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.
Andrew James SontaExpertise
Human-building interaction, building energy, occupant behavior, sustainable design and planning, walkability, network analysis, machine learning, urban informatics, social systems.
Andrew Sonta is a tenure track assistant professor of sustainable civil engineering at EPFL. He directs the ETHOS Lab: Engineering and Technology for Human Oriented Sustainability. ETHOS is an interdisciplinary research group focused on using data-driven and computational tools to create interventions in the built envir
Silvia CoccoloExpertise
Urban GreeningOutdoor Thermal Comfort Urban Energy Modelling
Teaching & PhD Courses Behind/Beyond future cities AR-496 We are living in an urban world and the design of sustainable cities is essential in order to decrease our energy footprint. This course provides the instruments to understand the complex urban metabolism, as well as the solutions for planning future smart and sustainable cities. Urban neighborhoods, infrastructures and sustainable development PENS-309
Hatice Altug2020-current Full Professor at the Institute of Bioengineering, EPFL, Switzerland2013-2020 Associate Professor (with tenure) at the Institute of Bioengineering, EPFL, Switzerland 2013 Associate Professor (with tenure) at Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of Boston University, USA 2007-2013 Assistant Professor (tenure-track) at Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of Boston University, USA 2007 Post-doctoral Fellow at Center for Engineering in Medicine of Harvard Medical School, USA 2000-2007 PhD. in Applied Physics at Stanford University, USA 1996-2000 B.S. in Physics at Bilkent University, Turkey
Maher KayalMaher Kayal received M.S. and Ph.D degrees in electrical engineering from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL, Switzerland) in 1983 and 1989 respectively. He has been with the Electronics laboratories of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL, Switzerland) since 1990, where he is currently a professor and director of the Energy Management and Sustainability" section. He has published many scientific papers, coauthor of three text books dedicated to mixed-mode CMOS design and he holds eleven patents. His technical contributions have been in the area of analog and Mixed-signal circuits design including highly linear and tunable sensors microsystems, signal processing and green energy management.
Prizes and Honors
Electronics Letters journal Premium Award 2013,
Outstanding Paper Award? IEEE Mixdes 2013
Basil Papadias paper Award, IEEE Powertech 2013
Best Paper Awards, Mixdes 2013
Best Paper Awards, ICCAS 2012
Outstanding Paper Award- IEEE Mixdes 2012.
Poland Section IEEE ED Chapter special award in 2011.
Credit Suisse Award for Best Teaching- 2009.
The William M. Portnoy Award at the Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition , California Sept 2009.
Best Paper Award - IEEE-Mixdes 2009.
High Quality Paper - IEEE Power Tech Conference June 2009.
Best Paper Award - IEEE-Mixdes 2007.
Best Paper Award - IEEE-TTTC International Conference on Automation, Quality and Testing, Robotics - 2006.
Best Application Specific Integrated Circuit at the International European Design and Test Conference ED&TC - 1997.
Ascom Award for the Best Work in Telecommunication Fields 1990.
Publications Books.
Books:
Methodology for the Digital Calibration of Analog Circuits and Systems, Marc Pastre & Maher Kayal. Springer Publisher- (ISBN 1-4020-4252-3)-2006.
Structured Analog CMOS Design, Danica Stefanovic & Maher Kayal. Springer Publisher-(ISBN 978-1-4020-8572-7)-2008.
Linear CMOS RF Amplifiers for Wireless Applications, Maher Kayal, Springer Publisher. (ISBN 978-90-481-9360-8)-2010.
Coeditor of Microelectronics Education Kluwer Academic Publishers. (ISBN 1-4020-2072-4). -2004.
Simon Elias BibriExpertise
• Sustainable cities• Smarter eco-cities• Sustainable smart cities• Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) • Generative Artificial Intelligence of Things (GAIoT)• Foundation Models (FMs) • Quantum Generative Artificial Intelligence (QGAI)• Urban Digital Twins (UDTs)• Urban Brain (UB) • Smart Circular Metabolism• Urban planning and design• Environmental sustainability and climate resilience• Sustainable smart energy• Sustainable smart transportation• Sustainable smart waste and water management•
Jean-Louis ScartezziniDirector of EPFL Solar Energy and Building Physics Laboratory (1994-present); Founder & Director of ENAC Institute of Infrastructures, Resources and Environment (2002-2009); Founder & Director of EPFL Doctoral Program in Environment (2002-2009); Co-Director of EPFL Institute of Building Technology (1994-1997); Associate Professor of Building Physics at EPFL (1994-1997); Associate Professor of Building Physics at University of Geneva (1990-1997); Group Leader & Research Fellow at the EPFL Solar Energy Research Group (1981-1989); Research Fellow at the Applied Geophysics Institute of University of Lausanne (1980-1981).
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
David Atienza AlonsoDavid Atienza Alonso is an associate professor of EE and director of the Embedded Systems Laboratory (ESL) at EPFL, Switzerland. He received his MSc and PhD degrees in computer science and engineering from UCM, Spain, and IMEC, Belgium, in 2001 and 2005, respectively. His research interests include system-level design methodologies for multi-processor system-on-chip (MPSoC) servers and edge AI architectures. Dr. Atienza has co-authored more than 350 papers, one book, and 12 patents in these previous areas. He has also received several recognitions and award, among them, the ICCAD 10-Year Retrospective Most Influential Paper Award in 2020, Design Automation Conference (DAC) Under-40 Innovators Award in 2018, the IEEE TCCPS Mid-Career Award in 2018, an ERC Consolidator Grant in 2016, the IEEE CEDA Early Career Award in 2013, the ACM SIGDA Outstanding New Faculty Award in 2012, and a Faculty Award from Sun Labs at Oracle in 2011. He has also earned two best paper awards at the VLSI-SoC 2009 and CST-HPCS 2012 conference, and five best paper award nominations at the DAC 2013, DATE 2013, WEHA-HPCS 2010, ICCAD 2006, and DAC 2004 conferences. He serves or has served as associate editor of IEEE Trans. on Computers (TC), IEEE Design & Test of Computers (D&T), IEEE Trans. on CAD (T-CAD), IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Computing (T-SUSC), and Elsevier Integration. He was the Technical Program Chair of DATE 2015 and General Chair of DATE 2017. He served as President of IEEE CEDA in the period 2018-2019 and was GOLD member of the Board of Governors of IEEE CASS from 2010 to 2012. He is a Distinguished Member of ACM and an IEEE Fellow.
Olga FinkTeaching & PhD PhD Students Han Sun, Leandro Von Krannichfeldt, Keivan Faghih Niresi, Zepeng Zhang, Vinay Sharma, Chenghao Xu, Raffael Pascal Theiler, Kevin Antonio Steiner, Sergei Garmaev, Amaury Wei Past EPFL PhD Students Ismail Nejjar, Mengjie Zhao Courses Data Science for infrastructure condition monitoring CIVIL-332 The course will cover the relevant steps of data-driven infrastructure condition monitoring, starting from data acquisition, going through the steps pre-processing of real
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
Matteo FaveroExpertise
Dynamic thermal comfort, Indoor environmental quality, Occupant-centric modelling, Human-building interaction, Multi-domain environmental exposure, Building physics, Building performance simulation, Thermal flexibility, Climate-adaptive buildings, Multilevel modelling, Statistical thinking, Causal thinking, Simulated-data experimentation.
Matteo Favero is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. He is currently a member of the Human-Oriented Bu
Chenghao XuEducation Bachelor of Engineering | Mechnical Engineering 2016 – 2020 Southern University of Science and Technology, China Master of Science | Robotics 2020 – 2023 Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
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.
Ankita SinghviAnkita Singhvi studies circular economy for cities and is currently a PhD candidate at EPFL (Prof. C. R. Binder, HERUS).
Ankita received her BSc degree in Architecture from the Technical University Delft in 2017. She graduated with a design proposal for the Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam that examined the ageing of materials in the built environment. Her interest in climate adaptation led her to pursue a MSc in Industrial Ecology from Leiden University and TU Delft. She graduated in 2020 with honours, with a thesis on resilience in grey and nature-based infrastructure for coastal protection.
During her studies, Ankita interned at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at Circle Economy. After graduation, she worked at LDE Centre for Sustainability, bridging science with practise. She coordinated the Circular Industries Hub, where she supported companies in their transition towards the principles of a circular economy. She collaborated on two research projects: “Securing Critical Materials for Critical Sectors: Policy options for the Netherlands and the European Union” (2021) and “Opportunities for resilient supply chains in a post-COVID-19 era: Lessons from the Dutch High Tech sector” (2021).
Ankita continues her work within the context of circular resource use at HERUS, EPFL. Her research focuses on the role of circular economy in urban and territorial transitions towards sustainability.
Sebastian Duque MahechaTeaching & PhD Courses Stereotomy AR-211 Stereotomy is the art of designing and crafting complex stone volumes and wooden assemblies. This course offers a reinterpretation of Stereotomy with various tools, a reflection on geometry, manufacturing processes, modes of representation, visualization, and communication.
Sergi Aguacil MorenoExpertise
- Architecture, energy, building physics and environment- Integration of innovation in buildings | Smart Living Lab- Managing complex projects- Linking research and practice | Research infrastructures- Integrating sustainability into architectural projects- Life cycle assessment and environmental impact studies- Integration of photovoltaic energy in buildings | Renovation and new construction projects | ActiveInterfaces- Multi-criteria studies and assessments
Education PhD in Architecture | A
Sophie LufkinFORMATION
2010 - Thèse de doctorat au sein de l'EDAR (Ecole doctorale Architecture, Ville, Histoire) sur la densification des friches ferroviaires, co-dirigée par les Prof. Inès Lamunière et Vincent Kaufmann
2005 - "Master of Art" en architecture, sous la direction des Prof. Patrick BERGER et Inès LAMUNIERE
2003 - Année d'échange à l'ETHZ
1999 - Entrée à l'EPFL, section architecture
1998 - Maturité type B, Collège Claparède, Genève
EXPERIENCE PROFESSIONNELLE
2010 - Architecte, Cheffe de projet chez LAR - Fernando Romero, México
2006 - Assistante de recherche à lEPFL au Laboratoire darchitecture et mobilité urbaine (LAMU), projet de recherche PNR54 "Densification des friches ferroviaires"
2005 - Architecte chez Devanthéry & Lamunière, Genève
2004 - Stage darchitecture, Eric Maria, Genève
2003 - Stage darchitecture, Sumi & Burkhalter, Zurich
2001 - Stage darchitecture, Devanthéry & Lamunière, Genève
RECOMPENSES ET BOURSES
2001 - Prix SIA Vaudoise pour le projet "Fondation Ella Maillart à Chandolin"
2005 - Prix de l'Association des diplômes A3-EPFL
2008 - Bourse Erna Hamburger
LANGUES
Français (maternelle), allemand et anglais (courantes), portugais (notions)
