August 2023

Scientifica, the science festival organised by ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, takes place from 28 August to 3 September 2023. This year's theme is "What holds the world together". D-BAUG is taking part with twelve exciting contributions, including a discussion on Zurich as E-Bike City, a film screening, several exhibitions, short lectures and guided tours as well as a workshop.

Our society is placing ever greater demands on infrastructure and mobility. At the same time, vital resources such as land, water and air are becoming increasingly scarce. Climate change requires adaptation. Digitalisation is on the rise. Civil engineers develop technically, economically and ecologically balanced solutions to meet the growing needs of our society. The new video on the degree programme shows the potential and versatility of civil engineering studies at ETH Zurich.

Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world - but its production releases huge amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. Reinforced concrete buildings can only be made climate-friendly by overturning an old dogma: that only highly alkaline concrete protects the reinforcing steel from corrosion. This is exactly what Ueli Angst, a materials scientist at ETH Zurich, is hoping to achieve in a research project now being supported by the Werner Siemens Foundation.

Gravity keeps our feet firmly on the ground and Earth in its orbit around the Sun. Meanwhile, satellites in space measure the acceleration caused by the Earth’s gravitational pull.

ETH students are mapping the groundwater in an area of forest near Bern. This fieldwork will give them the skills they need for a career in environmental engineering.