Four professors appointed by ETH BOARD

Paolo Ienne Lopez has been appointed as Full Professor of Computer Science a the School of Computer and Communication Sciences (IC). An Italian national, Paolo Ienne Lopez joined EPFL in July 2000 as a Tenure Track Assistant Professor and subsequently founded the Processor Architecture Laboratory. Appointed Associate Professor in 2006,
Mr Ienne Lopez works on simplifying the design of the state-of-the-art electronic systems at the core of all the devices we use, from smartphones to avionics, from digital cameras to Internet routers and modems.
The challenge comes from the exceptional complexity of these systems, which will soon be composed of billions of transistors. Paolo Ienne Lopez is a pioneer in the field of automatic design of specialized processors. In addition, his research in the area of arithmetical circuits has shown, against all expectations, that it is sometimes possible to obtain better results by automatic design than through the work of experienced engineers.

Lyesse Laloui has been appointed Associate Professor of Geo-engineering and CO2 storage at the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC).
Mr Laloui’s research focuses on five areas: civil engineering; storage and energy production (energy geostructures); land stability and the impact of climate change and the associated natural risks; geo-environmental engineering; and underground storage of nuclear waste.
Lyesse Laloui is internationally renowned for his innovative research on the modelization of soil behavior with thermo-hydro-mechanical couplings. In the last few years, his work has consisted of analyzing the impact of environmental elements on the behavior of geostructures such as underground nuclear waste storage sites, energy geostructures and carriageway structures.

Appointment of Aleksander Madry as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the School of Computer and Communication Sciences (IC). Aleksander Madry works at the interface between computer science theory and algorithms, his research focusing on the theory of algorithmic protocols to suggest innovative and performant solutions to typical problems in the field. The fast algorithms thus developed enable real-time responses. A particular use of this research can be found in interactive web applications, such as social networks (e.g. Facebook) or the methods for classifying web pages (like Google PageRank). The demands of communication infrastructures, currently developing rapidly, offer a vast field of application for this innovative research.

Satoshi Takahama has been appointed as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Quality of the Air at the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC). Satoshi Takahama’s research work addresses, in particular, the quantitative characterization and modelization of atmospheric particles, and the interactions between gas particles affecting the quality of the air and the climate. One of his goals is to study the links between atmospheric particle emission, production, transformation and distribution, and their interactions with the gaseous phase. This in-depth study aims to better define the extent to which the quality of the air and climate changes are affected by human activity.
Satoshi Takahama will also teach atmospheric chemistry and quality of the air, environmental engineering, thermodynamic chemistry and statistical analysis.