Festival "Zurich meets New York": maximize value from relationships

New York: a global, creative hub

In the 1900s, the title "capital of the 20th century" was passionately sought after by many contenders. Paris. Berlin. London. However, New York (NY) was the immaculate expression of both American power and the modern spirit: from its breathtaking skyscrapers to its convention-breaking intellectuals, and from its ethnic communities to its distinctive 'high' culture. The city thrives in the 21st century because it represents the best of modernity: openness to ideas and talent from the whole world, the chance to change one's fate and invent one's identity, the unshakable optimism that turns challenge into opportunity. These qualities stand it in as good a stead now as they did in the past. NY's history is one of nearly unbroken triumph. The diversity of creativity has always been the city's predominant raison d’être decade-on-decade. As the mastermind of innovation, it contributes directly to both the local culture and economy, and to the global marketplace. Yet how does "the Big Apple" maintain its competitive advantage and unique position as the world's center of ideas? One reason lies in its talented workforce: New York City boasts over 160 academic institutions with a student population of more than 600'000. Its highly educated manpower includes close to 18'000 science-based graduates per year providing a wide pool of qualified employees.

ETH: a global university with corporate social responsibility

The story of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, is the American story - "values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others." Quality higher education should not only produce academically good graduates, but graduates of good character and values. The festival is an outstanding opportunity to meet and get connected with the top achievers from all over the world, with inspirational thinkers, creative minds and visionary entrepreneurs whom ETH's students will learn from and emulate. In a modern, globalized and knowledge-based environment, ETH - like universities everywhere - is invariably challenged to reconsider the interconnections and interdependencies between higher education, society and economy, and to carefully rethink its role and relationships with its diverse constituencies, stakeholders, and communities. Besides the domain of training and research, institutions interact with areas like health, culture, industry, territorial development and the labor market. In this respect, ETH has a distinctly public mission and responsibility towards society. This means: It produces services that contribute to the socio-economic and cultural well-being of its environment - be it the city, the canton, the nation, or a collective of nations. ETH pushes knowledge (and technology) exchange to another dimension - to democratic citizenship. In various exhibitions, panel discussions, seminars and workshops, the university and its partners present their latest research findings: the urban green revolution, future resilient cities, systems and societies - to name but a few.

ETH's CS Department: a hothouse of innovation

New York's former mayor Michael Bloomberg has set the bold goal to establish the city as the 21st century capital of innovation. Increasingly, policy makers ask universities to prove their contribution to the knowledge society and to have their teaching and research play a more visible role in stimulating and strengthening the innovative capacities of the country. In times of marketization, deregulation and decentralization, it is no longer enough to show 'excellence' in the traditional (i.e. academic) sense of the word. At the festival, ETH's Computer Science Department will present the facets of its individual definition: it is entrepreneurial and caring (in its approach to students, communities, partners etc.), competitive and collegial (in dealing with other knowledge providers), and local and international (in teaching and research) at the same time. Three projects underline the department's innovative heartbeat:
-  Prof. Donald Kossmann will present innovations and challenges of access to Big Data. Due to the widespread deployment of smart gadgets and the ubiquitous nature of the Internet, breakthrough technologies make it possible to translate text into different languages, navigate public transportation systems, target treatment for disease, and much more.
-  Prof. Markus Gross and Disney Research will report about their synergies and mission in pushing the frontiers of technology in robotics, digital fabrication, computer-generated imagery and animation.
-  Prof. Marc Pollefeys and artists will take the public on a virtual journey from Grand Central terminal to downtown Zurich by using the latest in augmented reality technology ("MetroNeXt+"). The project exhibits a replica of a vintage New York City subway entrance that transports visitors virtually to Zurich where they experience a selection of the architecture, arts, sciences, as well as the lifestyle of Switzerland's largest city.

New York teaches that competition usually brings the best out of people, pushes oneself to one's limits and forces one to think outside the box. However, being part of a broader, far-reaching vision opens up to the idea that it is not all about the result. It is about corporate social responsibility - an obligation and award at the same time.