MTEC News Archive

On 13 March 2024, feMTEC, Women in Data Science Zurich (WiDS), and Women Techmakers Zurich hosted a panel discussion titled “Impact the Future – Shaping the Next Tech Revolution” in honour of International Women’s Day.

The ETH Board has appointed Lint Barrage Associate Professor of Energy and Climate Economics at D-MTEC. Professor Barrage’s research focuses on the macroeconomic and social consequences of ecological developments and environmental policy decisions.

A new study by McKinsey and D-MTEC professors Elgar Fleisch and Florian von Wangenheim describes how the Swiss healthcare system could have saved over eight billion francs in 2019 by exploiting currently available digital technologies.

On 20 September, more than 170 MSc and MAS students began their studies at D-MTEC. They received information about their programmes and familiarised themselves with the new COVID certificate requirement, which opens the way back to in-person teaching.

D-MTEC aims to offer a research-based and practice-oriented education involving work on real-life cases that will prepare students for their future careers. In line with this goal, two new courses have been launched this semester.

Thirty D-MTEC students and alumni attended an MAS+ workshop on “Building a Business with Impact” on 2 and 3 July. The workshop, held on the ETH campus and at the Trust Square co-working space, was organised by MAS student Christine Szczepanski and Morgan Altman of Programme Operations. The workshop provided practical insight into “Driving Transformation Through Technology and Finance”.

In a recent article, Professor Stefano Brusoni of the Chair of Technology and Innovation Management and his co-authors compare the AI ecosystems in China, the US and Europe, concluding that the ecosystems that have helped China catch up to its competitors over the last decade will ensure that it races ahead of them in the next one.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how crucial the availability of accurate information is for large-scale, real-time disease monitoring and management. In a recent post at the World Economic Forum (WEF), Professor Stefan Feuerriegel and doctoral candidate Joel Persson of the Chair of Information Management Systems at D-MTEC argue for increased investment in digital technology in order to better manage the current and future pandemics.

When shopping online, consumers value how their orders are delivered. In his Master’s thesis, Fabian Alber examined how last-mile logistics services influence consumers’ purchasing decisions. His work, supervised by Professor Stephan Wagner and Felix Bergmann at the Chair of Logistics Management, has won the “Wissenschaftspreis” awarded by GS1 Germany and the EHI Foundation.

Point is the new community platform for all members of ETH Zurich, from personnel and faculty to students. It connects people, celebrates the diversity of ETH and fosters exchange for a sustainable future.

ETH Zurich has a long history of connecting business management and technical engineering concerns. This bridging function is assumed today by the MTEC Department. Hugo Tschirky, who died in October 2020 at the age of 83 due to complications from a heart operation, contributed decisively to this tradition as Professor of Business Management from 1982 to 2003.

Department MTEC offices are closed for the Christmas and New Year holidays between Thursday, 24 December 2020 and Friday, 1 January 2021.

ETH Zurich celebrated its 165th year at this year’s ETH Day on 21 November 2020. The annual celebration provides an occasion to honour outstanding achievements of the past year. At this year’s ETH Day D-MTEC lecturer Dr Johannes Meuer was awarded VSETH’s Golden Owl award for dedication and excellence in teaching.

Professor Torbjörn Netland and his team at the Chair of Production and Operations Management have been shortlisted for the prestigious 2020 Reimagine Education Awards, in the category Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR), for FactoryVR, a project created in cooperation with the Hilti Corporation. Reimagine Education is the world’s largest awards programme for innovative pedagogies – the “Oscars of Education”. Only 12 percent of the 1,500 applications were shortlisted this year.

On 23 October 2020, the MTEC Department honoured its MSc, MAS and doctoral graduates at this year’s MTEC Day. MTEC Day is an annual event that brings together graduates, alumni, faculty and key stakeholders from business and academia, with the aim of strengthening the personal and professional relationships between them.

Dr Niklas Möhring has won the twelfth SIAF Award of the Swiss Institute of International Studies for his doctoral thesis on the reduction of environmental and health risks from pesticide use. The goal of his thesis has been to inform policymakers on the design and implementation of effective and efficient pesticide policies.

On 3 and 4 September 2020, ETH Professors Hans Gersbach (D-MTEC) and Roger Wattenhofer (D-ITET) outlined their proposal for the eFranc at a webinar on the architecture of monetary systems hosted by the ETH Risk Center. The webinar, “Future Money: Which Road?”, which was attended by 300 people, also featured keynote speeches and a panel discussion about changing modes of payment and the ongoing competition between privatised and centralised e-currency developers.

Twenty-four doctoral candidates from seven different countries with diverse disciplinary backgrounds participated in the seventh annual D-MTEC Doctoral Retreat.

The spread of misinformation on social media poses a significant threat to our society. A scalable strategy to detect and ultimately prevent the spread of fake news is therefore urgently needed. In his Master’s thesis, carried out at the Chair of Management Information Systems, MSc MTEC graduate Francesco Paolo Ducci proposes a new algorithm to detect fake news on social media based on crowd behavior.

Georg von Krogh, Professor for Strategic Management and Innovation at D-MTEC, has been elected as Chair of the Global Advisory Board (GAB) of ETH Zurich. The board advises ETH Zurich’s President in matters regarding international strategy.

The corona crisis is increasingly manifesting itself in a pronounced and prolonged weakness in investment, which is making the return to economic normality with higher employment more difficult. With an adjustment of the COVID-19 credit programme through an extension, a refocusing on investments and a progressive guarantee reduction, economic recovery can be accelerated without placing a heavy burden on the government's budget.

Torbjørn Netland, Professor for Production and Operations Management at D-MTEC, has received the 2020 Shingo Research Award for his research on the S-curve theory of lean implementation. He shares the prize with Kasra Ferdows of Georgetown University, Washington D.C. This is the second time Torbjørn Netland has won this prestigious award.

Two pillars – short-time working and liquidity assistance – should soften the economic blow dealt by the coronavirus pandemic. However, companies do not have the revenue to finance expenses like rents and interest payments. In the case of a production shutdown, these capital costs should be partly carried by the private sector and partly compensated.

The Corona pandemic is bringing enormous economic problems with it at ever-shorter intervals. The threat of massive slumps in value creation and of a wave of bankruptcies with the irreparable loss of physical and human capital looms on the horizon. D-MTEC Professors H. Gersbach and J.-E. Sturm therefore suggest establishing a fund of 100 billion francs to make up for the deficiencies in the already realised measures for a certain period of time.

Due to the latest developments in the spread of the coronavirus, D-MTEC staff will be working remotely the next weeks.

Xavier Mundet, doctoral student at the Chair of Technology and Innovation Management, has received a Strategy Research Foundation grant for his proposal “Managing Ecosystem Emergence: Evidence from Blockchain, IoT, and DNA analysis in the Food Industry”.

The ETH Board has appointed Dr Ursula Renold as Full Professor of Education Systems at the Department MTEC. Ursula Renold will be responsible for developing a Center on the Economics and Management of Education and Training Systems.

ETH Zurich celebrated its 164th year at this year’s ETH Day on 16 November 2019 together with guests from research, politics and industry. The annual celebration provides an occasion to honour outstanding achievements of the past year. At this year’s ETH Day D-MTEC lecturer Ulf Claesson was awarded VSETH’s Golden Owl award for dedication and excellence in teaching.

Vaibhav Krishna, doctoral student at the Chair of Strategic Management and Innovation at D-MTEC, has been selected to participate in the 2020 Global Young Scientists Summit in Singapore. This international summit brings young scientists and researchers from a variety of disciplines together with eminent international science and technology leaders. It provides a platform for conversations addressing science and research, technological innovation and society, and solutions to global challenges.

The MTEC Department honoured its MSc, MAS, and doctoral graduates at this year’s MTEC Day on 25 October 2019. MTEC Day is an annual event that aims to strengthen personal and professional relationships by gathering together graduates, alumni, faculty, and key stakeholders from business and academia.

Professor Elgar Fleisch is among the Digital Shapers of 2019, the 100 most influential Swiss citizens in the area of digitalisation as selected by Digitalswitzerland.

Are you interested in studying Management, Technology, and Economics at ETH Zurich? On 4–5 September 2019, the MTEC Department will welcome prospective students at the annual ETH Study Information Days (Studieninformationstage) in the ETH main building.

The SBB and its social partners commissioned a study entitled “SBB Workplace of the Future” in the context of a newly founded digitalisation fund. The study was carried out by the consulting firm PwC Schweiz in collaboration with D-MTEC Professor Gudela Grote. On Swiss Digital Day, 3 September 2019, a panel discussion addressing this study will take place in the Zurich Main Station. The participants will be Andreas Meyer (SBB), Giorgio Tuti (SEV), Gudela Grote (ETH Zurich), and Holger Greif (PwC).

Thirty doctoral candidates from eleven different countries with diverse disciplinary backgrounds participated in the sixth annual D-MTEC Doctoral Retreat.

The Swiss Blockchain Hackathon – the largest blockchain hackathon in Switzerland – took place end of June at Zurich’s Trust Square blockchain hub in partnership with the Blockchain Business Lab.

MSc MTEC graduate Ivan Gautschi has been awarded the 2018 “Ernst-Blickle-Studienpreis” by the SEW Eurodrive Foundation. He received the prize for his outstanding Master’s thesis entitled “Impact of general privacy concerns on chatbot design elements’ influence on people’s willingness to disclose personal information”.

Julian Senoner, doctoral student at the Chair of Production and Operations Management, has received the “Harry Boer Best Student Paper Award” from the European Operations Management Association.

In March 2019, 32 MAS ETH MTEC students travelled to China on a study trip. The six-day journey took them to Shanghai and offered unique insights into the business world of China, as well as the opportunity to experience Chinese culture.

On the occasion of the 200th birthday of the Zurich visionary Alfred Escher, ETH Zurich has awarded the first Alfred Escher Prize for innovative high school and university students. The two winning ideas both involve motivating learning in playful ways.

D-MTEC invites ETH Bachelor’s students with a background in engineering or natural sciences to an information event to learn more about the Master of Science programme in Management, Technology, and Economics.

Three MTEC researchers were awarded the prestigious ETH Medal for their outstanding doctoral theses by ETH Rector Sarah Springman. Congratulations!

The interplay between policies, technologies and organisations in the next phase of sustainable development will be the focus of the 11th ETH Academy on Sustainability and Technology from 23 to 28 June 2019. This seminar is a unique platform for doctoral students and junior researchers from various backgrounds to present research that combines different perspectives in the field of sustainability. MTEC’s chair for Sustainability and Technology (SusTec) is calling for papers!