A visit to the ETH stand at CeBIT
Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Johann Schneider-Ammann visited the ETH Zurich stand at this year’s CeBIT. ETH President Lino Guzzella personally introduced the political leaders of Germany and Switzerland two recent examples of ETH research.
A visit to CeBIT in Hannover is an annual fixture for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, just as the Olma trade fair in St Gallen is for Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann. After all, CeBIT is the largest and most important computer trade fair in the world. Exhibitors are here to show how our society and economy of the future could be shaped by digitalisation. As CeBIT’s partner country this year, Switzerland had 2,700 m2 in which to present its innovations in the ICT sector.
ETH Zurich was there with its own exhibition stand to present various projects, including four ETH spin-offs. As the research projects attracted interest, it soon became clear that the Chancellor and the Swiss President would visit the ETH Zurich stand on their tour. “It is a great honour to be able to introduce ETH to Chancellor Angela Merkel. It shows the importance of ETH Zurich in the ICT sector,” said ETH President Lino Guzzella.
Guzzella showed the interested guests a model of In situ Fabricator’s mobile and cooperating construction robot, which is designed to bring digital production directly to the building site. He also presented a new app from Game Technology Center that brings a colouring book’s stationary, two-dimensional figure to life as a three-dimensional character as it is coloured. To the delight of all, the Chancellor also took to the crayons, admiring her character on screen.
Close ties with Germany
The ETH President also took the opportunity to emphasise the closeness of the ties between Germany and ETH. In fact, about 30% of professors and 25% of doctoral students at ETH are from Germany. In addition, ETH maintains intensive contact with German universities and research institutions through about 1,500 joint projects. “ETH is as closely intertwined with its neighbouring country as Switzerland is with Europe and this benefits both sides,” said the ETH President in regard to the current political debate. As the visit came to an end, Guzzella gave the Chancellor a magnet on which a graphite flake floats, as a small token of appreciation to the doctor of physics.
Gallery CeBIT 2016
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(all photographs: ETH Zurich / Claudia Levetzow)
