Perspective I: Boston Through the Eyes of a Swiss
By Georgiana M. Virant, First grad Kantonsschule Zug / Switzerland

As daughter of an ETH Alumnus, I had the opportunity to participate in a trip to Boston, organized by Peter Fischer of the ETH Alumni Organization.
Together with a dozen alumni, I discovered all corners of Boston on foot, bicycle, bus, subway, tram, “duck vehicle,” sailing ship, and car. We came by train from New York and departed by plane back to Switzerland. I was impressed by the beauty of Boston’s buildings, wharfs, and bridges, both historical and new.

The first day of our Boston trip, Tuesday August 4th, we had tours through Harvard University and swissnex Boston. By the T (Boston’s subway) we came to our first stop. It sounds boring: The Glass Flowers at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. But in fact it was amazing what skilled hands can do with such a fragile material: create real-looking flowers (and jellyfish as well). These glass flowers were thin like paper, and looked astonishingly real. They were made with a very high precision by Leopold Braschka and his son Rudolf. Our Guide was not afraid for the safety of the glass flowers so much as the antique vitrines in which the flowers were held.

After the exhibition, we continued to Harvard University. Our guide was a student who studied Bioengineering at Harvard. She showed us many buildings on Harvard’s campus. The most impressive building to me was the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library. I liked the library not just because of the amazing architecture, but also because of its historical background. Harry Elkins Widener was a former student at Harvard. The Widener family was one of the most prominent families in Philadelphia in the 19th Century. Harry loved books so he went to England in search of Francis Bacon’s essays on Religious Meditations. He found what he was looking for, but on his way back to America he died in the tragic sinking of the Titanic. His mother donated the money to build this library in his honor.

After visiting of the statue of John Harvard (a founder of Harvard) we went to swissnex Boston. Felix Moesner presented the goals and activities of swissnex. It promotes the cohesion of Switzerland and North America in knowledge of art, education, science and innovation. North America has a market size and financing spirit that gives new business opportunities to Swiss innovation that are hardly obtainable at home. On the other hand, the US gets to benefit from Swiss ideas and innovation.

That afternoon, our group leader Peter had a surprise for us. He organized a Duck Tour around Boston and on the Charles River. The vehicle is a mixture of a boat and a car, used at the Second World War. It was a great experience on this vehicle. But because of a thunderstorm (which included hail) the tour had to be interrupted while on the Charles River.

The next morning we put on our sporty clothes because we had a guided tour around Boston by bike. One thing I remember from the guide’s explanation was the creation of the “Smoot” a unit of measurement used to determine the length of the Harvard Bridge, which connects Cambridge to Boston over the Charles River. [A “Smoot” is named after Oliver Smoot, an MIT fraternity pledge, whose height was famously used to measure the length of this bridge in 1958.]

We also crossed the stunning Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, the longest cable bridge in the world. We drove all the way down to the beautiful Jamaica Pond (which happens to be 9.4 Smoot deep) and to the Back Bay neighborhood, where we ate at the Blue Glass Café at the Hancock Tower, which is the tallest building in New England. After lunch we drove through Boston with an agreeable breeze and discovered the gigantic old harbor used for embarking during the second world war, now home to the Boston Design Center. At the end of the day I was exhausted but glad I did this bike tour.

On the 6th of August, our group from Switzerland was welcomed by Louis Alexander, Director of the MIT Alumni Group, who introduced us to the MIT institution. In the morning we visited the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, where Dean Glettig and Giovanni Traverso presented the newest research in the astonishing field of slow delivery of medicaments inside a body. 

We also had the honor to meet briefly with Robert Langer, the famed biomedical engineer. In the afternoon we stayed at the MIT Museum and discovered amazing machines created by students. One of these machines could “bathe” itself with oil. Another machine was called Walking Chair: imagine a tiny little yellow chair walking in a circle on a piece of stone. After 45 minutes we walked to the park in front of the Hancock Tower in Copley Square, where there was a free open-air concert of the band Matt and Kim in progress. I have never heard this band before but it was cool music.

On the 4th day of our trip, Renata von Tscharner, founder and president of the Charles River 
Conservancy, showed us the key buildings along the Charles River, and explained the effort to maintain free path access for bikes and pedestrians. Impressive was the development of the North Point Park.

In the afternoon, we sailed in the sea between the islands close to Boston. The traffic of boats as well as planes was dense. In my opinion the skyline of Boston is best to see from the waters.

We finished our travel with a nice dinner at the Prudential Tower with a stunning view over Boston by night. Which left us all with the feeling: Boston is a beautiful city!  

Perspective II: The ETH Alumni Group Experiences Boston: Perspectives From a Local swissnexer
By Elizabeth Galvin, Event Coordinator at swissnex Boston

Last week, as documented by Georgina Virant (above) the ETH Zurich Alumni travel group ventured to Boston to experience what the city has to offer. The group, which plans an annual trip for ETH Alumni, chose Boston as this year’s destination. The group members were of a wide variety of backgrounds and ages, but all were unified through their connection to ETH Zurich. 

To begin, the ETH Alumni came to Cambridge and stopped here at swissnex Boston to meet with Dr. Felix Moesner and the rest of the swissnex team. The group learned that swissnex Boston aims to help connect the best minds, research, and innovation in Switzerland with their counterparts in Greater Boston, while also maintaining a close relationship with the ETH Alumni New England chapter.  

The group traveled to visit the different neighborhoods, rivers and bays of Boston. From biking along the Charles River and walking through the Harvard Yard, to sailing in the Boston Harbor and traversing city-to-sea in the famous Duck Boats, the group saw nearly every view of Boston. The city teems with life in August: the locals are outside as much as possible to take advantage of the eight perfect summer weeks before the cold sets in. This means that even on their free time, the group stumbled onto seasonal activities like free concerts and festivals. 

No trip to New England would be complete without a sampling of fresh, local seafood. The ETH Alumni group had the opportunity to experience the messy joy of cracking lobster shells and munching on fried clams with a view of Boston Harbor at Legal Seafood Harborside. To finish their adventure, the Alumni were able see spectacular views of Greater Boston from Top of the Hub, where they also sampled Boston Cream Pie. 

The ETH Alumni group discovered that Boston is an exciting and dynamic region with lots to offer visitors. Thanks to their enthusiasm and organized planning, the group had a beautiful Boston getaway.  

Maulde Cuérel, 23  is from Lausanne. She joined the team on August 3rd. Interviewed by Ines Morgan, Junior Project Manager

What did you study before coming to swissnex Boston?
I graduated from ECAL last August and obtained my CAS in Marketing & Management at UNIL. Just before coming here I attended a Summer University at the Copenhagen Business School where I studied management for creative industries. I love everything related to the creative process and innovation.

What is your internship position at swissnex?
I’m a Junior Communications Manager, which means that I will help with the events that are coming up in September and over the next six months, and will coordinate the different social media platforms that we use. I will also share some of my creative skills in photography, editing, illustration and so on.

After a week here what do you like about swissnex?
First, the team is great. Everyone is here for a reason and has incredible motivation. It is definitely inspiring to work surrounded by passionate people who have this sense of purpose for their job, and love what they do. And the office location enhances this ambiance by being located in Cambridge right next to Harvard and MIT. You can really feel that this is where things are happening.

What do you think about the east coast and Boston?
When I hear « East Coast » I directly think about New York, where I did my exchange semester last year at School of Visual Arts. This is the first time I’ve come to Boston and my first impression was It looks exactly like Walker Evan’s photos of Victorian Houses! Because I am a huge fan of his work. The city itself is beautiful. I love that I can go everywhere by bike; It’s definitely more laid back than New York City.

Do you have a motto?
«If you’re the smartest person in the room, it means you’re in the wrong room.» I always keep that in mind. Which is great here! I feel I can even hang out at the Starbucks and learn something new, like how mirror neurons affect our behavior. Which actually happened this morning.

Text By Christine Luiggi, Communications Manager at swissnex Boston

From let to right: Meinrad Koch, Stefan Klettenhammer and Philippe Geiger

Tomorrow, a team made up of students from Zurich University of Applied Sciences will represent Switzerland at the International Startup Challenge at Virginia Tech University.

Team EntoLog is working to combat the growing global demand for protein-rich foods—while avoiding the high stress on land and water resources that is typical of animal farming. What is EntoLog’s approach? The answer is bugs!

The new technology developed by Team EntoLog enables the extraction of proteins and other valuable nutritional components from insects at an industrial scale. Their patentable extraction technology unlocks the potential for high quality nutritional components from insects at prices that are lower than existing components from animal sources, including dairy.

The digestible proteins and unsaturated fatty acids are separated from indigestible components to create insect food products of higher nutritional quality than exist on the market today.

EntoLog hopes its technology will reduce aversion towards insect-based food products by eliminating all visible insect fragments, making them more palatable, tasty and more nutritionally valuable.

EntoLog offers license based contract agreements to industry partners, as well as system and plant design and consulting.

After a recent showcase in Chicago, the complete Watt d’Or Exhibition makes a stop in Madison, at the Wisconsin Energy Institute.

“We’re honored to host these remarkable examples of Switzerland’s solutions to energy problems,” says Michael Corradini, Director of the Institute. “This exhibit not only demonstrates the power of people to address the energy challenges of our time, but also inspires us here at the Wisconsin Energy Institute to continue to broaden our collaborations, across countries and across disciplines.”

Felix Moesner, CEO of swissnex Boston says, “We hope to be back next year to continue the dialogue on energy innovation.”

Watt d’Or is an annual award that recognizes the best energy projects from Switzerland; it’s awarded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy. There are five different categories: society, energy technologies, renewable energy, energy efficient mobility, and building and space. One of the Watt d’Or’s main goals is to encourage and motivate the development of new projects within the energy industry. The purpose of the exhibition is to showcase the winning projects, as a means by which to create a dialogue and establish collaborations with key players in academia and the public & private sector. The hope is that the projects will spark future interactions and forge new bonds.

Watt d’Or Exhibition
Wisconsin Energy Institute
1552 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53726

Open Monday - Friday, 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM

August 18, 2015

Ben Keel is the winner of the #cuckoo24_posterdesign contest; he is from Cincinnati, Ohio. We sat down with him last week for this interview.

What brings you to Boston?
I study communication design at the University of Cincinnati School of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (UC DAAP). They have a co-op program, not unlike Northeastern’s. Because it alternates school semesters and internship semesters throughout the college term, I was able to travel here to Boston for an internship with Arrowstreet Architecture and Design.

What were your impressions of the “24 Hours in the Life of a Swiss Cuckoo Clock” exhibition?
I though it was smart, funny, and just wonderful. Each piece in the exhibition was very entertaining; it was interesting to see how each one, whether it was an ipad application or an illustrated calendar, or even a larger construction— could exaggerate or simplify the essential part of the cuckoo clock so well, in such an entertaining way, and such an intelligent way—and really deconstruct everything about cuckoo clocks in a really gripping fashion.

Tell us a little bit more about your poster: how did you come up with this idea, what was your process?
My process was about a month of thought, and about a solid week of work, whether that was sketching, or cycling though different ideas in Illustrator, or reaching out to friends and co-workers throughout that process.

Originally I was planning on making each of the stacked clocks appear as small caricatures of actual pieces in the exhibit. But painting and illustrating the whole poster was proving to be a complex and time-consuming process. So instead, I limited myself to just one concept, and one function, which was the build up of time as you read the title, and the big “release” of the cuckoo as it shoots up and off the page. I wanted to have just that one moment for people to focus on, giving the poster more impact and honoring the wit of the exhibit.

What are your impressions of Boston?
It gets better the longer I stay here, and I can attribute that to the people just as much as any sites to see or things to do. I’m sad to go but I’ll be back in January to continue at Arrowstreet. 

*** 

As winner, Ben will travel to Switzerland this fall where he’ll travel by rail, stopping at four of the country’s art and design schools. He will post here on the blog about his experiences, so stay tuned! 

Prizes generously provided by Swiss International Airlines and Rail Europe. The #cuckoo24_posterdesign contest was co-sponsored by Northeastern’s School of Art, Media + Design, and swissnex Boston.

http://dsgnbk.com

By Simone Schmieder, Junior Project Manager at swissnex Boston

Marie Lamensch (standing left) and Nicolai Pogadl (standing right) presented their research, “U.S. Mainstream Media Reporting on Nine Sub-Saharan Countries” at MIT on Monday.

The Media Cloud, a collaborative project supported by MIT Center for Civic Media and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, is an open data platform that draws together searchable news stories and blog posts from all over the world. It also enables easy visualization of this data.

During the Media Cloud Data Challenge, held this summer by the Center for Civic Media and the Ford Foundation, eleven student teams used these tools to research their respective projects. This past Monday, all teams presented their findings at the MIT Media Lab.

Marie Lamensch and Nicolai Pogadl, researchers at the Digital Mass Atrocity Lab at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University, compared the coverage of Sub-Saharan countries by US mainstream media. Their preliminary results show that there is hardly any positive reporting. For example, even a story about cheese production in DRC refers to the insecure political situation in the country. (Pogadl, it’s worth noting, is a graduate of University of St. Gallen.)

Other research presented that day included an analysis of images used in news stories about abortion with respect to the pro-life/pro-choice divide; another on how technology companies such as Google seem to influence reporting and politics. It was very interesting to see so many examples how media and public opinion are so intertwined—ultimately shaping each other as opposed to merely reacting to one another.

Hult International Business School, a Swiss-rooted institution, was established in 1964 as America’s first corporate university. It was then known as the Arthur D. Little School of Management, focused on “Action Learning”—applying classroom theory in the real world. In 2003, one of Europe’s most successful entrepreneurs, Bertil Hult, expanded the school’s innovative teaching methodology and grew the school from its single Boston location to a global network of home campuses including London, Dubai, Shanghai, and San Francisco. It also has rotation centers in New York and São Paulo. Today, Hult is the world’s largest ranked graduate business school with 2500 graduate students.

This year, over 600 graduates gathered in Davos for an MBA summit from August 24-28. It was held at the Davos Congress Center, which annually hosts the World Economic Forum. All Hult MBA graduates celebrated their achievements through an intense degree program, with the graduation ceremony as its highlight. The ceremony included inspiring keynote presentations from thought-leading guest speakers. Additionally, the winners of the Hult Impact Challenge were crowned by a panel of judges from leading companies.

Davos is the mecca of the world’s most influential leaders since 1928, when Albert Einstein founded the “Davos Academy” to bring together Europe’s intellectual elite. The graduates, having received their MBA degrees, tread on the same stage that many world leaders, and major CEOs at the WEF, have done.

The Hult International Business School, though originating from Boston, has roots in Lucerne, Switzerland through its parent company EF. It was a pleasure for swissnex Boston CEO Felix Moesner to give his keynote lecture on the Swiss Innovation Ecosystem. “It is important to host Hult’s new pool of MBA talents in Switzerland and convey the spark of how solid education and innovation fuel the economy. Future leaders and entrepreneurs are born. Congratulations!” For reference, please see his presentation. 

A special word of gratitude for a long lasting collaboration goes to Professor Henrik Tötterman, Boston Dean, Mr. Tom Hall, Executive Director, and Professor Shawn O'Donnell, Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs.

By Anita Suter, Senior Communications Manager at swissnex Boston. 

With ten local experts, journalists, advisors and a policy maker in the field of energy, we embarked on a one-week trip to discover and discuss Switzerland’s new innovations and long-term policy. The trip was organized in close collaboration between swissnex Boston and Switzerland. 

The participants of this media/study tour began their first full day with quite a thrill: a walk across a swinging bridge that crosses a deep gorge, in order to ride on Europe’s steepest funicularto Lake Gelmer! A thick layer of fog was somewhat of an obstacle to the panoramic view, but the effect was beautiful and somewhat mystical.

From the top of the mountain we entered into the mountain itself, to visit the world of hydroelectricity, an underground network of tunnels, shafts, turbines and generators at KWO Gerstenegg. As one of the leading hydroelectric companies in Switzerland, KWO provides substantial electricity production to the country. Its large lakes serve as a backup supply of “fuel” allowing the KWO to react immediately to the ever-changing demand for power and to adjust its production accordingly. Fascinating technology met fascinating natural wonders when our visit concluded at the crystal cavern deep inside the mountain.

For our next stop, we took the windy road into the canton of Bern to Ittigen, which is at the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), not far from the nation’s capital. The SFOE is Switzerland’s policy execution center for issues relating to energy supply and energy use at the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC). After words of welcome from SFOE’s Director, Dr. Walter Steinmann, Mr. Lukas Gutziler, Senior Energy Expert, gave an overview on the Swiss energy policy. His presentation was met with great interest and many questions from our US experts and journalists. “Can Switzerland be seen as a European leader in the field of energy innovation?” asked one participant. Mr. Gutzwiler replied, “Hopefully you will be able to answer this question yourself after your week of visits and meetings here.”

In Bern, none other than the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and Lichtenstein, Suzie G. LeVine, welcomed our delegation at her residence. An inspiring speech by Ms. LeVine on the advantages of Swiss vocational training left our tour participants impressed with Switzerland’s ‘dual education’ approach. Ambassador Mauro Moruzzi, Head of International Relations at Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation underlined the importance of education and research driven-investment to fuel sustainable growth in Switzerland. 

No trip to Switzerland is complete without crossing the “Röstigraben,” also known as the German-French language boarder! EPFL, considered Europe’s most cosmopolitan technical university, boasts students, professors and staff from over 120 nations. 

A presentation on the Graetzel solar cells by Professor Michael Graetzel himself was a highlight to many in the room. A demonstration of the cells (and the showcase of a backpack equipped with solar cells to charge electronic devices) by the inventor himself held the audience’s full attention indeed. Although big footprints to fill, Professor Kevin Sivula managed to address the group’s interests with his presentation on solar hydrogen production.

It was nearly impossible not to hear about the adventurous journey of the Swiss explorers Betrand Piccard and André Borschberg on the Solar Impulsethis past summer. Although their record flight was interrupted in Hawaii (to be continued summer 2016), the project continues to fascinate energy experts and the general public worldwide. EPFL is highly involved in the research surrounding the Solar Impulse, as portrayed in a presentation on EPFL’s involvement in Discovery Projects by Pascal Vuiolliomenet.

Mid-week, we paid a visit to Carosserie Hess AG,  a bus manufacturer cooperating with ETH Zurich on a diesel hybrid bus. New, pure electric buses now bridge the need for electric lines over long distances! Earlier this year the partnership was awarded the Watt d’Or energy prize.

In Zürich, two tenants in the city’s Technopark, a 47’000 square meter building complex that provides the grounds for roughly 300 companies in the fields of science, technology and economy, welcomed our group. greenTEG works with the latest thermoelectric technology developed at ETH Zurich – a technology used in Heat Flux Sensors, Laser Detectors, and Energy Harvesting. Their expertise helps to produce detailed thermal images with infrared cameras. SmarterBetterCities offers business-to-business solutions with the mission of creating smarter, better spaces, with innovative and affordable web solutions.

The Swiss Energy Innovation study tour was timed in conjunction with the second edition of the Swiss US Energy Innovation Days, taking place in Zurich. The symposium, a combination of site visits, workshops and presentations, aimed to bring together the best and brightest of the energy field in both countries. It was first held in Boston in July, 2015, and was organized as a joint venture by the SFOE, ZHAP, SIA, S-GE and swissnex Boston. 

Our group then visited University of Applied Sciences & Arts Luzern, to check out such  projects as iHomeLab and you+ prototype; Suurstoffi Rotkreuz 2000 Watt urban development; EMPA Dübendorf; the IBM Rüschlikon Research Lab, and a networking reception at Siemens Schweiz AG.  

Last but not least, the closing session of the Swiss US Energy Innovation Days, which was held on the Toni-Areal. Dr. Walter Steinmann (Director SFOE), Daniel Küng (Director S-GE) and Alicia Barton (Director MassCEC) each gave addresses, followed by keynotes by Patrick Warnking (Country Director Google Switzerland), Professor Dr. Lino Guzella (President ETH Zurich) and swissnex Boston’s own Dr. Felix Moesner. Following was a panel discussion with the symposium’s workshop chairs, where conclusions from the US perspective (by Ambassador Suzan G. Levine) and Swiss perspective (by Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard) marked the end of the second edition of the Swiss-US Energy Innovation days. A third edition will be held in the U.S. in 2016.  

The study tour on Energy Innovation, organized by Presence Switzerland with the close support of swissnex Boston, was a great new step in our mission to “connect the dots” between Switzerland and North America. Or to say it in the words of Felix Moesner, CEO at swissnex Boston: “The US Delegation of energy experts toured Switzerland to discover many new angles in innovation, small and big scale achievements, and the commitment to head toward a sustainable future. The delegation networked during the US-Swiss Energy Innovation Days and produced an impressive number of follow-ups. The pipeline is full and we are looking forward to the third edition of the Swiss-US Energy Innovation Days in the US, in 2016.”

#chenergy Tweets

Meet Duško, of Swiss medtech startup Creoptix. He’s here testing some biosensor devices before dropping them off with a Cambridge-area lab, which will use it for streamlined testing. 

And below, see our interview with Matyas Vegh, Creoptix’s CEO. He stopped by our offices last month:

Angela Ferreira, 26, is from Bern. Passionate about literature and travel, she joined the team in September. Interviewed by Maulde Cuérel, Junior Communications Manager

What did you study before coming to swissnex Boston?
I studied English and Business Administration at the University of Zurich. English was my major, with a focus on English Literature. Business Administration was my minor. Also I did an exchange semester at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia.

What is your internship position at swissnex?
I am a Junior Project Manager for Academic Relations, which means that I am responsible for relations between Swiss and American universities– mainly I represent Swiss universities here in Boston. I go to job & university fairs, and serve as a contact for the people we have mandates with. I also set up sabbaticals for visiting professors.

Is it your first time here in Boston? What do you think about the city?
Yes it is my first time in Boston. I arrived here 3 weeks ago, and spent one of those weeks just exploring the city; I found it to be very beautiful. It has these new neighborhoods, but also old ones, like Beacon Hill, which is stunning. I of course did the Freedom Trail in downtown Boston. Cambridge also has its own beauty and cool vibe.

Boston has inspired countless stories and is / has been home to many great writers. As someone who studied literature, how do you feel about Boston?
Before coming here I tried to gather all the books I had that were set in New England. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring all of them with me so I had to settle on Thoreau’s Walden and H.P. Lovecraft’s Call of Cthulu. I am happy to be in a place that has so many small bookshops and a wonderful Public Library… I will never run out of things to read.

After a week at swissnex how would you describe the environment here?
I love the idea of working with a small team, and actually knowing everybody I work with. My task seems to be quite diverse so I will probably also meet a lot of people outside of the swissnex office, who are still related to our mission. I am really excited to jump into all the projects we are involved in.

Do you have any specific things you want to do or achieve while you are here in Boston?
I would say traveling. I really want to discover New England, Cape Cod and all these beautiful places…

Thomas Maurissen, 23, is from Geneva. Passionate about sciences and technology, he joined the team in September. Interviewed by Maulde Cuérel, Junior Communications Manager.

What did you do before coming to swissnex?
I did my bachelors and masters at EPFL. There I started studying life sciences and technology, and then specialized in bioengineering, with a focus on regenerative medicine. For my master’s thesis I worked on biomaterials in the Griffith Lab at MIT for a full academic year. I also worked on cancer stem cells at the University of Tokyo jointly with St. Luke’s International Hospital for a summer.

Can you tell us a little bit more about your project at MIT?
I developed a hydrogel system that presents growth factors to cells in 3D, which is promising for biological applications. In particular, I synthesized PEG-based hydrogels with customizable ratios of epidermal growth factor to PEG macromers, and then demonstrated that cell adhesion and proliferation increased in this hydrogel system using an endometrial model.

Did you already have some contacts with swissnex during your exchange here?
Yes, I went to some swissnex events such as the European Career Fair at MIT—that’s where I originally met some members of the team. I also attended the Fondue event last winter, and met up with some of the team out and about in Cambridge.  

What makes you stay in Boston?
So far I’ve learned a lot from an academic point of view: everything regarding research, the labs, and having the opportunity to meet some brilliant professors. Now I want to look at Cambridge’s other big environment: the startup & entrepreneurship scene. swissnex is a perfect bridge between Switzerland, North America, science and innovation.

What is your position here?
I am a Junior Project Manager in entrepreneurship and innovation working with Niccolo Iorno [Project Leader].

What is the most exciting part of working with entrepreneurs?
The most exciting part is meeting a lot of people… I have only been here for a week, but almost every day I meet someone new who’s involved in a startup or entrepreneurial project.

Do you have specific goals or expectations during your six months at swissnex?
I’d like to be more familiar, or more in touch with the startup and entrepreneurship scene. I want to do some good networking, and get to know people that are proactive in this field, and passionate about technology.

After your internship, are you planning on staying in Boston?
After my internship I’m planning on going to grad school to specialize further in bioengineering and micro-engineering. I will definitely apply in Boston but I will also consider returning to Switzerland for its excellent infrastructure.

Inspirational quotes?
“In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm… in the real world all rests on perseverance.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

By Elizabeth Galvin, Event Coordinator at swissnex Boston.

The Back to School event at swissnex Boston has become an annual tradition that brings the Swiss academic community together to meet each other and Swiss alumni chapters and social groups. This year was no exception: students, researchers, and postdocs in a wide variety of disciplines gathered at swissnex Boston to listen to the Swiss alumni chapters’ and social groups’ presentations, meet the swissnex Boston team and enjoy Swiss and American delicacies. The presenters were: The ETH Zurich Alumni New England chapter, the St. Gallen Alumni, Uni Zurich Alumni and Friends, Swiss Link Boston, the Swiss Society of Boston, Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne, Friends of Switzerland (FOSI), the Swiss National Science Foundation, Friends of Basel Network in New England, EPFL Alumni US East Coast, and the Graduate Institute of Geneva.

In addition to meeting the hosts and the group leaders, the guests were able to network and meet each other. To facilitate the networking, guests were encouraged to connect the dots with the “Your Journey” activity. The activity was a crafty project with maps of Switzerland and Boston; participants were encouraged to connect a colored string from their institution in Switzerland to their current institution in Boston.  By the end of the night, the maps were covered with many strings showing the distance covered by the Swiss and the number of schools in Boston with Swiss researchers and students.

The swissnex Boston team would like to extend a big thank you to all those that presented their alumni chapter or Swiss social group!

See here for tweets about #swissnexbts

By Francesca Cerza, Junior Project Manager at swissnex Boston.

On September 9th, Felix Moesner, Francesca Cerza and Angela Ferreira of swissnex Boston took part in the 2015 Women in MassChallenge Showcase. Thirty-eight startups founded by women presented their innovations, and were joined by hundreds of startup community supporters to discuss the most important issues surrounding women in entrepreneurship.

Women in MassChallenge empowers and supports female founders in order to provide better access, education and support for the unique challenges that face female entrepreneurs. Founded by alumni of MassChallenge in 2012, this women’s network hosts regular meetings in addition to this annual event.

Overall, the number of female entrepreneurs is on the rise. Recently, Boston and London were named the best cities in the world for female entrepreneurs. Of the startups participating in the MassChallenge Boston Finalist class, 44% have at least one woman founder.

By Thomas Maurissen, Junior Project Manager, Innovation at swissnex Boston.

Jennifer Doudna was honored this Wednesday, September 10th, with the 2015 Inaugural Pfizer Cambridge Lecture at the Kresge Auditorium at MIT. At this event she presented her contributions to genome engineering, currently a hot topic in the scientific community. The swissnex Boston Innovation team attended the event, and extends its support to bridge efforts in gene therapy technologies using CRISPR, between Switzerland and the US.

Dr. Doudna is a professor at UC Berkeley and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. But mainly she is a researcher acclaimed for her pioneering work on the CRISPR/Cas9 system, a revolutionary molecular tool opening the doors to the genome-editing era.

Her research focus on Clustered, Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (abbreviated as CRISPR). She started with a project in the lab of UC Berkeley Professor Jillian Banfield, where she studied the CRISPR locus in bacteria as a potential signature of the bacterial immune system to fight virus infection. Doudna then pursued the biochemical characterization of CRISPR/Cas9 and engineered this system to increase stability and binding speed[1]. Collaborator Alex Marson at UCSF realized an interesting proof of concept when he used his own blood to purify primary T cells and showed that a specific gene can be ablated or inserted, in this specific case the CXCR4 co-receptor required for HIV entry[2].

In brief, the CRISPR/Cas9 system is composed of an RNA sequence (target specific crRNA and guide RNA) and a Cas9 restriction enzyme that is able to cleave double stranded DNA at a specific site. The main purpose of this technology is to alter a target DNA sequence by adding, removing or modifying a sequence of genetic material.

As a key player in the field of gene editing and repair, Jennifer Doudna founded several successful companies developing CRISPR/Cas9 technologies: Caribou Biosciences (2011), Editas Medicine (2013) and Intellia Therapeutics (2014). She has also been the Vice President of Discovery Research of Genentech since 2009, is part of the Advisory Board of Orchard Venture Partners and eFFECTOR Therapeutics, and worked for Pfizer, Merck, and Gilead. 

Another prominent company using the CRISPR/Cas9 system for transformative medicine is CRISPR Therapeutics headquartered in Basel, Switzerland and founded by Emmanuelle Charpentier, the second celebrity known for her work on developing the CRISPR/Cas9 technique. CRISPR Therapeutics is the first tenant in the biotech incubator Mass Innovation Labs[3], located in Kendall square in Cambridge, and represents a perfect synergy of Swiss and US cutting-edge technological developments.

[1] Schumann K, Lin S, Boyer E, et al. Generation of knock-in primary human T cells using Cas9 ribonucleoproteins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2015;112(33):10437-10442. doi:10.1073/pnas.1512503112.

[2] Sternberg SH, Redding S, Jinek M, Greene EC, Doudna JA. DNA interrogation by the CRISPR RNA-guided endonuclease Cas9. Nature. 2014;507(7490):62-67. doi:10.1038/nature13011.

[3] CRISPR Takes Space in Former Vertex (VRTX) Site Converted by Mass Innovation Labs for Startup Companies, by Alex Keown and Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff (http://www.biospace.com/News/crispr-takes-space-in-former-vertex-site-converted/378282).

 
Last summer BuzzFeed started #GrowingUpSwiss, and people started to share their Swiss memories on Twitter. At swissnex we had fun remembering what it was like to grow up in Heidi’s country. We also noticed that the Röstigraben had a great influence on our childhood…

Here is a compilation of the best memories from our interns, all of whom were born in the 90’s.

« My pride and joy in Kindergarten was my strip. »

« For Znüni I ate crocodiles all the time. »

« Taking Aromat with you wherever you go! »

« Looking at all the pictures in the Globi books and never reading a line of the text, because it’ all rhymes. »

« Making sure your best friend gets the same activities during The passport vacance »

« Do you speak Swiss? Emmm…»

« Going to Henri Dès’ concert and knowing  every. single. song. by.heart.»

« Socks can be so much more than just Socks. They can be a Babibouchettes»

« Frozen Petit suisse taste so much better than ice-cream »

« Do you speak Italian?!?! Oh, you live in Italy! »

« Course de l’escalade was our Halloween »

« Learn how to read time on your flick flak »

« Looking like Heidi and living in Switzerland »

Share some of your Swiss childhood memories with us on Twitter, @swissnexboston, using #growingupswiss. We would love to hear from you! 

by Dr. Felix Moesner, swissnex Boston’s CEO

From left to right: George Vekinis, Heinrich Hofmann, Margarethe Hofmann, Anna Zervaki and Felix Moesner.

The international EUROMAT conferences have been held biennially since 1989 and have grown  to bring together 2000 researchers, scientists, trainees and students from both academia and industry to discuss critical developments in the field of materials science and technology. EUROMAT2015 was hosted at the Warsaw University of Technology, the largest technical university in Poland, from September 20-24, 2015. The symposium within the conference was grouped under the main fields Functional Materials, Structural Materials, Processing, Characterization and Modeling, Energy and Environment, Biomaterials and Healthcare. A special session, organized by Dr. Margarethe Hofmann, President of Federation of European Materials Society (FEMS) was dedicated to important topics including Education, Technology Transfer and Strategic Materials.

“In order to successfully bridge the valley of death of materials science startups, the regulatory challenges and barriers also need to be solved,” said Heinrich Hofmann of EPFL. His talk included an overview of materials science activities and partnering institutions in Switzerland, which bring results to market, and highlight the role of the Competence Centre of Materials (CCMX). Hofmann’s talk, “Bridging between research and industrial development in Materials Science: The Swiss Model,” gave insights into trending research fields, such as functional coatings. He brought up an important point: whether the traditional model of “academic business” still complies with industry needs.

According to Prof. Georges Vekinis, Research Director at the National Center of Scientific Research in Athens, “The world builds what Europe thinks.” He pointed out that “a vast number of technological ideas that have become valuable innovations can be traced back to some European laboratories. However, Europe lags behind in converting smart inventions to valuable innovations. The reason is that European researchers prefer the glory of discovery in the lab rather than the pleasure of entrepreneurship in the real world.”

Ugo Lafont, from the Materials Space Evaluation and Radiation Effects Section at the European Space Agency (ESA), talked about “Advanced materials and manufacturing process for space application: a European Space Agency Perspective.” According to Lafont, “promoting the development of advanced materials and manufacturing processes is one of the strategic and enabling drivers for the European Space Agency when it comes to new technologies.”

swissnex Boston’s CEO Felix Moesner spoke on the topic of “Global opportunities to bring top research to market.” He introduced the swissnex network and also explained why for the fifth year in a row, Switzerland has remained at the top of the Global Innovation Index. This accomplishment requires stable politics with minimal uncertainty for businesses, generous and sustained public funding for fundamental research without political strings, and high private-sector investment for research.

As part of the global ERI-Network, swissnex Boston strategically supports these efforts by connecting the dots between Swiss and US scientists and innovators. “We are proud to work on world-class partnerships in science, education, and innovation that strengthen the outreach– resulting in a win-win situation,” he said. He continued by presenting examples of technology transfer, startup support, and high-tech showcasing in the Americas and in Asia.

Photo Credit: Prof. Jolanta Janczak, EMPA

By Angela Ferreira, Junior Project Manager at swissnex Boston

“You have to be able to distance yourself from the idiot narrator,” author Christian Kracht advised his audience at the reading from his latest novel, Imperium. 

A large crowd gathered on the evening of September 22 in the opulent halls of the Goethe Institut in Boston to listen to author Christian Kracht and his English translator, Daniel Bowles. 

Imperium, which was published in English this July, caused a bit of controversy upon its original publication in German. Fellow author Gregor Diez accused him of propagating a racist worldview, and of purposely placing himself outside current democratic discourse (Spiegel.de 13.02.2012). 

Despite the controversy, Christian Kracht was awarded both the literature prize of the Swiss Canton of Bern and the prestigious Wilhelm Raabe prize forthis book. 

Although its setting and time frame might suggest that it’s a historical novel, many elements in the story belie this first impression. Historical it may be, but it is not, nor does it claim to be an accurate representation of the past. Indeed, Kracht openly admits to wreaking havoc with history, using a completely unreliable narrator to usher the reader to Kabakon, an island in the former Bismarck Archipelago.

On Tuesday night, the audience at the Goethe Institut was invited on a short journey to this fantastical, and fanatical, world of August Engelhardt, a self-proclaimed nudist, cocovore (i.e. eater of only coconuts), and sovereign of Kabakon. Christian Kracht, who was born in the Bernese Oberland in the village Saanen, brought his characters alive with vivid description and a healthy dose of irony. 

In the story, Engelhardt and fellow vegetarian Halsey (recently sent into exile in Australia by the brothers Kellog) at first have much to share between them. What starts as a fruitful collaboration between two like-minded spirits quickly turns sour as the differences in philosophy manifest themselves: Halsey is a puritan, hailing from the United States, whereas Engelhardt follows his own ideals of nudism and a diet consisting entirely of coconuts. 

The hilarity of said encounter was, in the context of this reading, aptly highlighted by Kracht’s great reading voice, which is deep and soothing. He read from the German original, and his translator Daniel Bowles gave a reading shortly afterward of the twelfth chapter in English. Bowles, too, is a very animated reader and his fascination with Kracht’s work became apparent not only in his comments during the discussion, but also in the way he read Imperium.

After the reading, Andreas Rufer, Deputy Consul and Project Leader for Arts and Culture at swissnex Boston, led the discussion. The audience, which included professors from Harvard University, MIT, Boston College and Wellesley College, was very interested in learning about Kracht’s motivation for writing the story of such a strange person, and were particularly curious to hear that Kracht was inspired by the pompous style of German travelogues to the South Seas. 

Daniel Bowles shared his own insights into translating the work of a living author and of the challenges that present themselves when translating from German into English. The audience was also tempted with future works of Kracht in the making: Imperium is both the beginning of a new trilogy and the basis for a movie about August Engelhardt, which will be shot in Australia. 

After the reading, the professors, students and Kracht-o-philes got the chance to obtain a signed copy of the book and to discuss the novel with the author over a Swiss-style apéro from swissbäkers in Allston.

These book readings in Boston are supported by swissnex Boston, the Goethe Institut Boston, Boston University and Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council.

Learn more about Imperium by Christian Kracht here. 

By Dr. Felix Moesner, CEO, swissnex Boston

Hult International Business School held its 6th annual Hult Prize Finals and Awards Dinner on September 26 in New York City, as part of the Clinton Global Initiative, in the framework of the UN General Assembly. Hult is affiliated with EF (“Education First”,) which is the world’s largest education provider. It is headquartered in Lucerne, Switzerland.

President Bill Clinton awarded the US $1 million Hult Prize to the finalist team IMPCT, which offers real early learning opportunities for 10 million children living in urban slums. IMPCT trains and empowers mothers to become entrepreneurs and provides them with an age-appropriate curriculum to positively engage children 0-6 with guided play. IMPCT schools also include a full nutrition program to feed children’s hungry developing brains.

The Hult Prize is the world’s largest student competition, working to solve the the toughest global challenges. This year’s topic was “Early Childhood Development.” The final competition among the best social entrepreneur teams from the 6 Hult locations: Boston, San Francisco, London, Dubai, Sao Paulo and Shanghai was held in front of an esteemed panel of jury members that included Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus. In a pre-selection, the best social entrepreneur teams were selected among 1200 regional finalists.

The Hult Prize Foundation is a start-up accelerator for aspiring young social entrepreneurs emerging from the world’s universities. The Hult Prize was named as one of the top five ideas changing the world by President Bill Clinton and TIME Magazine. Winners receive $1 million in seed capital, as well as mentorship and advice from the international business community.

Photo Credit: Felix Moesner

by Ines Morgan, Junior Project Manager and Christine Luiggi, Communications Manager

On September 30th, artists and scientists gathered at swissnex Boston to learn about research on alpine ibex populations (coming out of University of Zurich) and to discuss possible methods for building the data into a multimedia art installation. Heading this initiative, called “Footprint,” is Dr. Lukas Keller, from the University of Zurich, and artist Edward Monovich from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Both were in attendance to present, discuss, and field questions.

The evening was moderated by Jane Marsching, Professor at Massachussets College of Art and Design. 

She opened the evening with remarks on the importance of connecting art and science, because nowadays, being that our ecologies are vulnerable, scientists are faced with interdisciplinary, cultural and historical challenges. Therefore, scientists seek creative and procedural alliances that can allow for new ways of understanding and contextualizing their research– linking science with art can help to amplify the message, because art is a tool for transformation, understanding, and community. 

Jane Marsching ended her speech by indicating that the collaboration of Dr. Keller and Edward Monovich can offer a lens for understanding and responding to the urgent and often rapid changes occurring in our ecologies.

Professor Lukas Keller, from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies in Zurich then took the podium to present his research. He described how local extinctions have increased over the past three centuries, and that sometimes endangered animal populations are introduced retroactively. 

The ibex is one such population. In 1821 the ibex population was at a count of only 50. With the help of an aggressive re-introduction program, it had grown to 3000 by 1900… and today there are over 14,000 ibex living throughout the alps. 

Inevitably with such large growth over such a relatively short period of time, inbreeding is rampant. The equation that appears as part of this event’s title (link) describes the inbreeding levels of such a population over time. 

Consequently, the Swiss ibex population has only three distinct genetic groups, divided geographically. Dr. Keller drove the point home that this “genetic clustering” is a result of human intervention, not biology.

Next, artist Edward Monovich took the podium. He described his passion for mountain goats, which was realized during a trip in Colorado. Then, in 2012 he took a mini-sabbatical in the Bernese Oberland, where his interest in ibex populations was sparked. 

Over this past summer, Monovich visited the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Zurich, and then traveled to Gran Paradiso National Park to track ibex in the wild. He also visited Piz Albris, one of the largest colonies of ibex in Switzerland.

Ultimately, Monovich seeks to create an art installation that acts as a lens for Dr. Keller’s research. He presented some of his ideas for this exhibition, still in the early stages. 

To conclude, Monovich understated that Human efforts can create a very positive change. Switzerland has been very active in the preservation of the Alpine Ibex and has helped achieve this reintroduction successfully.

Twitter: @drawdemonovich
Web: http://www.edwardmonovich.com

by Angela Ferreira, Junior Project Manager

Great weather and a newly installed tent on the lawn at the Kresge Oval provided the perfect setting for this year’s MIT Go Global Fair on September 15.

Junior Project Manager Thomas Maurissen and myself were present to represent EPFL and Swiss universities in general. ETHZ had their own booth, attended by Angelika Wittek. With our three beautiful banners, a red tablecloth, and a bowl of Lindt chocolates, the swissnex booth made a distinctly Swiss impression, and garnered an enthusiastic response from many. 

Our goal at the fair was to highlight the many options students from MIT have at Swiss universities. It was great to see that there is considerable name recognition for both EPFL and ETHZ. The students, who were mainly in their freshman year, showed great interest in studying in Switzerland, and were particularly interested in exploring summer internship options. 

Switzerland continues to be an attractive destination for students from MIT. By promoting the many opportunities students from the U.S. have in Switzerland, swissnex Boston ensures that those interested might make their way Swiss-ward in the near future.