News EPFL

Optical fibers in materials: an artificial nervous system

Published:29.08.12 — When placed inside a material, optical fibers act like artificial nerves, transmitting valuable information about a structure’s state of fatigue and wear. A new technique developed at EPFL makes it possible to collect this data with vastly improved resolution and efficiency, opening up the possibility of new applications, particularly in much smaller objects.

Lignon gets a facelift

Published:27.08.12 — The facades of this massive Geneva architectural complex, home to 6,500 people, will undergo the beginning of a lengthy renovation process today. EPFL conducted studies that gave property owners a choice in how they updated the complex’s energy efficiency.

The future of programming is Scala

Published:23.08.12 — Typesafe, a company created just a year ago at EPFL and headquartered in the Science Park, has raised $14 million to commercialize a new programming language called Scala.

Swiss manufacturing: "We need to take risks"

Published:23.08.12 — Does Swiss manufacturing have a future in microengineering? This is one of the questions addressed at micro12, an event co-organized by the EPFL and attended by numerous experts from that field. One speaker, Fabrice Jendly, Vice President of the Neuchâtel arm of Swiss Engineering and manager of Symetis SA, will look more closely at this issue.

Studying gait for designing better prostheses

Published:20.08.12 — SUMMER SERIES (8) – Our ability to put one foot in front of the other is the result of a subtle coordination between the brain and the spinal cord. Understanding this mechanism was the goal of Life Science student Steve Berger’s Master’s thesis. He hopes to help create prostheses that are better adapted to the needs of handicapped individuals.

"Luna" has arrived in St-Prex

Published:16.08.12 — The provisional stage designed by EPFL for the St Prex Classics festival was finally roofed on Wednesday. From next year onwards, "Luna" will be inflated with helium and will float above this medieval village.

Improving the view – a new program for processing Hubble images

Published:15.08.12 — SUMMER SERIES – Student projects (7) An EPFL student has focused his work on an image of the farthest reaches of the visible universe. An improved image processing program made the photograph clearer, allowing more information to be obtained from it.