 Empa| Acronym | EMPA | | Homepage | http://www.empa.ch/ | | Country | Switzerland | | ZIP, City | | | Address | | | Phone | | | Type | Academy | | Current organization | Empa | | Child organizations | | | Memberships | |
Open OpportunitiesImplant materials fail due to unexpected corrosion upon their implantation in the complex physiological environment of the human body, with detrimental implications to patient health and safety. Key to the development of improved implant materials is an in-depth understanding of the link between material microstructure, surface oxide state, and surface reactivity. - Analytical Chemistry, Education, Inorganic Chemistry
- Master Thesis
| This project investigates the optimal sizing and operation of green hydrogen production sites. Uniquely to this project, the benefits of waste heat recovery from an electrolyzer unit will be assessed, while design and operation guidelines will be derived for this innovative energy system. - Architecture, Urban Environment and Building, Engineering and Technology
- Master Thesis
| To adapt to the ever changing environment of multiple mediums such as air and water, multi-functionality and multi-environment adaptability are desired skills for exploration and environmental monitoring robots [1]. Unpredictable currents, turbulent winds, and various obstacles such as drift ice, marine debris, and dynamic aerial and underwater life forms, amplify the complexity of operating in such uncertain environments. With the eventual goal of off-shore coral reef health monitoring, post-disaster assistance, and/or arctic sea sampling, the key question studied in this work is: How do we develop a single robot capable of morphing its body for energetically efficient multi-modal locomotion in air, on water surfaces, and underwater?
In this work, we will look at three main features of the system: (1) The rapid unfolding and folding of the wing design (2) The wing-stiffness modulation of the wings. (3) The exploration of proprioceptive sensing of the wings. - Engineering and Technology
- Bachelor Thesis, Master Thesis, Semester Project
| To adapt to the ever changing environment of multiple mediums such as air and water, multi-functionality and multi-environment adaptability are desired skills for exploration and environmental monitoring robots [1]. Unpredictable currents, turbulent winds, and various obstacles such as drift ice, marine debris, and dynamic aerial and underwater life forms, amplify the complexity of operating in such uncertain environments. With the eventual goal of off-shore coral reef health monitoring, post-disaster assistance, and/or arctic sea sampling, the key question studied in this work is: How do we develop a morphologically adaptive sailboat that can deal with errant wind and water conditions, self-right itself when toppled over, and morph its wings ("main sail") to improve sailing performance.
In this work, we will look at different features of the system, such as: (1) The design of a multi-chambered soft metamorphic sailboat for orientation control. (2) The stiffness modulation and shape-changing nature of the sailboat towards self-righting the system. (3) The exploration of proprioceptive sensing of the sailboat structure.
- Engineering and Technology
- Bachelor Thesis, Master Thesis, Semester Project
| This master thesis project is financially supported by the Buildings and Cities Program of the BFE and focuses on energy efficiency optimized building technology. The aim is to develop a cost-efficient, self-learning algorithm that optimizes the heating curve depending on building physics and external parameters in terms of indoor comfort and energy efficiency. For this purpose, we are working together with one of our industrial partners in the building technology sector in order to be able to test a first executable prototype under real conditions in their facilities in addition to the theoretical simulations.
- Artificial Intelligence and Signal and Image Processing
- Master Thesis
| To adapt to the ever changing environment of multiple mediums such as air and water, multi-functionality and multi-environment adaptability are desired skills for exploration and environmental monitoring robots. This project aims at developing a single robot capable of morphing its body for energetically efficient multi-modal locomotion in the air, water surface and underwater. In specific, we will explore fish-inspired smart-material based actuation and flexible body designs that allow for underwater propulsion, steering in flight and transition from water to air. - Fluidization and Fluid Mechanics, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics and Mechatronics
- Bachelor Thesis, Master Thesis, Semester Project
| To adapt to the ever changing environment of multiple mediums such as air and water, multi-functionality and multi-environment adaptability are desired skills for exploration and environmental monitoring robots. This project aims at developing a single robot capable of morphing its body for energetically efficient multi-modal locomotion in the air, water surface and underwater. In specific, we will explore forms of high-power mechanical energy storage in the form of hybrid flexible and hyperelastic structures to achieve consecutive aquatic escape and underwater locomotion. - Fluidization and Fluid Mechanics, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics and Mechatronics, Textile Technology
- Bachelor Thesis, Master Thesis, Semester Project
| Development of biodegradable antennas for an RFID/NFC interface for environmental monitoring applications - Alloy Materials, Antenna Technology, Biosensor Technologies, Integrated Circuits, Polymers, Pulp and Paper
- Master Thesis, Semester Project
| Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN, a/k white graphene) is a novel exciting nanomaterial and has numerous potential applications in industry and medicine such as in drug and gene delivery, hydrogel composites, and anticancer therapy based on Boron-Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT). Therefore, it is of great importance to understand the safety of hBN in humans. However, recent studies indicated that elemental boron can trigger the synthesis of chemical signaling molecules (autoinducers (AI-2)) in bacteria and affect bacterial communication (quorum sensing). Since hBN can release elemental boron, it is imperative to study the impact of hBN on bacterial quorum sensing and its consequences on bacterial invasion and pathogenesis in order to estimate therapy-associated propensity to acute and chronic infections. This is particularly relevant for the potential clinical use of hBN in vulnerable populations (e.g. cancer patients, on or off chemotherapy), which often have a compromised immune system and are particularly susceptible to infections. - Biology
- ETH Zurich (ETHZ), Master Thesis, Student Assistant / HiWi
| Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite solar cells have achieved certified efficiencies of 25.7 % within a decade. This quick development is partially attributed to facile fabrication of high quality, polycrystalline perovskite films by solution-based methods. However, to crystallize the as-deposited perovskite films, post-annealing treatment is required. This is normally done at elevated temperatures (up to 170 °C) for 10 – 30 min, which drastically prolongs the processing time and thus the fabrication cost. Moreover, thermal annealing exposes the underlying layers equally to heat, which potentially harms the heat-sensitive materials in the stack and also limits the choice of materials for perovskite solar cells.
Flash lamp annealing (FLA) is a promising approach to squeeze the annealing time of the as deposited films to seconds, thus enabling a cost-effective production and further offers a new way to fabricate high quality perovskite films rapidly. FLA uses ultra-short pulses of intense broadband light flashes to selectively crystallize the as-deposited layer while keeping the bottom layers relatively intact, which allows using heat-sensitive, flexible substrates for perovskite solar cells fabrication. - Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Materials Engineering, Physics
- Master Thesis, Semester Project
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