Time to say goodbye: MAS in Sustainable Water Resources

The multi-disciplinary environmental engineering program that focused on education, research, and sustainability in the domain of water resources was run by the Hydrology Chair at the Institute of Environmental Engineering at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering. It was a visionary MAS that brought together students from around the world to develop their technical skills, interdisciplinary thinking, and engineering intuition. These students were a wonderful addition to our regular Master courses in environmental engineering, much appreciated by teachers and fellow Swiss students, and will be missed.

Since it was established in 2009, the MAS has graduated 86 students from 26 countries, including larger numbers from Peru and Ethiopia, but also individuals from countries such as Tanzania, Liberia, Nepal, Australia, Cuba, and of course Switzerland. Many of our MAS graduates are on their way to becoming leaders and decision-makers in the fields of water resources in their home countries, others have continued in PhDs or found jobs in engineering companies. All have benefited greatly from the education and experience at ETH, as alumni stories on the MAS website show.

It is time to thank the ETH School for Continuing Education for supporting us for the past 15 years, and especially the Oeuvre St-Justin for providing housing and scholarship opportunities to international students since 2009. We also thank all of the excellent water experts who have contributed to the program over the years. With the retirement of Prof. Burlando, the increasing pressure at ETH to offer continuing education programs that are self-financing, and the difficulty of finding scholarship support for students from the Global South, it is now time to turn the page. We wish the past graduates of the MAS SWR ETH all the best in their careers. It was an honor for us to accompany you on your career path.