We Are ETH

Strategist Julie Cantalou recently transitioned to the world of politics. What are her ambitions as a politician, and how can ETH Zurich contribute to policymaking?Julie Cantalou has many family ties to ETH Zurich, in addition to working in the Office of the President as a strategist. Since then, her passion for politics has led her to become involved in it full-time with the Swiss Green Liberal Party. Julie believes that ETH Zurich has a key role to play at the nexus of science and policy. The issues she hopes to have impact on personally are the energy transition, education and the economy, and these are sure to play out in the upcoming elections. Meet Julie Cantalou, a former colleague from the Office of the President at ETH Zurich who has made the transition to the world of politics. She is the Co-Secretary General of the Swiss Green Liberal Party. In this episode, you’ll get to know the Swiss political system, learn about ETH’s role in policymaking, and find out what are the key issues Julie is campaigning for in the elections in Zurich on 12 February 2023. This is her story.Download transcript of this episode.

An expert on HR, leadership and people issues, Shanthi Flynn was a scientist before she became a global leader in the field of human resources. How did she find her talent for dealing with people and achieve her illustrious career?Shanthi Flynn joined the human resources field soon after her studies and developed businesses in the retail, manufacturing, healthcare and services sectors around the world. With a focus on organization and people issues, she has unique insights into the connection between education and the world of work.While charting her career as an HR professional, Shanthi talks about her lessons in leadership. She sets out her thoughts on the ethics of technology using the example of AI, and discusses the role of an institution like ETH Zurich in generating discussion and debate on such topics.This is her story.

Patrick Anquetil is an innovator and entrepreneur who studied mechanical engineering at ETH Zurich. His third and current company to date, Portal Instruments, builds needle-free injectors.Patrick grew up in Paris, with a view of the Eiffel Tower from his kitchen window. But he always knew he wanted to study abroad. He decided to study mechanical engineering at ETH because he found the combination of theory and practice on offer there especially appealing. For his master's thesis, Patrick went to the University of Tokyo. The logical next step for Patrick was then to move into the entrepreneurial environment at MIT, which he describes as “a sister school of ETH.” Between 2006 and 2012, he founded two startup companies in the field of medical technology, and he has since then founded a third.For Patrick, everything is an apprenticeship, and he knew from the start that ETH would “a place where stuff happens.” On his start-up experience, he says being an entrepreneur is always harder than you think.This is his story.

George Szpiro is an Israeli-Swiss applied mathematician and journalist who made a name for himself as the author of popular mathematical essays and books.George studied mathematics and physics at ETH Zurich, business administration at Stanford University, and received his PhD in mathematical economics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1984. Along the way, he worked as a management consultant for McKinsey in Zurich, Munich, and London.He became the Israel correspondent for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) in Jerusalem in 1986, and he was reassigned to the US in 2012. After the newspaper deadline, George would continue writing at night on science and maths topics. He has written 7 books to date. His latest book on paradoxes will be published in 2023.As a scientist, his research interests are in financial mathematics, risk theory, genetic algorithms, and their use in predicting regularities in time series.This is his story.Read his profile here.Link with all the details: https://circle.ethz.ch/podcast/

Anette Freytag, a Landscape Historian currently at Rutgers University and formerly with ETH Zurich, explains why landscape architecture is not only a discipline but an attitude and a way of life.Anette Freytag combines art and gardens in her study of Landscape Architecture, Theory, History, and Design, whilst seeking ways to give back to the local community. An example is the March to Rutgers Gardens by the AIR Collaborative, of which we play a clip in the episode. A choreographed 2-mile hike, it was a walking campaign to highlight the need to access green spaces on foot or by bike. When Anette remembers ETH Zurich, she cites as one of her highlights receiving the ETH Medal awarded for outstanding scientific research from Heidi Wunderlich, who was the first female Rector of ETH.This is her story.Watershed Video: https://vimeo.com/655364603AIR Collaborative: https://rutgers-aircollaborative.net/https://circle.ethz.ch/podcast/

Felix Seidel is a Data Scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Caltech. He shares with us how ETH Zurich influenced him, and continues to be important for him today.You could say that ETH Zurich is the thread red connecting the dots in Felix Seidel’s career. A Data Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) at Caltech in California, Felix’ story begins with his passion for flying. Tune in to find out how his dream career in aviation turned into a scientific one, for which ETH was the place to be. Along the way, Felix explains how to work with satellite data, why he never became an astronaut, and why it’s important to sometimes fail, and learn from it.This is his story.Link with all the details: https://circle.ethz.ch/podcast/

Gisbert Schneider – winner of the Ernst Schering Price 2022 – worked in various places before his professional path led him to ETH, where he now heads the Singapore-ETH Centre.On the occasion of the ETH Circle Annual Meeting, we bring you a special live recording of the We Are ETH Podcast. It features Gisbert Schneider, the Director of the Singapore-ETH Centre and Full Professor of Computer-Assisted Drug Design, in conversation with Susan, with our ETH Circle Members as the audience. They discuss everything from his foray into rock music, to his moves from Frankfurt to Zurich to Singapore.This is his story.Link with all the details: https://circle.ethz.ch/podcast/Download transcription of this episode

It was when Margherita Fontana left ETH Zurich that she realized it had given her a unique value proposition, which was solid baggage to take with her to the corporate world.Our 6th episode is all about ETH alumna and chemist Margherita Fontana of Dow Chemicals. A scientist at heart, she discusses with host Susan how resilience comes from learning how to cope with uncertainty, and how she came to drive change because she didn’t feel included. An advocate for women in STEM, she explains how ETH prepared her for the challenges she would encounter later in her career, by laying the foundations for dealing with complexity, and problem-solving.This is her story.Please also have a look at here profile here.Download transcription of this episode

Philippe Kahn, a serial technology innovator, and entrepreneur, who studied mathematics at ETH Zurich, is credited with creating the first camera phone solution.In this episode, Susan talks to Philippe Kahn, founder of four successful technology companies, with a focus on his most recent passion: sleep. In addition to talking about the content of his work, Philippe shares his work ethic, which explains why he still practices playing the flute daily. He also connects the dots for us between his passion for sailing, Einstein, and mathematics.Follow this link for more details: https://circle.ethz.ch/podcast/Download transcription of this episode

Switzerland's former ambassador to the US Martin Dahinden made many exciting encounters during his diplomatic career, and ETH Zurich played a key role throughout.In this episode, Susan talks to Swiss diplomat Martin Dahinden. Having studied economics, Martin held various positions in the diplomatic service, including with Swiss Missions to the UN and NATO. Before becoming the Swiss Ambassador to the US in 2014, he was Director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. He is an expert on Swiss security policy in an international context and currently lectures on this topic at the neighbouring University of Zurich. A keen cook and great storyteller, he is also the author of a book highlighting the Swiss contribution to culinary history, entitled: “Beyond Muesli and Fondue”.You can read Martin’s ETH Circle portrait here: Martin Dahinden – ETH CIRCLE. This is his story.Download transcription of this episode