ETH News

Steering and navigating manual wheelchairs on pavements costs wheelchair users a lot of energy and places a strain on their joints. Two ETH employees have discovered a brilliant and simple solution that they are now developing further to bring to market.

For many people, architectural norms create barriers to accessibility. How might we re-imagine our built environment to make it more inclusive?

Eighteen start-ups were awarded prizes at this year¡¯s Venture Awards, including five ETH Zurich spin-offs. CLIMADA won first prize in the Finance & Insurance category.

ETH¡¯s outstanding reputation attracts top-flight researchers from all over the world. This pool of talent makes Zurich a major draw for global companies such as Microsoft.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have succeeded in detecting heavy precipitation events directly with GPS data. The results of their study could significantly improve meteorological monitoring and forecasting.

Hardly any gemstone is more difficult to find than diamonds. Geologists from ETH Zurich and the University of Melbourne have now established a link between their occurrence and the mineral olivine. This could make the search for diamonds easier in the future.

A doctoral researcher studying architecture at ETH Zurich is using 3D printing to produce lightweight insulation building components from cement-free mineral foams derived from recycled industrial waste. These could cut heating and cooling costs for buildings, and encourage more efficient use of construction materials.

The first woman mathematics professor at ETH Zurich, Sara van de Geer, is retiring after 18 years at the university. For the moment, not a lot will change for the Dutch researcher ¨C and she is fine with that.