The magazine for EPFL graduates Summer 2018 No 8 TECH EPFL: the drone capital Reinventing trust in the digital era || p.22 Quicker, stronger, more innovative || p.26 Asset Management Wealth Management Asset Services Banque Pictet & Cie S.A. Route des Acacias 60 1211 Geneva 73 Tel. 058 323 23 23 group.pictet 2031588_Yacht_EPFL_310x215_FR_ENG.indd 1 31/05/2018 12:19 Alumnist Intro “EPFL is ranked as the most international school in the world as a result of the diversity amongst its students, alumni and professors" EPFL is also doing its part as an institution. The EssentialTech programme and the new Social Impact Initiative are concrete ways in which EPFL uses tech- nology to improve development. In the same vein, the Center for Digital Trust, created last year, is more necessary than ever at a time when data protection is incredibly relevant. Last but not least, gender equality in science is another Dear alumni, decisive challenge that was widely discussed during the EPFL Alumni event The Times Higher Education recently held on International Women’s Day, on ranked EPFL as the most international 8 March. As you can see, we are working school in the world. This honour congra- on several initiatives and we must all tulates the rich diversity of our students, do our part to ensure that science alumni and professors who consistently continues to serve today’s society and uphold the level and quality of educa- tomorrow’s world. tion that we strive for. As alumni, you are particularly well-suited to be the judge Have a wonderful summer of this, as you experience EPFL’s reputa- and happy reading. tion first-hand in your diverse careers in Switzerland, Europe and around the world. Being recognized as a world-class tech- nological institute comes with certain responsibilities. EPFL must be exemplary, and both researchers and alumni must put their skills to good use. Jacques Dubochet, Martin Vetterli, Nobel Prize winner and President of EPFL engaged citizen, is a fan- tastic example of this. Nick Hunger 3 Alumnist Editorial E dito Contents Dear alumni, Leadership with drones, innovation in sport, digital security, life sciences and social innovation. Year after year, EPFL demonstrates its incredible ability to develop cutting-edge technologies that have a direct impact on society and enable the creation of promising startups, as you may have seen on May 2nd at the Startup Champions Seed Night. Making this happen is the fascinating work of talented researchers, entrepreneurs and leaders, many of which are alumni. Speaking of talent, we had a great illustration on March 8th for International Women’s Day. At the Rolex Learning Center, we hosted five alumnae with exemplary careers, demonstrating the role women should play in science and in the corporate world. This first annual conference will become a recurring flagship event and EPFL Alumni will continue to commit to gender equality by supporting, inspiring and equipping younger EPFL women for success. And in order to foster all the talent in our community, EPFL Alumni has launched themed career workshops. From salary negotiations, networking, job search tech- niques to radical career changes – theses workshops should provide the tools, at any given time, to help you Felix Imhof / UNIL Felix Imhof 11 reinvent yourself, promote your assets and, in particular, use your network. JACQUES DUBOCHET, NOBEL PRIZE These new initiatives, our 150 annual events and several WINNER BUT CITIZEN ABOVE ALL! services we already offer are just the beginning. We are The father of cryomicroscopy, Vaud striving to establish new digital tools to strengthen our biologist Jacques Dubochet (PH’67) is community by groups of interest and engage alumni the 2017 winner of the Nobel Prize in around the world. All these investments are possible Chemistry. We had the chance to meet thanks to your contributions, which make up the and interview him along with EPFL majority of our financing. You should have received our President Martin Vetterli. contribution letter in your mailbox, and we count on your support to help us strengthen this impressive network. Leïla Ojjeh (CH’94), Head of EPFL Alumni Kudelski 22 REINVENTING TRUST IN THE BIG DATA ERA With the Center for Digital Trust, EPFL and its partners are developing innovative tools for cybersecurity and the protection of personal data. The goal is to encourage digital trust. 4 Alumnist Contents Murielle Gerber 14 GENDER EQUALITY: A CHALLENGE FOR EPFL An action plan promotes a male-female balance at the institution. EPFL Alumni also has several initiatives in place. Nicolas Schopfer Nicolas 18 THE NEW BATTLE OF THE SKIES The commercial use of drones is increasing. EPFL and its Swiss spin-offs are emerging as global leaders in this market. 26 INNOVATION IMPROVING SPORT Sport and technologies are now smart. The Lake Geneva region is preparing for the future and boosting its research to develop revolutionary tools and materials. Martin Zingg/MSF 33 INNOVATION FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP Development assistance work is also being done by innovative companies. The approach makes projects with a strong social impact sustainable and commercially viable. 5 Alumnist ZIG ZAG NEUROPROSTHESIS Rewiring the brain to overcome paralysis For the first time, EPFL scientists studying rats discovered that the brain has the ability to reroute specific motor commands using alternative pathways. These new brain connections, developed in regions of the nervous system that are still intact after paralysis, reconnect the brain with thespinal cord above the injury. By using alternative pathways, the brain can relearn certain complex motor tasks, such as walking. Thanks to this discovery, paraplegic rats regained control of their feet. The reco- very isn’t immediate and requires a long re-education and electrochemical stimu- lation of the spinal cord. It remains to be seen if this neuroprosthetic rehabilitation will have the same effect in humans. CHUV is currently conducting these tests on people with spinal cord injuries and results are expected by the end of the year. Alban Kakulya / EPFL Alban Kakulya DRIVING ALGORITHMS EXTRA-SMALL JPEGS A FARAWAY STAR No more dangerous biased content suggested Very fast download speeds for high-quality An oddity of nature made it possible to by social media algorithms. EPFL researchers images! The future jpeg XS is very intri- discover the most distant star from Earth. have just developed an innovative solution guing for virtual reality, spatial imagery and Nine billion light years away, Icarus was for a more balanced, equitable personalisation video. Developed by an international group discovered accidentally, thanks to a gra- of news delivered automatically to internet of experts led by EPFL professor Touradj vitational lens. This phenomenon occurs users. Concretely, the researchers designed Ebrahimi (PhD EL’92), this new standard when a celestial body with significant an algorithm that can be modified to set a uses less energy, reduces the compression mass, such as a galaxy, passes between minimum content diversification rate. rate and simplifies image encoding. While an observer and the star, bending the light the final files are in fact larger, the idea is and making the star visible. Therefore, social networks such as Facebook to not store them on a device but to stream and Twitter would no longer be able to only them via the large bandwidth of WiFi and It is the first time that an international show data calibrated according to users’ soon 5G. team of astronomers, which includes interests. They could choose to display at researchers from EPFL and the University least 10% of news that doesn’t come from No more waiting for images to download. of Geneva (UNIGE), was able to see such the opposite perspective, in order to maintain Thanks to this new technology, images a faraway star. The power of the Hubble a more equal view of the world. Because appear instantaneously. This is great news telescope also allowed them to gather an there are currently no regulations in this for self-driving cars and drones, where enormous quantity of data on the star area, the innovative concept is of particular any real-time lapse could be dangerous. and its environment. Classified as a blue interest to human rights activists. Currently available only for professional supergiant, Icarus is a light bomb that is applications, the jpeg XS will gradually be hundreds of times stronger than the sun. made available to the public. Alain Herzog / EPFL Alain Herzog 7tin.cn EPFL 6 Alumnist Campus NEW AT EPFL EPFL IS THE MOST INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL IN THE WORLD In March, Times Higher Education unveiled its ranking of the most international institutions. It ranked EPFL as the most international university in the world, ahead of ETHZ, Imperial College of London and the University of Oxford, which all made the top 10. The journal noted the diversity of students, staff and researchers at EPFL as well as its international collaborations and exchange programmes around the world. Alain Herzog / EPFL Alain Herzog THE INNOVATION FORUM MORE THAN 2 MILLION EPFL IN THE RUNNING FOR SMES SUBSCRIBERS TO EPFL FOR THE HYPERLOOP POD MOOCS Helping leaders of small and medium-sized A team of EPFL students was among the companies identify and seize the opportu- Available for free on the internet, EPFL’s 20 teams chosen to participate in the nities that digitisation offers is the goal of online courses have had more than two Hyperloop Pod Competition in late July. FORWARD, the innovation forum for SMEs. million students enrolled since the launch The goal is for a self-propelling pod in Co-organised by EPFL, Le Temps and PME in 2012. With more than 80 online courses a vacuum tube to reach a maximum speed Magazine, the first forum took place on currently available and approximately and to successfully decelerate.