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Tag: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Lausanne

  • New Master’s programme for urban change

    New Master’s programme for urban change

    From the start of the 2025 autumn semester, the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering(ENAC) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne(EPFL) will be offering a Master’s degree in the challenges of urban change. A Master’s degree in Urban Systems will enable ENAC students to become specialists in adapting cities and surrounding areas to climate change, according to a press release from EPFL.

    In view of climate change, Switzerland needs to equip itself with experts in urban management in the broadest sense, according to the EPFL. The new Master’s degree programme has been developed in collaboration with practitioners. It offers graduates of the ENAC Bachelor’s degree programmes in Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering the opportunity to specialise in the sustainable transformation of cities and surrounding areas. The Master’s programme is also open to other related disciplines, including architecture, provided they submit an application.

    The programme has three specialisations: Mobility and Transport in a Changing Climate, Sustainable Transitions in Urban Systems and Health and Wellbeing in the Urban Environment.

    At the end of the programme, students receive an EPFL Master of Science MSc in Urban Systems. This diploma entitles them to use the title EPF qualified engineer.

  • EPFL student turns plastic waste into bricks for building

    EPFL student turns plastic waste into bricks for building

    For her master’s thesis in civil engineering, Selina Heiniger developed a method for the more sustainable production of building material. According to a press release from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne ( EPFL ), she uses plastic waste, concrete that has already been used and terracotta bricks that have been made small.

    In her master’s thesis, Heiniger wanted to tackle two related challenges: reducing environmental pollution from plastic waste and developing construction methods that use fewer raw materials.

    She developed bricks made from recycled plastic – polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) – as well as crushed terracotta bricks and recycled concrete. Their bricks are designed to interlock, so no mortar is required. Initial tests are encouraging, but the invention is still in the prototype stage. If successful, Heiniger’s work could make a significant contribution to reducing the construction industry’s carbon footprint.

    Heiniger graduated from high school in the canton of Bern and then enrolled at the EPFL to study civil engineering. At first she only studied part-time, as she also worked in a civil engineering company in Lausanne.

    Selina Heiniger’s master’s thesis was jointly developed by Corentin Fivet, head of EPFL’s Laboratory for Structural Exploration in the Faculty of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Yves Leterrier, a senior scientist at EPFL’s Laboratory for Advanced Composites Processing in the Faculty of engineering, supervised.

  • Individually air-conditioned offices increase well-being

    Individually air-conditioned offices increase well-being

    People feel differently comfortable under the same temperature conditions. This has now been confirmed by measurements by researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne ( EPFL ) in a normal office environment. They collected thermophysiological data from test subjects. According to a statement by the EPFL, they show that age and gender influence metabolism. And this in turn can vary depending on diet, season and daily rhythm.

    Air conditioners are currently designed for space, not people, explains Dolaana Khovalyg, assistant professor at EPFL’s Faculty of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering and head of the Integrated Comfort Engineering Laboratory . 80 percent of employees feel comfortable with an average office temperature of 21 degrees in winter, but 20 percent do not. “Our goal is to make everyone feel good, without exception.”

    The ability to accurately measure a person’s energy use paves the way for a new breed of technology that feeds the collected data into central heating and cooling systems. These in turn can adjust the temperature in a specific area, such as a desk, in real time, thereby optimizing energy consumption in buildings.

    Now the research team is looking for less invasive measurement methods than the silicone face masks and body sensors that the subjects had to wear. It currently works with infrared cameras. Questions of data protection are still to be clarified. Their study was recently published in the Obesity Journal.