Summer Internship at EPFL

My summer at EPFL was perhaps one of the best summers I have ever had! If you wonder why, here is a bit of my story:

At EPFL, I worked in the Laboratory of Renewable Energy Science and Engineering (LRESE) and I worked there from July to September 2015. My project was about maximizing the performance of water splitting device, using sunlight as the energy source to form H2 and O2 as the valuable products. This technology has a very bright future in the next few years, and I am proud to be part of its development.

During my internship, I learnt so many things, both in academics and socially. From the academic point of view, I learnt how to structure my approach in doing the project. I learnt how to manage my daily timetable and split the tasks wisely so that I could finish the project in a very limited amount of time — I learnt how to multitask. I had the chance to use some sophisticated laboratory equipment such as Scanning Electron Micrograph (SEM) and Metal Sputtering Machine – to use these machines I had to enter a chamber called cleanroom and wore an “astronaut-like” outfit! But more importantly, I learnt that in research, 75% of your time is spent trying to explain something that you did not expect to happen in the first place! Apparently, that’s what science is about.  This experience will surely help me succeed my 4^th year project in Oxford which I am currently doing – the internship seems like a head-start!

For my social life, I have also gained a very unforgettable experience. I had the chance to meet and be friends with brilliant students coming from top universities around the world – MIT, Cambridge, Stanford, you name it! Building a network and friendship with these people is surely something that is priceless. We had several trips together, once was to CERN, Geneva. The largest scientific lab on earth, a place that is second to none!

In overall, I would undoubtedly recommend this programme to anyone who wants to have a great AND productive summer. Not only those who have passion in research, but also those who are considering it. You won’t waste your time being here. The FUN part is guaranteed!

Cheers!

Interns’ trip to CERN!

 

Boat trip organised by the lab!

Me at Lauterbrunnen!

Samuel Putra, University of Oxford

Laboratory of Renewable Energy Science and Engineering (LRESE), EPFL

Work-Life in EPFL

It wasn’t until my final day at EPFL when it suddenly dawned upon me — I have been here for 3 whole months, and I am now at the end of my internship. Everything felt (and still feels) so surreal. As I reminisce about my summer break, I thought to penning my thoughts into this blog post.

Ever since I received my invitation letter to the internship at EPFL, I was excited for many reasons. For one, I have been looking forward to visiting EPFL (one of the best research universities in Europe) for years. But apart from the academic/research reasons, it is also my first time visiting Switzerland and Europe.

My weekdays were spent in the BioRobotics Laboratory (BIOROB) in EPFL, under Professor Auke Ijspeert. My task was mainly software development work for the actuators the lab use for their robots. My works are made available online on github, for anyone who uses Dynamixel motors! (Let us know if you find these tools useful!) I worked closely with my supervisor, Dr Kamilo Melo, with other labmates and the robots in the lab. Being new to the field of robotic research did not set me back; instead, I have learned a lot about robotics and animal locomotion from my three-month internship here. Dr Kamilo has been particularly attentive and patient, being always present to answer my questions anytime (“Tell me”, as he always responds). The lab community was also a friendly and close-knit one. We go out to lunch together (often as a large group of 8-10) and talk about anything under the sun, from our research to life in general.

In my weekends, I ventured out, visiting different places in Lausanne, in Switzerland and in Europe. Here’s a few highlights of my weekend ventures.

Despite being a small city, Lausanne has several places worth visiting. Within the city, there are some walking tours through the old city suggested online — try it! The vivarium and the Sauvabelin tower are also some highlights in Lausanne that I highly recommend.

Trip around Old Lausanne

The Komodo Dragon in Vivarium

Sauvabelin Tower

In Switzerland, I visited castles, museums and, of course, cheese and chocolate factories. (Things not to be missed: Tours@CERN, Visit to Maison Cailler [Chocolate]) Getting to these places were pretty convenient with an efficient and comfortable rail transport system.

Free tours at CERN!

Maison Cailler – A chocolate house/museum/factory

From Lausanne, it was also pretty convenient to take high speed rails to Paris and to Milan for my “European experience”.

At EPFL, the internship has been fulfilling and meaningful. But beyond that, being in Lausanne has provided me with a fun and relaxing summer break. I guess that’s what one calls “Work-Life balance”!

Gary Lee, Stanford University
BIOROB, EPFL

Switzerland, I Will Be Back

 

 

 

After coming back to Singapore, all the 6 months I had in Switzerland was like a dream. All the breathtaking scenery, all the crazy things I have done, all the awesome people I have met, they are like existences in a beautiful dream and I finally woke up into the reality, in a hot rain forest with sunset at 7pm everyday.

I was lucky enough to have the exchange program and this summer internship, which made my six months’ stay in Lausanne, an important span of my life.

During my exchange semester, most of my travels were outside of Switzerland. After that I started my real exploration of Switzerland and I regretted that I didn’t find its beauty earlier.

A typical week:

Monday to Friday:  In the morning i rode my bicycle to my lab, went pass the corn field, seeing the Alps, sensing the cozy winds. I was working in the Applied Computing and Mechanics (IMAC) Laboratory under Professor Ian Smith, the Head of laboratory. I was working on a pioneer project that aiming to construct an teaching module about BIM (Building Information Modelling) Technology, which was a totally new area for me. The most challenging part of this project was to design the content and organization of this tech-related module in a tech-irrelevant way, which enables the module to be long-lastingly practical with the fast-changing technology.

I was glad that my lab mates , which are PHDs and scientists, are all very nice and helpful. Everyday we had lunch together and share our appreciations on similarities and differences among our cultures, foods and experiences. After lunch we usually had a relaxing coffee session to have a bit more fun. The work in lab can be tough and challenging but the relaxing time we shared added enough power to us.

Here comes the part of the after-work life. Inspired by my Belarus roommate Stas, I got my subscription of the water sports of our school. Almost every day after work I would just head to the lakeside riding my bike and do some water sports there. Lac de Leman is fantastic, doing windsurfing on the lake could be like flying within the heaven. Laying down and taking a nap on your stand up paddle board after going into the middle of the lake is like being in a place that you were the only existence.

Sometimes there were BBQ/party/picnics organized by the interns in the evening, having fun and talking to these lovely people from Oxford, Cambridge, Georgia Tech, MIT could be very enjoyable. Knowing how different ways people look at the world was inspiring.

A great thing about summer in Lausanne is that the sunset is always latter than 10pm, hence the time after work was just like the start of the day! we have 5 hours before sunset, and I will never forget how breath-taking the sunset at the lake is.

Weekend: Weekends are the free days that we could take day trips within Switzerland or go abroad. It was my dream to hike and cycle on Alps when I was a child and this summer I really make it. Switzerland transportation system is perfect for traveling with bike and I had took my bike to many mountains of this country. I don’t know how to express my feeling when I sped on the top of the mountain with the sound of the wind sweeping my head, it is like…I could feel that I am live in real.

What is Switzerland? Crystal lakes, Alps and clear sky? Snow and glaciers? Swans, cows with bells and the fresh smell of the grass? All the nice people? It is all of them, all of them and many memories make the Switzerland for me. Switzerland, I will be back!

 

Recommendations:

1. Purchase the half-fare and track 7 SBB card.
2. Explore the Alps by hiking or cycling (buy a second-hand bike in campus)
3. Get the water sports subscription to have great fun on Lac de Leman (Windsurf, kayak, stand up paddle) and swim a lot!
4. Have fun with the awesome interns!

Yuan Zijie, Nanyang Technological University,

Laboratory of Applied Computing and Mechanics (IMAC), EPFL

 

Research and Life in Confoederatio Helvetica

When I first saw the address for EPFL on paper:

Route Cantonale
CH- 1015 Lausanne

I wondered, how C.H. could be an abbreviation for Switzerland? After some research I found that it stands for Confoederatio Helvetica. Which, still made little sense.

Now, after spending the last 3 months in Lausanne, I understand. The latin name preserves Switzerland’s traditions while giving no preference to one of the four national languages. Yes, FOUR national languages. I have learned that Switzerland is a diverse land. In more ways than one.

I have been working as an intern in the BioRob lab led by Professor Auke Ijspeert at EPFL on a project to simulate compliant robotics parts. I have learned an incredible amount from my lab mates about robotics and about work habits. When an experiment in lab interests me, all I have to do is walk over and inquire about the project. In response, I receive a detailed description of what is happening and its importance. In addition, it is greatly comforting to know that any time I am struggling with my project, I can ask someone for help, and the person who responds is probably one of the most knowledgeable people in the given field. And they will gladly sit and talk with me as if they had all the time in the world. Kamilo, my advisor, was especially patient. Though I knew full well that there were many projects he was working, I still always felt like my concerns and my project were a priority. His mentorship has been absolutely invaluable to me.

Besides work, I enjoyed interacting with the people in my lab as friends as well. There is a huge diversity of cultures represented in my lab. I’ve met people from all over the world with different languages, backgrounds, and interests. I really appreciate that despite all these differences, everyone is good friends. As soon as I arrived in Switzerland, BioRob invited me in and I immediately felt as though I had many friends. Besides having lunch, and post-lunch coffee together every day, I learned that every Tuesday the cinema in Lausanne offers two for one price movie tickets, so we went a couple times. We also went to dinner on some Friday’s at this great Chinese place, near the Lausanne city centre, which was always packed.

Another amazing aspect of being here, is the traveling. On a weekend trip to Bern, some interns and I were looking at postcards for friends and family back home. I picked up a beautiful topographical map of Switzerland from the rack. As I ran my fingers over the paper, I was amazed. I always knew Switzerland was known for the beautiful alps. But for the first time I was struck by the fact that the ENTIRE country is mountains. But despite this, the landscapes of Switzerland are also extremely diverse: Mountains, check, lakes, check, valleys, check, old UNESCO site cities, quaint small towns, check, bustling industrial cities, check, ancient ruins, check, rolling hills with wandering cows, check, waterfalls, check. And, all of this in a country about three times the size of Los Angeles County. This means that everywhere I want to travel was a maximum of a 4 hour train ride away.

In summary this summer I have had so many incredible experiences, both academic and not, and I have learned more than I could have imagined. I am so grateful for the experience and I believe I have made many life-long friends whom I will never forget.

Nina Mohebbi, Georgia Institute of Technology
Biorobotics Laboratory (BioRob), EPFL

Some Lasting First Impressions

Switzerland is unlike anywhere I’ve ever been, to say the least, so here are three things that I realized early on in my three-month stay here, and have stuck with me since—The “I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore”—inducing moments.

1. Smarter buildings and transportation – The Swiss build with environmental sustainability and energy conservation in mind. Green roofs, smart façade designs, solar panels, permeable pavements are the norm here. These are all easy sustainable construction methods that I wish every city could adapt, and can significantly improve the quality of life for its inhabitants in the long run (Especially Pittsburgh, as I’ve gathered in a previous EPP Projects course). Transportation is Switzerland is just as impressive to me from the driverless and steeply-inclined M2 metro line of Lausanne, or the partly single-tracked M1 line that operates precisely on schedule. The bike share system is so commonly used that we often struggle to find one available around campus after work, and you’ll almost never see a car larger than a sedan on the road.
2. Approach to higher education – From conversations I’ve had with an EPFL student early on, I’ve learned that about half of incoming undergraduate freshmen drop out of EPFL after their first year, simply because coursework is too difficult and demanding. The concept is that everyone should have fair access to quality education after high school no matter their family income, so tuition is kept low at 633 CHF (about 700 USD) per semester, or an astounding 3% of CMU tuition. Acceptance rates are high, but once you get in to the university, it’s hard work to stay on top of the competition. It’s also not uncommon for students to fail a semester or two of classes and have to extend their stay at EPFL.
3. Diversity at EPFL – Research brings people together from all over the world, and this was especially apparent at a top-notch research university such as EPFL. Just in my small lab group alone, I’ve worked with a professor from Benin, post-docs from India and Spain, and other students from China and Italy. (Ironically, no Swiss.) Coffee break conversations are often filled with each one of us chiming in on how the ways of life are alike and different in our respective homelands.

Yang You, Carnegie Mellon University

Bioenergy and Energy Planning Research Group, EPFL

 

Campus livin’

Having studied in Cambridge, where tourists are made fun of for asking for directions to ‘the University’ (silly tourists! How could they not know that Cambridge University has many many mini-university sites, from colleges to departments and administrative buildings), actually having one self-enclosed campus to explore at EPFL is a new departure for me. The multitudes of cafés, shops and student services may be a standard on university campuses around the globe but I really think the physical community adds to the spirit of communal learning and sharing of information at EPFL, by fostering friendship between colleagues and networking between friends.

In other aspects EPFL is set apart from other universities by way of its ‘Swissness’-where else in the world would a building be named after a watch company, or would you look up to see the Alps seemingly in every direction? And I do wish the custom of having a cheese, fruit and bread market every Monday morning would catch on elsewhere. Similarly, there is a typically European emphasis on good food, with plenty of time at lunch to eat or even have a glass of wine the norm. And even in the summer months with few students still around, there are still things to see and do around campus, from an exhibition on the books of the future at the aforementioned Rolex Learning Centre, to taking a ride on a driverless car! One feature of EPFL would make any Cantabrigian feel at home though: a strong biking culture, with the provision of free borrowable bicycles on the CampusRoule scheme!

Caitríona Callan, Cambridge University
Neurodegenerative Studies Laboratory, Brain Mind Institute, EPFL