D-INFK news channel

In an interview with the ETH Foundation, Computer Science Alumnus Francisco Fernandez speaks about ambition, gratitude and promoting talented people.

ETH alumna Paulina Grnarova wants to use artificial intelligence to revolutionise the way the legal industry works. Her recent appearance on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list has catapulted her into the spotlight.

The Max Planck Society honours Alexis Block, a former doctoral student at the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems, with the prestigious Otto Hahn Medal for her fundamental and innovative research in the field of human-robot interaction.

The LegalTech spin-​off from the Computer Science Department DeepJudge assists law firms, corporations, and courts by making data-​sensitive administrative work more efficient.

Flavio Pfaffhauser completed his Master's degree in computer science at ETH Zurich in 2010. Today, as Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) and co-founder of the ETH spin-off Beekeeper, it is his mission to take the rising software provider to the top of the world.

Remo Gisi studied computer science at ETH Zurich from 2005 to 2012. A few years later, he founded the spin-off Tastelab, which operates at the intersection of food, science and sustainability. His knowledge of computer science also helps him with tasks and hobbies that have nothing to do with programming.

As one of the first computer science students at ETH Zurich, Cornelia Haldemann began her studies in 1981 and graduated in 1987. Today, she heads the product data management of an internationally active Swiss company and, after many years of work, meets change with serenity.

Christian Plattner completed his diploma in computer science at ETH Zurich in 2002. Already a coder while at secondary school, he worked in industry while studying at ETH and founded his own company while still a doctoral student.

Mathias Wellig completed his Bachelor’s and Master's in Computer Science at ETH Zurich. During his studies, he and two fellow students tinkered around with the recently launched iPhone and went on to found the company Ubique.

Fredi Schmid was a co-founder and the first President of the Association of Computer Science Students at ETH Zurich (VIS). In the interview he remembers the founding, the parties, and studying computer science in the 1980s.

Stefan Nägeli completed his Master's degree in computer science at ETH Zurich in 2006. As co-founder and CTO of swisspeers AG, he now uses his skills to solve complex business problems in the finance software industry.

Sarah Hauser completed her Master's degree in computer science at ETH Zurich in 2008. As a professor and Vice Dean at the computer science department at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, she now shapes the next generation of computer science students.

Urs Hölzle studied computer science at ETH Zurich from 1983 to 1988 and gained his doctorate at Stanford University, before joining Google in 1999 as employee number eight. As a top manager at Google, Urs Hölzle not only shapes the global technology landscape but also affects the lives of millions of people through his work.

Daniel Schenker received his diploma in computer science from ETH Zurich in 1988. Afterwards, he turned his hobby into his job and vice versa: today, he is a jazz musician and music professor who enjoys coding in his free time.

Gabriela Keller studied computer science at ETH Zurich from 1988 to 1993. Today, she is the CEO of Ergon Informatik, where she started working as a software developer shortly after graduating. She still feels connected to the department today.

Florian Hanke studied computer science at ETH Zurich from 1997 to 2004. He especially appreciates his discipline’s universal applicability, which has taken him as far as Papua New Guinea.

The Zurich City Councillor Michael Baumer studied computer science at ETH Zurich from 1994 to 1999 and was president of the Association of Computer Science Students (VIS). Today, he is applying the skills and experiences he gained during his studies on the political stage.

Christina Pöpper, a professor at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), studied and earned her doctorate at ETH Zurich, where she also advocated for women at the Department of Computer Science. Today, she shows her students the elegance and beauty of computer science.

Christian Reiter has co-founded several successful start-ups and does not shy away from new ideas, industries and business areas. In this interview, he explains how his studies in computer science have helped him along the way.

DeepCode, a spin-​off of the Secure, Reliable and Intelligent Systems Lab that built the first AI platform for code, is to be acquired by Snyk, a world leader in developer-​first security code analysis.

Christian Schüller, co-​founder of the ETH Spin-​off Animatico, explains how animated, talking avatars are set to simplify interactions with computers in everyday life.

From an early age, Patrice Becker had an interest in computer science. He was fascinated by the idea of being able to reach the whole world with just a laptop and some programming skills. Today, the computer science student successfully combines studies and entrepreneurship at ETH Zurich.

Entering invoices, checking delivery slips, auditing expense receipts – all these tasks can be tedious and repetitive. ETH spin-off BLP Digital invented a solution to provide some relief.

Entrepreneur, app developer, ESOP scholarship holder: at the age of only 24, Larissa Laich has already achieved a lot. Her curiosity and enthusiasm for her field have shaped the young computer scientist’s career from her first programming attempts at school to her Master’s degree at ETH Zurich.

Nicola Rüegsegger and Pascal Wacker are studying computer science at ETH Zurich as a second career path. With their know-how, they helped set up two platforms that help place students and personnel in the most affected hospitals.

Severin Hacker, D-INFK alumnus and founder of the language-learning platform Duolingo was chosen as Entrepreneur of the Year by One Young World.

Self-​driving cars, the automatic detection of cancer cells, online translation: deep learning makes it all possible. The ETH spin-​off Mirage Technologies has developed a deep learning platform that aims to help start-​ups and companies more quickly develop and optimise their products.

Can you turn a semester project into a business idea? Yes, of course! The video game Unrailed!, developed by Hendrik Baatz, Thomas Lang, Lukas Rahmann and Thomas Wolf as part of the Game Programming Laboratory course, has garnered worldwide interest at trade shows and in the media. On 9 September 2019, it became the first game developed at the Department of Computer Science to be commercially available.

Electronic devices can spark kids’ creativity, says Stéphane Magnenat from the Game Technology Center. But doing so requires apps that bridge the real and virtual worlds.

The foundations for internet communication were laid down in the previous century and have undergone very little modernisation since. With their spin-off Anapaya Systems, Adrian Perrig, David Basin and Peter Müller, professors at the ETH Zurich Department of Computer Science, want to bring the internet into the 21st century and make it a secure and reliable means of communication.

ETH Zurich spin-​off ChainSecurity has discovered a vulnerability in a scheduled upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain platform – in the nick of time.

Producing realistic animated film figures is a highly complex technical endeavour. ETH researchers have now shown how drones can be used to greatly reduce the effort required in the process.

In June 2018, the start-​up ChainSecurity released Securify, a novel tool that enables an easier and more thorough scanning process for smart contracts in the Ethereum ecosystem. Dr Petar Tsankov, chief scientist at ChainSecurity and research scientist at ETH Secure, Reliable, and Intelligent Systems Lab at the Department of Computer Science, gives an insight into the novel technology and its benefits.

In future, patients will be able to see the outcome of dental treatment even before the dentist starts working on their teeth. This is made possible by a “virtual mirror” developed by an ETH spin-off.

The ETH computer science spin-off SpinningBytes programs software that uses machine learning not only to analyse but also to understand huge amounts of data.

In May 2007, Dybuster sent its first 23 software packages in the post. A decade later, this spin-off has helped over 100,000 users with dyslexia and dyscalculia.

A start-​up formed by a group of IT specialists at ETH Zurich has come up with a simple and user-​friendly way to enhance network security. The Futurae team has already won 130,000 Swiss francs start-​up capital from Venture Kick.

An ETH spin-​off, xorlab, has ambitious plans: it has developed a unique IT security solution that provides more effective protection against hacker attacks. Now the product is about to undergo crucial trials in a real business environment.

Lorenz Meier, a doctoral student in computer science at ETH Zurich, created the PX4 software that is already being used to pilot many drones. Now, one of the world’s biggest electronics manufacturers has adopted the software as standard.

Avaloq CEO Francisco Fernandez is bursting with ambition. Despite quadrupling his company’s turnover and staff since the beginning of the financial crisis, he refuses to rest on his laurels. His mission: a total rethink of banking, and developing the best solutions for the industry.

A group of alumni from the second semester of 1964 recently came together in the CAB building to celebrate 50 years of programming at ETH Zurich. ETH bought its first computer, the CDC 1604-​A, on May 12, 1964. (German)

Big data is hot news. The opportunities for analysing huge amounts of unstructured data are highly valued in industry and science, yet there is also concern about data protection. ETH information technology professor Donald Kossmann researches and teaches in the field of big data and is convinced that the benefits will outweigh the risks.