From Empa’s experimental residential and office building NEST to the innovation parks of ETH Zurich and EPFL, right through to the shared construction of a major research site by PSI together with Swiss industry: The knowledge and technology transfer activities in the ETH Domain are multifaceted.
“The strength of NEST is that it offers our partners from industry the opportunity to test, evaluate and optimise their innovations under real conditions”, says Empa Director Gian-Luca Bona about the experimental building NEST, which is being realised by ETH Zurich, EPFL and Eawag under the stewardship of Empa. It is scheduled to be built by 2013 within the grounds of Empa and Eawag in Dübendorf.
A new floor please
NEST will be used as a combined residential and office building. However, unlike other buildings, it will not remain in a fixed state upon its initial completion. Thanks to flexible modules, its profile will be able to change. The only fixed component is a form of central spine for the load-bearing structures and building technology. Entire residential and workplace units, and even entire floors, can be swapped around. This flexibility gives NEST the ideal platform for conducting research into pressing questions in areas such as building technology, wastewater management, energy efficiency, and CO2 emissions. What’s more, the impact of technologies on the users of the building can be directly observed.
The results of the research will directly benefit the construction industry, which will be able to test its innovations and develop these further on the basis of scientific findings. The holistic NEST approach will appeal to companies from all branches of the construction industry. Construction materials that result in low CO2 emissions can be tested out, as can intelligent windows, interior fittings, and wastewater reclamation systems. This will give Swiss industry the opportunity to bring its innovations to market more quickly, and thereby achieve competitive advantages.
Innovation Park at EPFL
Technology transfer is embedded into the basic mandate of the ETH Domain. EPFL took a major step towards the systematization of technology transfer through the opening of its “Quartier de l’innovation” in 2010. This innovation park is currently under construction, but already houses the research and development units of international Swiss companies such as Nestlé, Logitech, Debiopharm and computer services company Elca.
Any company wanting to lease premises in the Quartier de l’innovation has to conclude a scientific partnership agreement with EPFL. As a result, they gain access to the laboratories and expertise of researchers and students as well as start-ups which are also housed in the Quartier de l’innovation. For Christophe Villemin, Chairman of Global Aerospace, an entity belonging to the aluminium manufacturer Constellium (formerly Alcan), this represents a unique environment: “The exchange of ideas with the professors and laboratories of EPFL takes place in an open atmosphere. This is conducive to creativity and makes us more willing to take risks when innovating”.
ETH Zurich is also promoting technology transfer, entrepreneurship and innovative strength in Switzerland thanks to its Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab: This brings young companies together with students, researchers and experienced manufacturing partners who act as coaches. For example, one such joint venture has been established with Swissmem, the Swiss Association of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Industries.
«The open atmosphere at EPFL is conducive to creativity and makes us more willing to take risks when innovating.» Christophe Villemin, Chairman of Global Aerospace, an entity of Constellium (formerly Alcan)Manufacturing industry involved in SwissFEL
PSI is currently planning construction of the X-ray free-electron laser SwissFEL. This envisages a number of different types of cooperation with Swiss industry: For example, PSI is developing expertise for the manufacturing of high-position construction parts, and will subsequently hand over the task of serial production to manufacturing companies. These companies will be specially trained by PSI. Another form of cooperation will focus on overcoming obstacles and developing new products through joint research projects with Swiss industry. In both cases, manufacturing companies should benefit from the latest knowledge and be able to create innovative products with repercussions far beyond SwissFEL itself, because this technology should ideally give rise to an entire class of new applications. The idea is that SwissFEL will be built not only with and by industrial manufacturers, but also for them. PSI has already identified potential industrial beneficiaries and carried out surveys to establish their requirements. Just like the Federal Institutes of Technology, these partners too will be able to use the finished site for their research from 2016 onwards.
