ETH News

This year’s Innovation Project required ETH students to develop kit-based robots capable of delivering gifts down the chimneys of model-sized houses. The ten best teams will compete against each other in the final on 17 December.

Through a new bilateral carbon trading pact, Switzerland is poised to fund thousands of household biogas reactors in Malawi. Marc Kalina has worked with biogas projects across Southern Africa and explains why they often fail to make their promised impact.

Robotics specialists from a group led by ETH professor Raffaello D’Andrea have created a new, cube-shaped robot that can balance on its pivot and compensate for external disturbances. What makes the One-Wheel Cubli unique? Unlike its predecessors, it only requires a single reaction wheel.

ETH postdoc Olivier Gröninger is improving the drinking water supply for people in rural areas of South America with his Openversum project. This benefits not only the families but also the local economy and the climate

Researchers at ETH Zurich are planning to use magnetic bacteria to fight cancerous tumours. They have now found a way for these microorganisms to effectively cross blood vessel walls and subsequently colonise a tumour.

Wera Hotz Kowner was the first woman to study electrical engineering at ETH Zurich. Successfully rising above the condescension shown by some of her professors, she focused on preparing herself for her new job as managing director of the family business.

ETH News has been videoing three student teams working on focus projects. One of these is the Sowa team.

To be more sustainable, the construction industry needs reliable service-life predictions for structures. Ueli Angst calls for a paradigm shift in forecasting the durability of reinforced concrete.

The robotic explorer GLIMPSE, created at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, has made it into the final round of a competition for prospecting resources in space. The long-term goal is for the robot to explore the south polar region of the moon.

Microrobots have the potential to revolutionize medicine. Researchers at the Max Planck ETH Centre for Learning Systems have now developed an imaging technique that for the first time recognises cell-sized microrobots individually and at high resolution in a living organism.

Focus projects allow mechanical and electrical engineering students to put what they have learned into practice. ETH News accompanied three student teams with a video camera – one of which was the “Raptor” team.

For his doctorate, Johannes Weichart is developing an artificial skin that could give robots a sense of touch similar to humans. This would make them much more adept at handling objects.

ETH spin-off Climeworks is specialised in technology that filters CO₂ directly from the air. The company secured CHF 600 million in investment in its latest equity round, allowing it to invest in new large-​scale air capture facilities.

No sooner had David Shapira and Kordian Caplazi finished their studies than they set about creating a start-up. Rimon develops virtual user manuals for industrial companies, enabling users to quickly and intuitively learn how to operate complex machines with the aid of AR glasses.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a new algorithm that allows them to model the dynamics of physical systems from observations. In the future it could be applied to the onset of turbulence and tipping points in climate.

Hydropower delivers renewable electricity, but comes with massive fish mortality – a global dilemma that can only be addressed by true compromises, says Luiz Silva, and outlines how to find them.

Oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through microscopic algae that carry out photosynthesis and then sink to the deep sea when they die. This sinking enhances the degradation processes, as ETH researchers have now discovered.

A keen mountaineer, Manfred Hunziker has conquered well over 6,500 peaks. As an ETH graduate in electrical engineering, he followed a career shaped by the dizzying rise of computer technology.

The chaotic behaviour of vortices is one of the things that makes weather forecasting so difficult. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now developed a novel experimental method that enables more accurate analyses of the movement of turbulence in fluids.

Swissloop Tunneling, a team of students from ETH Zurich and other universities, has won second place in a tunnelling competition hosted by Elon Musk in Las Vegas. Their tunnelling machine has also won the Innovation & Design Award.

ETH Zurich researchers have developed a new type of laminate that changes colour as soon as the material is deformed. This way, the materials researchers can kill two birds with one stone: a lightweight composite material that inspects itself.

The 23-metre-high tower made of 3D-printed columns is to become a cultural site in Mulegns, a village on the Julier Pass with just 16 inhabitants. The structure is being planned by ETH architects and engineers. Construction is scheduled to start in spring 2022 with robots printing the tower’s components on site.

ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) establish a joint centre for the development of quantum computers. Its aim is to advance the realization of quantum computers based on both ion traps and superconducting components. ETH Zurich provides 32 million francs for this centre, which will host around 30 researchers.  

An 80-metre-high skyscraper made of wood is soon to be built in Zug. A pioneering project for which basic research is being carried out in the construction hall on the Hönggerberg.

Scientists at ETH Zurich are working to develop information-processing switching systems in biological cells. Now, for the first time, they have developed an OR switch in human cells that reacts to different signals.

Over the course of the EU project “FIThydro”, research and industry partners studied the ecological impact of hydropower plants. ETH Zurich’s Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (VAW) has developed a protection and guidance system that can help migratory fish to safely bypass hydropower turbines.

Carbon-neutral aviation is possible, but in future, aircraft are likely to continue to be powered by fossil fuels. The CO₂ they emit must be systematically stored underground. This is the most economical of various approaches that ETH researchers have compared in detail.

Coral reefs are in acute danger of disappearing due to climate change. An artist and a marine biologist have taken up the challenge of rebuilding the reefs by harnessing the power of 3D printers.

On 13 and 14 November 2020, some 60 teams from all over the world will compete at CYBATHLON 2020. It’s the high point that pilot Stefan Poth has been waiting for – postponed by months due to the pandemic. At last, he can show what he can achieve when wearing a leg prosthesis.

Fibre-optic cables are emerging as a valuable tool for geoscientists and glaciologists. They offer a relatively inexpensive way of measuring even the tiniest glacial earthquakes – plus they can also be used to obtain more accurate images of the geological subsurface in earthquake-prone megacities.

Swissloop, the team of students developing hyperloop pods, took advantage of the break imposed by the coronavirus to improve the technology even further. Yesterday they unveiled their “research pod”. At its core lies a technologically refined linear motor that will propel future prototypes at even faster speeds.

What happens when COVID-19 means architecture students have to get by without a workshop, electrical engineers without high-voltage laboratories and environmental scientists without field trips.

ETH Zurich has decided to postpone the Cybathlon until 19–20 September 2020. The safety and health of all those involved in this major international event takes top priority.

Metamaterials defy conventions, making rigid media flexible, soft materials transmit signals, and sound and light behave in bizarre ways. Metamaterials are engineered to possess properties not found in nature.

At yesterday’s Hyperloop Competition in Los Angeles, the Swissloop pod achieved a top speed of 252 km/h. The team, comprising students from ETH Zurich and other Swiss universities reached second place.

Sand, coffee grounds and rice behave very differently than water or oil, but under certain conditions they will suddenly exhibit astonishing similarities. Scientists have found a way to better understand the behaviour of granular materials.

A student, a doctoral student and a professor of the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering explain how a sustainable teaching project emerged from the ETH initiative to reduce air travel.

Siddhartha Mishra is the winner of the 2019 ICIAM Collatz Prize which is one of the most prestigious prizes awarded in applied mathematics.

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.

Some hundred mechanical engineering students working in teams took ideas for new products and developed them from concept to finished product. This year’s focus projects include jumping robots for use in space, medical devices and solutions for tomorrow’s e-mobility.

AMIV, the association for mechanical and electrical engineering students, is celebrating its 125th anniversary next week. ETH News used the occasion to speak to AMIV’s president Aurel Neff about its successes and challenges.

In a video interview with the German Physical Society, ETH professor Nicola Spaldin talks about the fascination of materials research.

When he was young, Basil Weibel wanted to understand the world and solve problems. He went on to complete three degrees and to design an innovative drone. Today, he is CEO of ETH spin-off Wingtra – and, according to Forbes, one of Europe’s 30 most influential entrepreneurs under the age of 30 this year.

Fifty students from ETH Zurich and other Swiss universities want to revolutionise transport. For a race set up by Elon Musk, they have developed a zero emission capsule that could in future transport people and goods through a vacuum tube at almost the speed of sound.

ETH Zurich held a ski workshop for undergraduate students for the first time. Over a six-week period, the participants built their own sustainable skis, from designing them on the computer to testing them out on the slopes.

The very first Cybathlon in the world took place today. The event was completely sold out: some 4,600 visitors packed into the SWISS Arena Kloten to support the 66 teams from various countries. The pilots pitted their skills in six disciplines and demonstrated most impressively how novel technologies can assist people with disabilities in their daily life.

Rund hundert grosse Kläranlagen in der Schweiz werden mit einer zusätzlichen Reinigungsstufe ausgerüstet, um die Belastung der Gewässer mit Mikroschadstoffen um 50 Prozent zu verringern. Seit 1. Januar 2016 regelt die neue Gewässerschutzverordnung den Aufbau und die Finanzierung dieser modernen Umwelttechnologie.