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École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

 
Wikipedia: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
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École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
EPFL Logo
Established 1853, Opened 1869
Type Public
President Patrick Aebischer
Undergraduates ~ 5,000
Postgraduates ~ 1,800
Location Ecublens (near Lausanne), Vaud, Switzerland
46°31′13″N 6°33′56″E / 46.52028°N 6.56556°E / 46.52028; 6.56556Coordinates: 46°31′13″N 6°33′56″E / 46.52028°N 6.56556°E / 46.52028; 6.56556
Campus Urban
Nationalities 100+
Website www.epfl.ch
EPFL is located in Switzerland
EPFL
Location: Lausanne, Switzerland

The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) is one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and is located in Lausanne, Switzerland. EPFL is ranked as Europe's nr. 1 and world's nr. 15 university in the field of "Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences" in the academic ranking of world universities (ARWU) by Shanghai Jiao Tong University [1]. The EPFL is in the heart of Europe and is one of Europe's leading institutions of science and technology. EPFL is often cited as Europe's MIT due to its scientific and technological research advances.[2][3]

The school was founded by the Swiss Federal Government with the stated mission to:

  • Educate engineers and scientists
  • Be a national center of excellence in science and technology
  • Provide a hub for interaction between the scientific community and industry

The sister institution in the German-speaking part of Switzerland is the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH Zürich or ETHZ). Associated with several specialised research institutes, the two sister institutes form the ETH Domain, which is directly dependent on the Federal Department of Home Affairs.

Contents

History

Founded in 1853 as a private school under the name École Spéciale de Lausanne, it became the technical department of the public Académie de Lausanne in 1869. When the latter was reorganized and acquired the status of a university in 1890, the technical faculty changed its name to École d'Ingénieurs de l'Université de Lausanne. In 1946, it was renamed the École Polytechnique de l'Université de Lausanne (EPUL).

In 1969, the EPUL was separated from the rest of the University of Lausanne and became a federal institute under its current name. The EPFL, like the ETHZ, is thus directly controlled by the Swiss federal government. In contrast, all other universities in Switzerland are controlled by their respective cantonal governments.

The EPFL operates a nuclear reactor, CROCUS, a Tokamak fusion reactor, and P3 bio-hazard facilities. Following the nomination of Patrick Aebischer as president in 2000, EPFL has started to develop into the field of life sciences. It will absorb the ISREC (Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research) by 2008.

Campus

Aerial view of the EPFL campus

Originally, the EPFL was in the center of Lausanne. In 1978, the EPFL moved to its new campus in Ecublens, a suburb south-west of Lausanne on the shores of Lake Geneva. In 2002, the department of architecture also moved to the campus in Ecublens. This united all departments of the EPFL on the same site.

Buildings

The campus consists of about 65 buildings on 136 acres. Built according to the growth of the school, the campus includes different types of architectures:

  • Late 70s-80s: modularized building, used today by the Schools of Basic Sciences and Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering
  • 90s: buildings with institutes from the Schools of Engineering Sciences and Techniques, Computer and Communication Sciences, and the Scientific Park (PSE)
  • Modern: new buildings (2002-2004) with Microengineering, Communications and Architecture institutes and the School of Life Sciences

The EPFL and the nearby University of Lausanne share an active sports center five minutes away from the EPFL campus on the shores of the Lake Geneva.

Facilities

Facilities are available on the campus for the students and staff:

  • Libraries:
    • Central Library (EPF-BC)
    • Architecture (EPF-DA)
    • Centre de documentation sur l'environnement construit (EPF-CEDEC)
    • Centre de recherches en physique des plasmas (EPF-CRPP)
    • Center of Research and Support of Training and its Technologies (EPF-CRAFT)
    • Chemistry (BISCOM)
    • Computer and Communication Sciences (EPF-IC)
    • Laboratoire de Topométrie (EPF-TOP)
    • Laboratory for Intermodality, Transport and Planning (EPF-LITEP)
    • Rolex Learning Center
    • Materials Sciences (EPF-BIMX)
    • Mathematics (EPF-DMA)
    • Physics (EPF-PHY)
  • Restaurant:
    • Le Copernic
  • Cafeterias:
    • La Coupole
    • Le Corbusier
    • Le Parmentier
    • Le Vinci
    • BMX (Bâtiment des Matériaux)
    • BC (Bâtiment des Communications)
    • L'Arcadie
  • Bar:
    • Satellite
  • Travel agencies
    • Swiss Federal Railroad
    • STA Travel
  • Banks:
  • Radio
    • Fréquence Banane Student radio

Organization

The EPFL is organised into seven schools, themselves formed of institutes that group research units (laboratories or chairs) around common themes.

The EPFL is constituted of the following Schools:

The Tokamak à configuration variable (TCV): inner view, with the graphite-clad torus. Courtesy of CRPP-EPFL, Association Suisse-Euratom
  • SB (Sciences de base – Basic Sciences) mathematics, physics and chemistry
    • Institute of Analysis and Scientific Computing (IACS, Jacques Rappaz)
    • Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering (ISIC, Paul Dyson)
    • Institute of Mathematics (IMA, Stephan Morgenthaler)
    • Institute of Geometry, Algebra and Topology (IGAT, Jacques Thévenaz)
    • Institute of Physics of Energy and Particles (IPEP, Minh Quang Tran)
    • Institute of Condensed Matter Physics (IPMC, Wolf-Dieter Schneider)
    • Institute of Physical Sciences (SPH-GE, Jean-Philippe Ansermet)
    • Institute of Quantum Electronics and Photonics (IPEQ, Benoît Deveaud-Plédran)
    • Institute of Theoretical Physics (ITP, Alfonso Baldereschi)
    • Institute of Computational Condensed Matter Physics (IRRMA, Alfonso Baldereschi)
    • Institute of Mathematics B (IMB, Eva Bayer Fluckiger)
    • Interdisciplinary Center for Electron Microscopy (CIME, Cécile Hébert)
    • Center for Research In Plasma Physics (CRPP, Minh Quang Tran)
    • PRN Quantum Photonics (PRN-QP, Benoît Deveaud-Plédran)
    • Bernoulli Center (CIB, Tudor Ratiu)
  • STI (Sciences et techniques de l'ingénieur – Engineering Sciences and Techniques) Mechanical engineering, Microengineering, Materials Science and Engineering
    • Institute of Energy Sciences (ISE, Daniel Favrat)
    • Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IGBM, Nikolaos Stergiopulos)
    • Institute of Systems Engineering (I2S, Dario Floreano)
    • Institute of Microelectronics and Microsystems (IMM, Mihai Adrian Ionescu)
    • Institute of Materials (IMX, Karen Scrivener)
    • Institute of Imaging and Applied Optics (IOA, René Salathé)
    • Institute of Manufacturing Systems and Robotics (IPR, Jacques Jacot)
    • Institute of Transmissions, Waves and Photonics (ITOP, Juan Ramon Mosig)
    • Institute of Signal Processing (ITS, Murat Kunt)
    • Center of MicroNanoTechnology (CMI, Philippe Renaud)
    • Space Center (CTS, Juan Mosig)
  • ENAC (Environnement naturel, architectural et construit – Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering) architecture, civil engineering, Environmental Sciences and Engineering (agronomy)
    • Institute of Architecture (IA, Bruno Marchand)
    • Structural Engineering Institute (IS, Aurelio Muttoni)
    • Institute of Urban and Regional Planning & Design (INTER, Jacques Lévy)
    • Institute of Infrastructures, Resources and Environment (ICARE, Jean-Louis Scartezzini)
    • Environmental Sciences and Technologies Institute (ISTE, Marc Parlange)
  • I&C (Informatique et communications – Computer and Communication Sciences) computer science and telecommunications
    • Laboratory for Computer Communications and Applications (LCA)
    • Laboratory of Nonlinear Systems (LANOS)
    • Institute of Core Computing Science (IIF)
    • Institute of Computing and Multimedia Systems (ISIM)
    • Institute of Communication Systems (ISC)
    • Center of Mobile Information and Communication Systems (MICS, Karl Aberer)
    • Center for Advanced Digital Systems (CSDA, Paolo Ienne)
    • Center for Neural Information Processing (CTIN, Wulfram Gerstner)
    • Center for Global Computing (CGC, Martin Rajman)
  • SV (Sciences de la vie – Life Sciences) life sciences
  • CDM (Collège du Management de la Technologie et Entrepreneuriat – College of Management of Technology)
    • Program of Management of Technology and Entrepreneurship (CDM-PMTE, Christopher Tucci)
    • Chair of Entrepreneurship and Technology Commercialization (CDM-ENTC, Marc Gruber)
    • Institute of Logistics, Economy and Management of Technology (ILEMT, Dominique Foray)
    • Management of Technology EPFL - UNIL (CMT, Francis-Luc Perret)
  • CdH (Collège des humanités – Sociology and humanities)
    • Human and social sciences teaching program (CDH-SHS, Eric Junod)

Students and traditions

Several music festivals are held yearly at EPFL. The most important one, Balelec, organized in May, proposes about 30 concerts and welcomes 18,000 visitors.

Other smaller festivals include Sysmic organized in April by the students of the Department of Microengineering, hosting two stages for local and national bands, and Artiphys, organized by the students of the Physics Department.

EPFL maintains several long-standing student exchange programs, such as the junior year engineering and science program with Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, as well as a graduate Aeronautics and Aerospace program with the ISAE in France.

Statistics

CROCUS, the only nuclear reactor of the French-speaking part of Switzerland

In 1946, there were 360 students at the EPFL. In 1969, the EPFL numbered 1,400 students and 55 professors. The university continued to grow rapidly, and in 2002, there were 5,872 students enrolled.

In 2004 there are more than 9000 people at the EPFL. About 6000 of these are students, with the remainder consisting of professors, assistants and even entrepreneurs located in the Parc Scientifique of the EPFL. There are over 100 nationalities at the EPFL, with over 50% of the teaching staff coming from outside of Switzerland.

In the year 2009-2010, there is over 7000 students on the campus.

The EPFL have acted as advisors for the Alinghi project, leading to a success at the America's Cup in New Zealand in 2003 and in Valencia in 2007. The EPFL is also developing a sun-powered glider, Solar Impulse, designed to be completely autonomous (capable of circumnavigation). Bertrand Piccard is the intended pilot for the demonstration of the glider. There is also a sensor network installed in the I&C building called SensorScope which reports live temperature and light measurements.

The EPFL holds the only nuclear reactor of the French-speaking part of Switzerland, CROCUS.

Notable alumni

Notable Professors

  • Giovanni De Micheli (Professor, integrated systems)
  • Martin Hasler (Professor, Computer and Communication Sciences, Laboratory of Nonlinear Systems)
  • Dario Floreano (Professor, intelligent systems)
  • Michael Grätzel (Professor, Photonics and Interfaces Sciences, Inventor of the dye-sensitized solar cells)
  • Jean-Daniel Nicoud (Professor, computer science, inventor of the modern ball mouse)
  • Arjen Lenstra (Professor, cryptographic algorithms)
  • Henry Markram (Professor, neurology)
  • Claude Nicollier (Professor, spatial technology and astronaut)
  • Martin Odersky (Professor, programming methods)
  • Minh Quang Tran (Professor, physics of energy and particles)
  • Serge Vaudenay (Professor, security and cryptography)
  • Martin Vetterli (Professor, computer and information sciences)
  • János Pach (Professor, Mathematics, One of the few living Mathematicians with Erdos Number 1)
  • Emre Telatar (Leading Information theorist and Professor,Information Theory)
  • Thomas Henzinger (Professor, computer and information sciences)
  • Monika Henzinger (Google Research head and Professor, computer and information sciences)
  • Riccardo Rattazzi (Professor, Theoretical Physics)
  • Ian F.C. Smith (Professor, Structural Engineering)


Photographs

A view of the Piccard Avenue.

Inner corridors in the East Center

SG Place

SG Place

the "Biowall"

BC Building

BC Building Inside

The Esplanade

Partner universities

EPFL has 179 partner universities around the globe.[4]

Europe

America

Asia

See also

Swiss federal institutes of technology and research (ETH domain)

Budget 2008 (CHF mil.)

ETH Domain

1'939,0

Institutes of technology

994,0
488,0

Federal Laboratories

238,0
86,3
49,9
49,1
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References

  1. ^ "2009 academic ranking of world universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University". Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 2009-09-26. http://www.arwu.org/ARWUFIELD2009ENG.jsp. Retrieved 2009-10-01. 
  2. ^ "Geneva Gateway, EPFL Europe's MIT". http://www.geneva-gateway.com/en/introducing_geneva/why_geneva/news.php?idContent=20&navigId=32. 
  3. ^ "Monika Henzinger interview:A Google superbrain falls in love with the Matterhorn". http://www.swissworld.org/en/switzerland/resources/why_switzerland/monika_henzinger/. 
  4. ^ epfl.ch - partner institutions

External links

v • d • e
CESAER Association

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