We Are ETH

It seems like Martin was destined to go to ETH Zurich. From an early age, he showed interest in disassembling electrical objects with a lack of propensity for assembling them again, which pointed the way towards learning how to do that – with a little nudge from a friendly ETH faculty in the neighborhood. From then on, he kept a close relationship with the institution, which still continues to this day. Martin takes us through this journey, starting with his studies in Electrical Engineering, continuing with his travels across the world, and explaining how he came into the world of the internet.“If more people knew about engineering, they would find their passion in it, because you can really do a lot… I mean, you can change the world.”Episode 3 tells the story of ETH alumnus Martin Bosshardt, one of the founding members of the ETH Circle. You can read his profile here: https://circle.ethz.ch/member/martin-bosshardt/. The former CEO of Open Systems, Martin is currently leading ETH Spin-off company Anapaya Systems, which provides SCION-based networking software and solutions – a new internet technology for more secure and more reliable online networks.Link with all the details to be found on the ETH Circle websites.Download transcription of this episode

Jennifer’s story is one of coming full circle. Originally from Detroit and having recently moved back there, Jennifer explains how her serendipitous path and global living experiences built on each other: From Detroit to Colorado to study anthropology; to Senegal and Ghana in order to see this work on the ground; to New York and living through 9/11, creating a need to focus on understanding terrorism and crisis, which took her to California for further studies; to Switzerland in order to go deeper in this field at the ETH Zurich Center for Security Studies; and back to the US.Back to Detroit in fact, to be a part of a new community that looks to create spaces and rebuild the city in a new light, based to a large extent on the theoretical background and principles from her work at ETH. “ETH gave me a canvas, and they gave me the best paints in the world. And they said: “paint what you want.” And as a creative, in terms of thinking, writing, seeing, interpreting, analyzing, it gave me this license to dance across a couple of different domains that were all about our environment, and our interplay with our environment.”In our second episode, Susan talks to Jennifer Giroux dialing in from Detroit, USA, about connecting the dots that led her back to her hometown, via ETH Zurich and beyond. Jennifer is a social research and strategy consultant focusing on the social impact space. She spent seven years at the ETH Zurich Center for Security Studies. She is an active member of the ETH Circle.Please find more information on the ETH Circle network here.Download transcription of this episode

ETH Zurich was not Jeannine's first choice for a place of study, but she made the switch because she was looking for more opportunities to apply her creative side. “At ETH, you learn that it is entirely up to you what you want to make out of your university experience. ETH gives you a lot of freedom in how you can achieve your goals.”This was exactly the foundation she needed, as it gave her the freedom to develop both her skills and personality. "We are not machines. Students are all individuals, and they need the liberty to find which way they want to go," says Jeannine.In the first episode of our alumni podcast series "We are ETH", Susan meets Jeannine Pilloud, the CEO of Ascom Holding AG. You can read Jeannine's ETH Circle portrait here: https://circle.ethz.ch/member/jeannine-pilloud/.Listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich, Ascom is a global telecommunications company focusing on wireless on-site communications. Jeannine is its CEO since 2019. Previously, she notably held positions at IBM and SBB, the Swiss Federal Railways. After first studying German, history, and journalism at the University of Zurich, she went on to complete a degree in architecture at ETH Zurich. She was recently appointed to the Board of the ETH Alumni Association. This is her story.Please find more information on the ETH Circle network here.Download transcription of this episode

We Are ETH is a podcast series featuring stories from Alumni of ETH Zurich around the globe. Hosted by ETH Circle Member and Entrepreneur Susan Kish, We Are ETH brings you conversations with the people who have taken their ETH experience out into the world and turned it into a company, a career, and a way of life.