Jonathan GravesProf. Jonathan P. Graves is a Senior Scientist at EPFL and Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of York, UK. He achieved first class joint honours in Electronic Engineering and Mathematics from the University of Nottingham, UK in 1996. He completed his Ph.D. in Theoretical Mechanics from the University of Nottingham, UK, three years later in 1999. During his Ph.D. he was based in the Culham theory group of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, developing kinetic descriptions of the internal kink instability, and participating in deuterium-tritium experimental analysis in the Joint European Torus. After a short time in industry, and a postdoc at Nottingham University, he took a position at the Swiss Plasma Center at EPFL, becoming a Senior Scientist in 2014, and became an Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of York, UK, in 2020. In 2015 he became a member of the EUROfusion Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) and a member of the EUROfusion DEMO Technical Advisory Group. He is on the editorial board for the journal Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, and in 2020 became Scientific Secretary of the Varenna-Lausanne International Workshop in Theory of Fusion Plasmas.
Giovanni De CesareExpertise
Numerical simulation and physical modeling of hydraulic works and schemes; reservoir sedimentation and turbidity currents; reservoir sediment management; Ultrasonic Doppler flow measurement; river training work and restoration; soil bioengineering and nature based solutions; fluvial eco-morphology; rapid transients in pressurized waterways; technology transfer, commissioned studies and expert reports in applied hydraulics, hydraulic constructions and infrastructures; organization of continuous edu
Alessandro PauTeaching & PhD PhD Students Peizheng Zhang, Jean-Pierre Thomas Svantner, Cristina Venturini, Paul Véronique Guillaume Devianne Courses Control and Operation of Tokamaks PHYS-748 This course treats the main issues in operation and control of a tokamak. Control-oriented models are derived and controllers are designed using techniques from modern control theory. Operational limits are discussed as well as state-of-the-art research questions for future reactors.
Roberto CastelloRoberto Castello is a senior scientist and group leader at the EPFL Laboratory of Solar Energy and Building Physics. Physicist by training, he has extensive experience in collecting, classifying and interpreting large datasets using advanced data mining techniques and statistical methods. He received his MSc (2007) in Particle Physics and PhD (2010) in Physics and Astrophysics from the University of Torino. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Belgian National Research Fund (2011-2014) and at the CERN Experimental Physics Department (2015-2017) as a research fellow and data scientist. He is primary author of more than 20 peer-reviewed publications and he presented at major international conferences in the high energy physics domain.
In 2018 he joined the Solar Energy and Building Physics Laboratory (LESO-PB) to work on data mining and Machine Learning techniques for the built environment and renewable energy. His main research interests are: spatio-temporal modeling of renewable energy potential, energy consumption forecasting techniques, anomaly detection, and computer vision techniques for automated classification in the built environment.
He leads the group of Urban Data Mining, Intelligence and Simulation at LESO-PB and he is a member of the NRP75 Big Data project (HyEnergy) of the Swiss National Science Foundation. He is a member of the Swiss Competence Centre for Energy Research (SCCER) and deputy leader of the working group on Leveraging Ubiquitous Energy Data. He has served as a scientific committee member, workshop organizer and speaker at international conferences (ICAE 2020, Applied Machine Learning Days 2019 and 2020, CISBAT 2019 and 2021 and SDS2020).
Since 2017 he is member of the Geneva 2030 Ecosystem network, promoting the United Nations agenda towards the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
François MaréchalPh D. in engineering Chemical process engineer
Researcher and lecturer in the field of computer aided process and energy systems engineering.
Lecturer in the mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and environmental sciences engineering in EPFL.
I'm responsible for the Minor in Energy of EPFL and I'm involved in 3 projects of the Competence Center in Energy and Mobility (2nd generation biofuel, Wood SOFC, and gas turbine development with CO2 mitigation) in which i'm contributing to the energy conversion system design and optimisation.
Short summary of my scientific carrer
After a graduation in chemical engineering from the University of Liège, I have obtained a Ph. D. from the University of Liège in the LASSC laboratory of Prof. Kalitventzeff (former president of the European working party on computer aided process engineering). This laboratory was one of the pioneering laboratory in the field of Computer Aided Process Engineering.
In the group of Professor Kalitventzeff, I have worked on the development and the applications of data reconciliation, process modelling and optimisation techniques in the chemical process industry, my experience ranges from nuclear power stations to chemical plants. In the LASSC, I have been responsible from the developments in the field of rational use of energy in the industry. My first research topic has been the methodological development of process integration techniques, combining the use of pinch based methods and of mathematical programming: e.g. for the design of multiperiod heat exchanger networks or Mixed integer non linear programming techniques for the optimal management of utility systems. Fronted with applications in the industry, my work then mainly concentrated on the optimal integration of utility systems considering not only the energy requirements but the cost of the energy requirements and the energy conversion systems. I developed methods for analysing and integrating the utility system, the steam networks, combustion (including waste fuel), gas turbines or other advanced energy conversion systems (cogeneration, refrigeration and heat). The techniques applied uses operation research tools like mixed integer linear programming and exergy analysis. In order to evaluate the results of the utility integration, a new graphical method for representing the integration of the utility systems has been developed. By the use of MILP techniques, the method developed for the utility integration has been extended to handled site scale problems, to incorporate environmental constraints and reduce the water usage. This method (the Effect Modelling and Optimisation method) has been successfully applied to the chemical plants industry, the pulp and paper industry and the power plant. Instead of focusing on academic problems, I mainly developed my research based on industrial applications that lead to valuable and applicable patented results. Recently the methods developed have been extended to realise the thermoeconomic optimisation of integrated systems like fuel cells. My present R&D work concerns the application of multi-objective optimisation strategies in the design of processes and integrated energy conversion systems.
Since 2001, Im working in the Industrial Energy Systems Laboratory (LENI) of Ecole Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) where Im leading the R&D activities in the field of Computer Aided Analysis and Design of Industrial Energy Systems with a major focus on sustainable energy conversion system development using thermo-economic optimisation methodologies. A part from the application and the development of process integration techniques, that remains my major field of expertise, the applications concern :
Rational use of water and energy in Industrial processes and industrial production sites : projects with NESTLE, EDF, VEOLIA and Borregaard (pulp and paper).Energy conversion and process design : biofuels from waste biomass (with GASNAT, EGO and PSI), water dessalination and waste water treatment plant (VEOLIA), power plant design (ALSTOM), Energy conversion from geothermal sources (BFE). Integrated energy systems in urban areas : together with SCANE and SIG (GE) and IEA annexe 42 for micro-cogeneration systems.
I as well contributed to the definition of the 2000 Watt society and to studies concerning the emergence of green technologies on the market in the frame of the Alliance for Global Sustainability.
Laurie PorteTeaching & PhD PhD Students James Winston Irawati Tumbokon, Oliver Morais Moura Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector Matteo Fontana, Pedro Andres Molina Cabrera, Arsène Tema Biwole Courses Atomic and radiative processes in plasmas PHYS-762 The course covers atomic structure, collisional-radiative (CR) processes, and spectroscopic techniques. Students learn to critically apply CR models, evaluate spectroscopic tools, and interpret experimental data obtained in different plasmas.
Anja SkrivervikAnja Skrivervik obtained her electrical engineering degree from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in 1986, and her PhD from the same institution in 1992, for which she received the Latsis award. After a stay at the University of Rennes as an invited Research Fellow and two years in the industry, she returned part time to EPFL as an Assistant Professor in 1996, and is now a Professeur Titulaire at this institution, where she is the head of the Microwave and Antenna Group. Her research activities include electrically small antennas, antennas in biological media, periodic structures, reflect- and tranmitarrays, and numerical techniques for electromagnetics. She is author or co-author of more than 200 peer reviewed scientific publications. Her teaching activities include courses on microwaves and antennas, and she has course at Bachelor, Master and PhD levels. She was director of the EE section form 1996-2000, and is currently the director of the EE doctoral school at EPFL.
She is very active in European collaboration and European projects. She was the chairperson of the Swiss URSI until 2012, is a Board member of the European School on Antennas and is frequently requested to review research programs and centers in Europe. She is a member of the board of directors of the European Association on Antennas and Propagation (EurAAP) since 2017.
Francesco RomanoExpertise
Gyrotrons, Non-Neutral Plasma, Electric Space Propulsion, Helicon Plasma Thrusters, Atmosphere-Breathing Electric Propulsion
Current Work
The TRapped Electrons eXperiment - T-REX
Born in Sassari and grew up in Udine, I studied Aerospace Engineering for Bachelor, Master in Italy and I've earned my Ph.D. in Germany. I also graduated in organ and organ composition at the conservatory in Italy. I Love space, science, music (piano, organ, classical, classic rock), endurance and uphill cycling, classic
Azin AminiEducation:
MSc.: Structural Engineering, University of Tehran, Iran, 2002
Master Thesis: "Three dimensional analysis of crack propagation in Latiyan butress dam using smeard crack model"
BSc.: Civil Engineering, University of Tehran, Iran, 2000
Daniel Alexander Florez OrregoExpertise
• Exergy and Energy Integration of Chemical and Industrial Processes• Cogeneration and Polygeneration, Refrigeration and Heat Pumping Systems• Technical, Economic and Environmental Analyses• Refineries, Biorefineries, Fertilizers Complexes, Hydrogen and Synthetic Fuels (SNG, DME, MeOH, FT, H2, Power-to-X)• Second law of Thermodynamics and Irreversible Thermodynamics• Combustion, Heat Transfer, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Reaction design• Modeling and Optimization of Energy Conversion Systems• Ma
Guido HaefeliTeaching & PhD PhD Students Federico Ronchetti, Gauri Napoletano Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector Axel Kuonen, Olivier Göran Girard, Carina Trippl Courses Particle detection PHYS-440 The course will cover the physics of particle detectors. It will introduce the experimental techniques used in nuclear and particle physics. The lecture includes the interaction of particles with matter, scintillators, gas detectors, silicon detectors, detectors for particle ID and photo-detectors.
Olivier SchneiderAfter his thesis defense in particle physics in 1989 at University of Lausanne, Olivier Schneider joins LBL, the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (California), to work on the CDF experiment at the Tevatron in Fermilab (Illinois), first as a research fellow supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, and later as a post-doc at LBL. He participates in the construction and commissioning of the first silicon vertex detector to operate successfully at a hadron collider; this detector enabled the discovery of the sixth quark, named "top". Since 1994, he comes back to Europe and participates in the ALEPH experiment at CERN's Large Electron-Positron Collider, as CERN fellow and then as CERN scientific staff. He specializes in heavy flavour physics. In 1998, he becomes associate professor at University of Lausanne, then extraordinary professor at the Swiss Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) in 2003, and finally full professor at EPFL in 2010. Having worked since 1997 on the preparation of the LHCb experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, which started operation in 2009, he is now analyzing the first data. He also contributes since 2001 to the exploitation of the data recorded at the Belle experiment (KEK laboratory, Tsukuba, Japan). These two experiments study mainly the decays of hadrons containing a b quark, as well CP violation, i.e. the non-invariance under the symmetry between matter and antimatter.
Christophe MoserDr. Christophe Moser is
Associate Professor of Microengineering and Industrial Relations
at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. He was the co-founder and CEO of
Ondax,Inc
for ten years prior to joining EPFL. During this decade, he raised $15 million from corporate and venture capital sources to fund volume production of thick holographic components in glass and develop devices enabled by these components such as tunable add-drop multiplexers for telecommunications, ultra-narrowband notch filters for low frequency Raman systems, high power semi-conductor frequency-narrowed pumps for fiber lasers, single frequency fixed and tunable lasers for sensing and femtosecond pulse compressors for micro-machining applications. Dr. Moser has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology, a minor in finance and a bachelor degree in Physics from EPFL.
He is the co-inventor of 24 patents, 14 peer reviewed scientific publications, 9 IEEE proceedings and a book chapter.
Private interests include tennis, running, ski, basketball and family excursions.
2010: Associate Professor, EPFL, faculty
Science Technique Ingenieur.
2000-2010: co-founder, CEO Ondax, Inc.
1995-2000: Graduate Research Assistant,
California Institute of Technology.
1993-1995: Engineering Project manager ,
TESA.
1988-1993: Bachelor candidate in Physics, EPFL.
MAIN PUBLICATIONS:
Moser C., Havermeyer F,.Ultra-narrowband tunable laserline notch filter, Appl. Phys. B, 95 (3), pp 597-601, 2009.
Moser C. ,Ho L., Havermeyer F,. Self-aligned Non-dispersive External Cavity Tunable Laser, 16 (21), 16691-16696 Optics Express, 2008.
Steckman, GJ , Moser C. et al. Volume holographic grating wavelength stabilized laser diodes, IEEE J. Of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, (13), 672-678, 2007.
Buse K, Havermeyer F, Liu W., Moser C, Psaltis D. Holographic Filters , Book Chapter Photorefractive Materials and their Applications, 2005.
Havermeyer, F; Liu, WH; Moser, C, et al. Volume holographic grating-based continuously tunable optical filter , Opt. Eng. 43 (9), 2017-2021, 2004.
Moser C., Maravic I., Schupp B., Adibi A, Psaltis D, Diffraction efficiency of localized holograms in doubly doped LiNbO3 crystals, Opt. Lett. 25: (17),1243-1245, 2000. Herbert SheaExpertise
soft robotics, wearable haptics, electrostatic actuators, EHD
Mission
My lab develops flexible polymer-based actuators for a wide range of applications including haptics and soft robotics. More info at https://www.epfl.ch/labs/lmts/
Links from EPFL-LMTS Lab webpage People Research ActivitiesPublications TeachingPublications and Conference papers Link to my lab Education PhD | Physics 1997 – 1997 Harvard University MA | Physics 1993 – 1993 Harvard University Mengjie ZhaoMengjie Zhao holds degrees in Computational Mechanics (MSc) with honors track and in Engineering Science (BSc) from the Technical University of Munich (TUM).
From the early years of her studies, Mengjie was fascinated by the modeling of multiphysics and multiscale systems. As a student research assistant at TUM and research intern at International Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE), she gained a solid understanding of both the theoretical and algorithmic fundamentals as well as a wide range of applications. Through the BGCE project with the Elitenetzwerk Bayern (ENB), which dealt with the mesh sensitivity prediction with a deep neural network, she realized that leveraging data could bring physical modeling far beyond the current computational limits. Later, in her master's thesis in cooperation with Siemens, she turned to the reduced-order modeling with enforced physical invariants, which showed better accuracy and generality.
In her Ph.D., she would like to step towards a further combination of deductive research (modeling and simulation) and inductive (data-driven) research by embedding physics into machine learning.
