ESOP) got to know scholarship students at yesterday's Meet the Talent 2017.