Circelec, SafeShore and Zigzag Networks receive Tech Grants

Circelec: Reducing Electronic Waste

Circelec is pioneering solutions to tackle the growing problem of electronic waste by developing innovative, eco-friendly printed circuit boards and RFID tags that are both compostable and recyclable. With over 55 million tons of e-waste generated annually and only 20% of it properly recycled, the need for sustainable alternatives has never been more urgent, especially with the rising demand for IoT devices.

Emerging from PhD research conducted at EPFL’s Soft Transducers Lab (LMTS), Circelec addresses this challenge through additive manufacturing, a more sustainable and cost-effective approach. The team has developed a patent-pending process to print zinc circuits on paper or biopolymers, enabling easy recycling or composting.

With a CHF 100,000 FIT Tech Grant, Circelec is poised to advance its research and development efforts, aiming to create even more complex and sustainable circuit boards.

SafeShore: sustainable shoreline protection to combat impacts of climate change

Climate change is poised to significantly alter our environment in the coming decades, with projections indicating more frequent and severe coastal flooding, storm surges, and a sea level rise of up to 1.5 meters by the end of the century. These changes threaten ecosystems, human life, and global economies.

Traditional shoreline protection methods, such as seawalls and armor blocks, have proven effective. However, their reliance on heavy concrete makes them slow to construct and environmentally unsustainable. To address these challenges, the EPFL-based project SafeShore, from the Hydraulic Constructions Platform, has developed an innovative hybrid-composite technology. This new solution offers a faster, more resilient, and eco-friendly alternative.

Supported by a CHF 100,000 FIT-Innogrant, SafeShore will enhance its technology using durable, lightweight fiber-polymer composites. These composites will be used to create novel seawalls and armor blocks, featuring composite skins filled with dredged soil or concrete. This approach accelerates construction by 3-10 times and allows for adaptation and expansion as needed, significantly reducing environmental impact while ensuring robust coastal protection for the future.

Zizag Networks paves the way for a future-proof network infrastructure

The Scalable Optical Switch (SOS) project introduced by Zigzag Networks offers a breakthrough in data transfer for backbone networks and data centers, essential for AI advancements. Traditional routing requires Optical-Electrical-Optical (OEO) conversions, increasing latency, energy use, and costs. Spun out from EPFL's Laboratory of Applied Photonics Devices (LAPD), SOS bypasses this by directly routing data at the optical layer, improving energy efficiency and scalability.

With AI-driven routing, SOS reduces optical power loss to just 1 dB per port. This technology significantly lowers capital and operational costs by minimizing the need for optical transceivers and high-end electronics, while reducing power consumption and latency. Supported by a FIT-Innogrant of CHF100’000, SOS paves the way for a scalable, efficient, and future-proof network infrastructure, with rapid commercialization in sight.