Dominique BonvinDominique Bonvin is Professor and Director of the Automatic Control Laboratory of EPFL. He received his Diploma in Chemical Engineering from ETH Zürich, and his Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He worked in the field of process control for the Sandoz Corporation in Basel and with the Systems Engineering Group of ETH Zürich. He joined the EPFL in 1989, where his current research interests include modeling, control and optimization of dynamic systems. He served as Director of the Automatic Control Laboratory for the periods 1993-97, 2003-2007 and again since 2012, Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department in 1995-97 and Dean of Bachelor and Master Studies at EPFL for the period 2004-2011.
Claudia Rebeca Binder SignerClaudia R. Binder, a Swiss, Canadian and Colombian citizen, was born in Montreal and spent most of her childhood in Switzerland and Colombia. She studied at ETH Zurich from 1985 to 1996, earning a degree in biochemistry and then a PhD in environmental sciences. After conducting her post-doctoral research at the University of Maryland in the US from 1996 to 1998, she returned to Switzerland and took a position as a senior research scientist at ETH Zurich, studying the interaction between human and environmental systems at the Institute for Natural and Social Science Interface. In 2006, Binder joined the University of Zurich as an assistant professor in the Department of Geography, and in 2009 moved to the University of Graz in Austria where she served as a full professor of systems science. In 2011, she took a position at the University of Munich’s Department of Geography as a full professor of human-environment relations.
Binder joined EPFL in March 2016 and set up the Laboratory for Human-Environment Relations in Urban Systems (HERUS) at ENAC; she also holds the La Mobilière Chair on Urban Ecology and Sustainable Living.
Her research involves analyzing, modelling and assessing the transition of urban systems towards sustainability. She looks in particular at how we can better understand the dynamics of urban metabolism, what characterizes a sustainable city, and what drives and hinders transformation processes. She does so by combining knowledge from social, natural and data science. Her research focuses on food, energy, and sustainable living and transport in urban systems.
In Switzerland, Binder was appointed to the Research Council, Programs Division of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) in 2016 and serves on the Steering Committee of the SNSF’s National Research Program 71, “Managing Energy Consumption” and the Swiss Competence Centers for Energy Research (SCCER). She is also a member of the Steering Board on Sustainability Research for the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences. In 2019, she was elected as a member of the University Council of the University of Munich (LMU).
At EPFL, Binder is the academic director of Design Together, a cross-disciplinary teaching initiative. She was appointed to the management team of the Energy Center in 2018 and as head of the working group on EPFL’s energy and sustainability strategy in 2019.
Benoît Jean Dominique FerrariDr. Benoît J.D. Ferrari studied Biochemistry and Biology and completed his PhD in Ecotoxicology at the University of Lorraine (Metz, France) in 2000. After several years at the University of Geneva (Forel F.A. Institute, Geneva, Switzerland; 2002-2008) and Irstea (Formerly Cemagref, Lyon, France; 2000-2002 and 2008-2013), he joined the Swiss Centre of Applied Ecotoxicology (Centre Ecotox Eawag/EPFL) in October 2013 as group leader of the soil and sediment ecotoxicology group at Lausanne. During his different mandates, he was implied as (co-)proponent in different research projects supported e.g. by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the French National Research Agency or the European Framework Programme for Research. His main areas of interest cover the ecodynamic of contaminants and their impact on the ecophysiology of organisms. Particularly, he is involved in 1) the development of exposure and effect indicators to evaluate the chemical stresses, 2) the integration of such indicators in laboratory- and field-based approaches to assess the quality of aquatic ecosystems, 3) the development of adapted bioassays for active biomonitoring, and 4) the transfer of such ecotoxicological tools and approaches towards end-users.
Régis Lionel VivienExpertise
Classical systematics (aquatic oligochaetes)Aquatic ecologyMolecular systematicsSediment ecotoxicology
Paolo PeronaExpertise
River mechanics and morphoydnamics, Erosion processes, Ecohydraulics, Plant roots biomechanics, Watershed and catchment hydrology, Water Resources Management, General hydraulics, Time Series Analysis, Dynamical Systems Theory, Stochastic Processes
Expertise
River mechanics and morphoydnamics, Erosion processes, Ecohydraulics, Plant roots biomechanics, Watershed and catchment hydrology, Water Resources Management, General hydraulics, Time Series Analysis, Dynamical Systems Theory, Stochastic Proces
Georges WagnièresGeorges Wagnières received his diploma degree (MSc) in physics from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1986. He obtained his doctorate in science (PhD) in physics (Biomedical optics) from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne (EPFL) in 1992 and did a postdoctoral work in the Wellman Laboratories of Photomedicine (Harvard Medical School), Boston, USA, from 1993 to 1994. He also obtained a Master degree in Management of Technology delivered by the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) of Lausanne University and the EPFL in 2001. Georges Wagnières manages a research group active in the fields of: - Detection of early superficial cancers by fluorescence imaging. - Characterization of early superficial cancers by high magnification narrow band imaging. - In vivo and in vitro measurement of the vascular and tissular oxygen concentration by time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy and imaging. - Preclinical and clinical study of new photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy (PDT). - Treatment of neurodegenerative conditions (Alzheimer, Parkinson's diseases) by photobiomodulation. - Preclinical and clinical photodynamic therapy of inflammatory bowel diseases and atheroscerotic plaque. - Improvement of the selective vascular extravasation of chemotherapeutic agents by PDT. - Monitoring the light dosimetry during PDT by fluorescence spectroscopy and imaging. - Monitoring laser treatments of the retina by reflectance imaging. - Light dosimetry and tissue optical spectroscopy. - Radiometry. - Development of light delivery systems for biomedical applications. Georges Wagnières is also co-founder and was chairman of one spin-off companies: - Medlight SA, founded in July 1997, which develops, produces and commercializes light distributors for photodynamic therapy. Georges Wagnières has currently authored more than 235 papers (more than 150 in international journals with review board) and is inventor of 18 patents. He supervised 12 PhD students up to now, and currently teaches biomedical optics and photomedicine in master programs and doctoral schools. In addition, he gives the course entitled "Physique Générale I" to biology first year students registered to the Biology School of the Lausanne's University. MAIN PUBLICATIONS Please visit: https://www.epfl.ch/labs/lifmet/wagnieres/publications/ Tuong-Van NguyenTeaching & PhD Courses Energy conversion and renewable energy ME-409 This course presents an overview of (i) the current energy system and uses (ii) the main principles of conventional and renewable energy technologies and (iii) the most important parameters that define their efficiency, costs and environmental impacts. The Energy Transition : challenges and opportunities HUM-293 This course explores the energy transition from a system based on fossil fuels to a model based o