June 2023

Dr. Eleonora Secchi has been promoted to permanent Senior Scientist at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at ETH Zurich, effective 1 June 2023. Dr. Joris E. Van Wezemael, currently Executive-in-Residence at the department, will leave his position at ETH Zurich on 31 October 2023.

In 2017, Francesco Corman joined ETH Zurich as Tenure Track Assistant Professor. Six years later he has been tenured and promoted to Associate Professor of Transportation Systems at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering. Get to know him in this short interview.

On 8 June 2023 not only preliminary results have been presented, but participants were also actively involved in shaping the research questions from the D-​BAUG lighthouse project "E-​Bike City" conducted by its seven research groups. With various presentations and workshops, the researchers, experts and stakeholders deepened their research topics and methods. About 80 participants contributed to a successful event. The recordings are now online.

Experts of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering are regurlarly featured in national and international media. A selected overview of the press coverage in German, English, French and Italian can now be found on the website.

Trichodesmium, a common and ecologically important bacterium, fertilises nutrient-poor regions of the oceans and thereby enables higher life. Crucial to its success is its ability to form aggregates in order to react quickly to changes in its environment. ETH Zurich researchers have shown how the microbes organise themselves in this process.

On the occasion of this year's Kangaroo Goes Science (KGS) Day on 8 June 2023, 100 girls were once again able to visit the ETH Hönggerberg campus with their parents. D-BAUG also contributed to the event, offering hands-on activities at the Stocker lab, the construction hall, and the Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (VAW).

When Microorganisms decompose organic material in the soil, they actively release CO2 into the atmosphere. This process is called heterotrophic respiration. A novel model shows that these emissions could surge by up to 40 percent by the end of the century – most significantly in the polar regions.

They come to ETH Zurich almost daily by bike or e-bike. Three D-BAUG transport researchers are investigating how an e-bike-friendly city works. They are also committed to a safe, sustainable, and CO₂-reducing campus mobility at ETH Zurich.

Timber construction is undergoing a renaissance in Switzerland. ETH researchers at the Hönggerberg campus are using a fire simulator to test timber components for the construction of buildings of all sizes. The custom-built oven permits simulations of realistic fire scenarios.

The expansion of hydropower generation often leads to conflicts of interest, both in Switzerland and beyond. Researchers from the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at ETH Zurich are trying to find a basis for compromise that serves the public interest.