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A3SFIT Celebrated Excellence in Engineering and Education at the EPFL and the ETHZ with an Alumni meeting entitled “Bridging Space – Bridging Time”

 

On September 19, 2004, the American Alumni Association of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (A3SFIT) held its third all-day Alumni meeting at the Swiss House for Advanced Research and Education (SHARE) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.  About forty Alumni and guests attended the meeting, with participants coming from Canada, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Texas.  In addition, representatives from the ETHZ, the EPFL, the ETH-Alumni and the A3-EPFL were among the participants and speakers at this meeting.

 

The morning session started at around 10:00AM with opening and welcoming remarks by Dr. Christoph von Arb, Consul of Switzerland in Cambridge and Director of SHARE who was the host and co-sponsor of this ETHZ/EPFL Alumni meeting.  Maurice de Picciotto, President of A3SFIT, followed with a short historical overview of the Association.  Maurice presented to the audience the current A3SFIT Board of Trustees which includes: Vice President Clarissa Ferraris (EPFL alumna and researcher at NIST in Washington), Secretary Fred Dettwiler (ETHZ alumnus and Consultant with Technip of Houston, Texas) and Treasurer Raymond Schaeffer (EPFL alumnus and COO and Executive Vice President of Fay, Spofford & Thorndike of New York City and Boston).  Also, Maurice noted that a vacant position exists on the Board and that it will be shortly filled by an ETHZ alumnus residing in California.  The Meeting Planning Committee was also introduced.  It included Jeffrey Huang (ETHZ alumnus and Prof. at Harvard University), Sotiris Kitsopoulos (ETHZ alumnus and Principal at Euclid Consulting of New York City), Raymond Schaeffer and Maurice.  The Committee received the valuable advice and counsel of Christoph von Arb, Ms. Marianne Gerber, Swiss Consul in Cambridge, and the entire Team at SHARE.

 

Next, Maurice introduced the first of two Keynote Speakers of the day, Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schmitt, Vice President of Planning and Logistics at the ETHZ.  Prof. Schmitt gave a very interesting and dynamic presentation on the latest developments at the ETHZ from an organizational standpoint, as well as its future plans for collaboration with other higher education institutions, within and outside of Switzerland.  Prof. Schmitt also addressed recruiting and expansion strategies of the ETHZ.

 

After a coffee break that enhanced discussions and friendly conversations among the participants, Maurice introduced Prof. Dr. Francis-Luc Perret, Vice President of Planning and Logistics at the EPFL, who was the second Keynote Speaker of the morning session.  Prof. Perret offered an insight on the EPFL recent reorganization of departments and faculties.  In addition, the EPFL goals and strategies in the areas of student body, diploma granting, and potential expansions gave to the audience an in depth overview of today’s EPFL.

 

Each one of the two Keynote presentations generated extensive questions, answers and comments between and among the speakers and the audience.

 

The morning session concluded with a catered buffet lunch, offering a variety of very well prepared dishes with accompanying wines and soft drinks followed by delicious desserts that was arranged and coordinated by Ms. Gerber.

 

After lunch, Prof. Sabine Susstrunk of the School of Computer and Communication Sciences at the EPFL gave a short overview of the current Internship Program at the EPFL.  This Program offers to first year master students (4th year) and to graduating master students (5th year) opportunities to work either in a university or in industry for typically a six-month period.  Ms. Susstrunk’s presentation was of interest particularly as the audience included several professors at US-based universities, and some senior executives of US technology-driven companies.

 

The rest of the afternoon was devoted to a Panel Discussion, moderated by Maurice de Picciotto, and having the broad topic of how the two Alma Maters and their respective Alumni Assoc