Alumni News

On October 18, 2024, a group of environmental engineering master's graduates and environmental alumni delved into the underground realms of the Hardhof groundwater plant to uncover the secrets of the city of Zurich's drinking water supply. Afterwards, the exchange between the participants was deepened over food and drink.

With her latest program "The A-Z of Time", Anna Jelen took us on a journey into the mystery of time. Around 50 alumni listened spellbound to her anecdotes from A for beginning to Z for time culture.

On June 8, 2024, an educational wild herb walk took place in the Zurich Botanical Garden. 11 participants learned how to identify wild herbs and their uses. The day ended with a picnic where the new knowledge was put into practice.

Coral reefs around the world are under severe threat from ocean exploitation, climate change and environmental pollution. How can destroyed coral reefs be rebuilt? This is the mission of "rrreefs", a company founded by ETH alumna Dr. Ulrike Pfreundt. Around 40 members of the VESUV, the Bio and Environment Alumni attended Dr. Pfreundt's lecture, where they were also able to examine a specimen of the coral reef building block.

Each year, board members of the MA graduation trip of Environmental students organizes an event together with its Alumni to exchange ideas at a cozy get-together. This year, 10 Environment Alumni and 11 UING students visited the forest laboratory at Hönggerberg and afterwards enjoyed a cozy evening at the pizzeria.

Hardwasser AG is a drinking water treatment company near Basel. Using a sophisticated system, it provides about half of the drinking water for the city of Basel.

Planted Foods is an ETH spin-off that produces meat substitutes from pea protein. During a presentation and guided tour through their production facilities, we learned more about the product and the message behind it.

Three Environment alumni with twisty careers talk about their work experiences and reflect on the path that led them to their jobs.

On 30 April, 2021, the board of the Environment Alumni invited to the regular general assembly on zoom. Almost 40 participants registered.

Martin Brüllhardt studied environmental systems science and gained his doctorate in forest ecology and forestry at ETH Zurich. He is the first managing director of the forest laboratory at Hönggerberg, which was opened in 2020. 21 March is International Day of Forests. He talks here about why forests are important and the goals of the forest laboratory.

Every year, the Association of the Environment Engineers’ Master Journey together with Environment Alumni organises an event to exchange ideas in a relaxed atmosphere. This year, 14 environment alumni and 14 Environmental Engineering students of visited the ewz power station Höngg.

Carlo Centonze studied forest engineering at ETH and today he is CEO of the textile chemistry company HeiQ. He talks to us about the good luck that led him to university and his current job as well as the highs and lows encountered in entrepreneurship. He attaches great importance to recognising potential, along with persistence as well as a lot of hard grit and determination.

March 22 is World Water Day. ETH alumnus Jürg Staudenmann is a pioneering environmental engineer and has undertaken research into water management. He has more than 20 years of experience in international cooperation, including working for the UN as Water Governance Advisor in Eastern Europe. He speaks to us about his professional experiences and his firm belief that you can't plan your career path.

Anna Jelen was 17 years old when she got lost while walking her dog in a snowstorm. At dusk, she sat down in the snow, exhausted, slowly losing her conscience and almost her life. During this near-death experience, a “flash” appeared to her and the perception “of rummaging through the picture book of life” came to her mind. To her astonishment, she mainly saw every-day and ordinary pictures at that very moment. Because of this experience, her fascination for time began.

On Saturday, October 26, 2019, the Environment Alumni ended up in Bazenheid in St. Gallen, far away from Zurich. At this place, it is planned to build one of the first phosphor recycling stations of Switzerland by the administration union recycling Bazenheid (ZAB).

On August 2nd, 2019, a nocturnal cinema show of the documentary “DamNation” took place at the Arthouse Piccadilly in a relaxed atmosphere. The members of Environment Alumni as well as this year’s MA graduates of Environmental Engineering were invited.

On July 6, 2019, the Environment Alumni, Bio Alumni, VECS Chemistry and VEPS Pharmacy Alumni celebrated the 150th anniversary of the ETH Alumni Association. The day kicked off with a tour of the waste incineration plant Zürcher Oberland and finished with a social dinner at the lake of Pfäffikon.

A sunny Saturday afternoon at the beginning of April, where 16 Umwelt Alumni meet up in a hall of Töpferei Zürich for a theatre adventure. We attend a workshop about improvisational theatre conducted by the known theatre group Anundpfirsich, organized by the Environmental Science Alumni.

On Tuesday, 19th March, the environmental science alumni organised its yearly career entry event at ETH. This year, it was incorporated into the festivities of the 150th anniversary of the ETH Alumni and took place in spring with similar events of other affiliate organisations and faculty groups. The career entry event was addressed to students and new graduates of the environmental sciences department.

Land is a scarce resource in Switzerland. However, what does the Swiss landscape actually offer? On January 22, 2019, three PhD students of the PLUS-professorship represented their research within landscape design to an interested audience of 13 Environment Alumni.

On the evening of Tuesday October 23, 2018 the annual occupation alterations event of the Umwelt Alumni took place. As every year the faculty association invited 2 to 3 referees, who have changed occupations several times during their career or who have an unexpected environment job. They share their experiences and knowledge with the 20 attending Alumni.

On 7 July 2018, the Umwelt Alumni Workshop «Make your own wild bees hotel» took place with 15 participants. Based on their annual theme «Make room here!» the members not only wanted to make room for themselves, but also for other creatures.

On April 13, 2018, the annual assembly of members of the Umwelt Alumni took place at the restaurant Neumarkt in Zürich. Roughly 30 members attended the event in order to learn about new things happening in their affiliate organization, discuss important topics and to enjoy an apero followed by dinner among friends

On 5 February, members of the Umwelt Alumni participated in a talk with Professor Randall Platt from the department of Biosystems Science and Engineering and Professor Effy Vayena from the department of health science and technology at the ETH.

Am 4. November nahmen zehn Umwelt Alumni und zwei Begleitpersonen am Kurs «Luzides Träumen» teil. Und sind der Frage auf den Grund gegangen: «Was, wenn alles möglich wäre und nicht einmal die Gesetze der Physik gelten?» In einem Traum ist dies möglich. Oft wissen wir aber nicht, dass wir träumen und können das Potential nicht nutzen. Bei einem Klartraum («luzider Traum») weiss der Träumende, dass er träumt und kann bewusst ins Traumgeschehen eingreifen.

Rund 100 Mitglieder, einige Gäste und sechs Referenten beteiligten sich rege am Ernährungsevent, welcher gemeinsam von den Agri-Food Alumni, HST Alumni und Umwelt Alumni am 17. Oktober 2017 durchgeführt wurde. Der Anlass begann traditionell in einem Hörsaal des ETH Hauptgebäudes und ging dann über ins Marktstandprinzip, wo sich Teilnehmer und Referenten im Foyer beim Apéro ungezwungen austauschen konnten.

Am 20. Juni 2017 luden die Umwelt Alumni zu einem Expertengespräch über das omnipräsente Thema «Internet of Things». Andreas Moser, CTO von Cisco Schweiz, gewährte den rund 40 anwesenden Alumni aus diversen Fachrichtungen einen Einblick in die Einflüsse und Chancen der Digitalisierung.