Sustainability Research Featured at 'Meet the Presidents" event
© 2025 Jérôme Chappellaz
During EPFL's "Meet the Presidents" philanthropic event, Professor Jérôme Chappellaz participated in a roundtable on engineering and sustainability, presenting innovative research approaches to approximately 80 Swiss philanthropy leaders.
The event, organized by EPFL's philanthropy team, brought together previous President Martin Vetterli and current President Anna Fontcuberta-Morral with prominent figures from Switzerland's philanthropic community, highlighting the university's strong foundation partnerships.
Engineering and Sustainability Panel
The evening featured a roundtable discussion on engineering and sustainability, moderated by Yasmine Calisesi. EPFL professors presented their research perspectives, including Kumar Varoon Agrawal on CO2 capture through new membrane technologies, Jeremy Luterbacher on nature-based materials development, and Tiffany Abitbol on using living organisms to create new materials and sustainability education approaches.
FOREL Sailboat and Climate Research
Professor Jérôme Chappellaz from SENSE presented EPFL's Forel sailboat as an innovative research platform for addressing global change questions. He discussed how the sailboat serves as a low-impact vector for conducting research in polar oceans and coastal waters, emphasizing the need for sustainable approaches to scientific investigation.
The presentation highlighted the sailboat's role in enabling research that would otherwise require more environmentally impactful methods, demonstrating how engineering solutions can support climate research while minimizing ecological footprint.
Engineering Interventions and Adaptation
Chappellaz also discussed engineering interventions for local-scale climate mitigation, emphasizing the responsibility of ETH Domain institutions, particularly ETHZ and EPFL, to approach this sensitive topic through ethical and scientifically sound methodologies. He stressed the importance of developing technological solutions with careful consideration of their broader societal implications.
Additionally, he presented EPFL ENAC's research on urban systems and water management, addressing fundamental questions about climate adaptation strategies. This work examines the critical question of "adapt to what?" in the context of changing environmental conditions.
Philanthropic Engagement
The panel discussions continued with informal exchanges between researchers and philanthropic attendees following the formal presentations. The event provided an opportunity for foundation representatives to learn about EPFL's research directions in sustainability and engineering.
The "Meet the Presidents" format allowed philanthropic leaders to meet both the current and incoming university leadership while gaining insight into EPFL's research portfolio and future directions.