READ.ME - Archive 2020

View READ.ME October 2020 here

Faculty and staff

Welcome, Professor Shweta Shinde
Alexander Ilic appointed Executive Director of ETH AI Center

Prizes and awards

ERC Grant
ELLIS PhD Award
Five ESOP 2020 students

Open positions

Doctoral fellows for ETH AI Center wanted
Apply to BRCCH Postdoctoral Excellence Programme

Stories of the month

Mihai Bâce: Our actual attention is now measurable
Christian Reiter: “You shouldn’t start a company just because it’s trendy”  

Upcoming events

Inaugural lecture Prof. Valentina Boeva (4 November)
Inaugural lecture Prof. Julia Vogt (4 November)
Distinguished Colloquium with Prof. Bryan Parno (9 November)
Distinguished Colloquium with Prof. Tom Ristenpart (16 November)

Past events

VIScon Digital (5-10 October)
ETH AI Center opening (20 October)

D-​INFK in the news

Professor Julia Vogt, Dr. Alexander Ilic: ETH eröffnet Kompetenzzentrum für KI (SRF Tagesschau)
Bachelor student Ivana Klasovita:  Logic and passion (Science Olympiad)
Spin-off Modulos, Professor Ce Zhang: Dieser Gründer hilft Firmen, die richtige KI zu finden (Handelszeitung)
Spin-off Indoor Astronaut: "Unrailed!" im Test: Chaotischer Spass auf Schiene (Heute)

Tip of the month

Telephones are being updated

Please meet

Federico Mereu, Manager food&lab

Coronavirus - Important updates

ETH Zurich to suspend most classroom teaching 
"We need to take action" 
ETH Zurich tightens rules 
Through the crisis with agility and perseverance  

View READ.ME September 2020 here

Faculty and staff

Torsten Hoefler appointed Full Professor
Welcome, Professor Ana Klimovic
Professor Onur Mutlu changes departments
Farewell, Sibille Etling
Welcome, Paulina Motyka

Open positions

Doctoral positions at the CLS

Prizes and awards

KITE Award nomination 
Students win hardware design contest 
ETH Medals and Willi Studer Prize for our Master's students 
Martin Hirt and Zuzana Trubini receive TCC Test-of-Time Award 

Stories of the month

Professors Valentina Boeva, Ryan Cotterell, Thomas Hofmann, Andreas Krause; Dr. Severin Klingler: ETH Globe magazine on AI
Simon Dünser, Prof. Stelian Coros: A robot that controls highly flexible tools
Prof. David Basin, Dr. Ralf Sasse, Dr. Jorge Toro Pozo: Outsmarting the PIN code 
Prof. Julia Vogt, Prof. Fanny Yang: How Machine Learning can help in medicine 
Prof. Andreas Krause, Prof. Julia Vogt: Foundations for trustworthy artificial intelligence
Prof. Martin Vechev, Dr. Veselin Raychev: ETH AI spin-off DeepCode acquired by a unicorn in cybersecurity

Upcoming events

SDSC-Connect (1 October)
Presenting the Media Technology Center (1 October)
VIScon Digital (5-10 October)
ETH AI Center opening ceremony, save the date (20 October)

Past events

Master's degree graduation ceremony (27 August)
Information Days (2-3 September)
ETH Industry eWeek (21-24 September)

D-​INFK in the news

D-INFK Spin-off Auterion: Alle Drohnen der US Army verwenden zukünftig eine Zürcher Software (Bilanz)
David M. Sommer, Moritz Schneider, Jannick Gut, Professor Srdjan Capkun: Passwort: «Wahlen» (Republik)
Alumnus Herbert Bruderer: We Just Found the User Manual for the First Digital Computer Ever Built (ExtremeTech)
Affiliated Professor Bernhard Schölkopf: Wie intelligent werden Computer, Herr Schölkopf? (FAZ)
Professor Markus Gross, alumni Urs Hölzle and Georg Polzer: Digital Shapers Hall of Fame (Bilanz)
Alumnus Kaspar Etter: The Internet (Explained from First Principles)

Tip of the month

New brochures and more colours

Please meet

Denise Spicher, Studies Administrator

Coronavirus

Mandatory presence tracing at D-INFK

Important updates

Compulsory facemasks in lectures 
Covid-19 cases at ETH
Safety concept for catering outlets

View READ.ME August 2020 here

Faculty and staff

Welcome, Prof. Mrinmaya Sachan
Farewell, Ariane Nake
Welcome, Daniela Fritzsche 
New role for Prof. Markus Püschel 
Welcome, Dejan Jovanovic

Stories of the month

Animatico, D-INFK Spin-off: Interactive avatars for a contactless customer experience

Upcoming events

Studieninformationstage (2-3 September)
Schnupperstudium CSNOW (7-8 September)
ETH Industry eWeek (21-24 September)
VIScon Digital (5-10 October)

D-INFK in the news

Tinamu Labs, D-INFK Spin-off: Tinamu secures CHF 1.1M in an oversubscribed seed round (Venture Lab)
Prof. Christian Holz: Eye-tracking mask could monitor people’s reactions to what they see (New Scientist)
Beekeeper, D-INFK Spin-off: Beekeeper named vendor of the year award finalist for the 2020 North American Inspiring Workplaces Awards (Wall Street Call)
DeepCode, D-INFK Spin-off: DeepCode kommt bei Entwicklern gut an (Punkt 4)
Dr. Vlad Coroama: Surfe ich das Klima kaputt? (SRF Kultur)

Tip of the month

Documentary about start-ups

Please meet

Kari Kostiainen, Senior Scientist and Coordinator of ZISC

Coronavirus

Current working regulations

Important updates

Facemasks and physical distancing are key 
Holidays and working hours in times of Corona 

View READ.ME July 2020 here

Faculty and staff

David Steurer promoted to Associate Professor
Kenny Paterson and Peter Widmayer support scientific integrity 
Amanda Caracas leaves Communication & Marketing Group 
Noah Fleischmann finishes his apprenticeship

Prizes and awards

Markus Gross joins the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
ETH students ace the Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge
ICML Test of Time Award for Andreas Krause 
Yifan Wang receives Apple PhD Fellowship 

Stories of the month

Prof. Srdjan Capkun, Karl Wüst, Aritra Dhar, Vasilios Mavroudis, Dr. Kari Kostiainen: Snappy nominated for Spark Award
Patrice Becker, Bachelor's student: "It’s almost like a drug"

Upcoming events

Virtual Master's Degree Celebration (27 August)
Paul Bernays Lectures (31 August - 1 September)

D-INFK in the news

New faculty members Prof. Niao He and Prof. Shweta Shinde: New professors: four women and four men (ETH News)
Prof. Markus Gross: Zu Besuch bei ETH-Professor Markus Gross (Radio SRF 2 Kultur)
xorlab, D-INFK Spin-off: xorlab raises more than CHF 1.2 million to accelerate growth and deliver safe corporate communications (Venture Lab)
Dr. Martin Wechsler, Alumnus: Die Migros Group hat einen neuen CIO (Inside IT)
Beekeeper, D-INFK Spin-off: Beekeeper adds $10M to series B financing round (Venture Lab)
Leonhard Helminger, Jacek Naruniec, Christopher Schroers, Romann M. Weber: Disney Research neural face-swapping technique can provide photorealistic, high-resolution video (TechCrunch)
Prof. Kenny Paterson, Alumnus Mathias Payer: Die pragmatischen Puristen (Republik)

Please meet

Barbara Solenthaler, senior research scientist at the Computer Graphics Laboratory

Tip of the month –ETH video services

Professional video production
Equipment to lend

Coronavirus

Current working regulations

Important updates

Session exams in the coronavirus era
Buildings to reopen starting 3 August 
Ready to fight a potential second wave

View READ.ME June 2020 here

Faculty and staff

Marianna Berger retires after 25 years
Dr. Hermann Lehner to head Academic Services
Goodbye to our colleague Dave Avanthay
Professor Markus Gross new head of Institute of Visual Computing
Meet Vincent Fortuin, ESOP student
Meet Hanna Ragnarsdottir, ESOP student 

Passed doctoral examinations: June 2020

Prizes and awards

Prof. David Basin and Prof. Joachim Buhmann: SACMAT Test of Time Award

Stories of the month

Cyber Group: Students against cyber threats
Prof. Martin Vechev, Benjamin Bichsel: The first intuitive programming language for quantum computers 
Prof. Thomas Hofmann, Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems: “The greatest success would be if the centre were to be absorbed into something bigger” 
BLP Digital, D-INFK Spin-off: One software for all documents

Upcoming events

HackZurich – Europe's biggest Hackathon (18–20 September)
Swiss conference on data science 2020 (26 June)

Call for collaborative data science projects

D-INFK in the news

David Dao, Doctoral student: Podcast #1 (Talent im Land)
Arbrea Labs, D-INFK Spin-off: Dieses Startup zeigt, wie man nach der Schönheits-OP aussieht (Handelszeitung)
Prof. Martin Vechev, Benjamin Bichsel: Silq is a new high-level programming language for quantum computers (Techcrunch)
Prof. Stelian Coros: Watch this two-armed robot carve like a Renaissance master (Gizmodo)
Cédric Neukom, Master's student: Um Andrang zu vermeiden: Studenten lancieren Reservations-App (Aargauer Zeitung)
Prof. Srdjan Capkun and Mathias Wellig, Alumnus: Alles, was du zur SwissCovid-App wissen musst (20 Minuten)
Scandit, D-INFK Spin-off: Scandit sammelt 80 Millionen Dollar (Inside-it)

Please meet

Felix Friedrich, teacher and study coordinator at D-INFK

Tip of the month

"Games" exhibition at the National museum Zurich 

Important note

Current working regulations

Looking to the future

SwissCovid tracing app: Tracing app officially launched 
Prof. Sarah Springman, ETH Rector: "We are aiming for an optimal mix of classroom and online teaching" 

View READ.ME May 2020 here

Faculty and staff

New staff and farewells

Prizes and awards

Prof. Adrian Perrig: four Test of Time Awards
Julia Gschwind: Alfred Escher Prize 2020

Stories of the month

Media Technology Center: The virtual made real
Larissa Laich: "It began with a Lego robot"
Prof. Adrian Perrig: Who chooses the path that data takes?
Liliana Barrios: This is a step forward in our quest to understand fatigue
Prof. Gustavo Alonso: A unique opportunity to explore the latest technology
Prof. Srdjan Capkun: Making cryptocurrency payments fast and secure
Prof. em. Walter Gander: Obstacles facing the pioneers at ETH
Game Technology Center: MAG/NET app released

Upcoming events

Cyber threats in healthcare: Roche Tower Talk with Prof. Adrian Perrig (28 May)
ETH Game Programming Lab final presentations 2020 (26 May)

D-INFK in the news

Mathias Wellig, Alumnus: Der Mann, der die Corona-App baut (SRF Eco)
Xorlab, D-INFK spin-off: ETH-Spinoff schliesst Partnerschaft mit Avantec (Inside Channels)
David Dao: Can AI help tackle climate change? (ETH Podcast)
Alexandros N. Ziogas: A data-centric approach to extreme-scale ab initio dissipative quantum transport simulations (inside HPC)
Dr. Anna Maria Feit: Braucht es das Zehnfingersystem noch? (Merkur)
Prof. Srdjan Capkun: Snappy beschleunigt Zahlung mit digitalen Wärungen (Punkt 4)
Prof. Tanja Käser, Alumna: Sempacher Forscherin an die ETH Lausanne berufen (Luzerner Zeitung)

Please meet

Georg Schätti, president of the Association of Computer Science Alumni ETH Zürich (IAETH)

Tip of the month – Mental and physical well-being

Coaching services for students 
Staying healthy at home

COVID-19 section

Sources of information

Information for staff and students
ETH news, stories and announcements

Important note

Current working regulations

Stories from the department

Nicola Rüegsegger: Practical training on the double
Peter Tatkowski and Andrea Tulimiero: Early disease detection through the sound of the voice
Prof. Srdjan Capkun: Swiss tracing app goes on trial
Alex Roque and Isaak Hanimann: Corona-compliant app reframing

View READ.ME April 2020 here

Faculty and staff

New staff and farewells

Prizes and awards

Prof. Emo Welzl: Symposium of Computational Geometry (SoCG) Test of Time Award
Dr. Robin Moser: Gödel Prize

Stories of the month

Nicola Rüegsegger, Pascal Wacker: "We have to do something!"
Katja Wolff: Sewing nicer clothes with algorithms
Julia Vogt: "With every project, I broaden my horizon"
Prof. Gunnar Rätsch: Circulatory failure is predictable
Dr. Mohsen Ewaida: FPGA computing platform for machine learning
Dr. Pelin Dogan: Machines learn to speak Swiss German

Upcoming events

VIScon – not just for students (9-11 Ocotber)
Cyber Security and its Communication Challenges (7 May)
How will Cyber Security Evolve? Zero Trust and other factors (14 May)
VIScon Call for Proposals (until 24 May)

D-INFK in the news

Prof. Ce Zhang, David Dao: Understanding the dynamics of the epidemic (ETH News)
Prof. Kenny Paterson: European coronavirus contact tracing app sparks uproar in the privacy community (NS Tech)
Mathias Wellig, Alumnus: Der Mann auf Millionen Smartphones (Walliser Bote)
Urs Hölzle, Alumnus: «Das Vertrauen in die Cloud steigt» (Computerworld)
Ankit Dhall, Master student: Enabling Biodiversity Research with Automated Species Identification (ETH Library LAB)
Daniel Schenker, Alumnus: «2232322» hat er gesagt (Tagesanzeiger)

Please meet

Giovanni Serafini, lecturer in didactics of computer science (ABZ)

Tip of the month

Improved services platform for D-INFK staff

COVID-19 section

Sources of information

Information for staff and students
ETH news, stories and announcements

Important note

Current working regulations

Stories from the department

Simona Bochsler, Amanda Caracas, Katharina Emry: "We encourage each other and exchange tips"
Jonathan Chen: A typical day in quarantine
Alex Lelidis, Radek Danecek: Hacking through a crisis – "Should I be worried"
Prof. Markus Gross: Seeing each other in times of Covid
Prof. Gunnar Rätsch: ETH Zurich and the canton of Bern – fighting coronavirus together
Prof. Juraj Hromkovic: Computer science for children of all ages

View READ.ME March 2020 here

Feature spotlight

Director of Studies, Prof. Ueli Maurer: "I am positively surprised at how quickly all the lecturers have adapted to the new situation"

HR in the spotlight

HR Manager, Jacqueline Braunschweiler: FAQs about working arrangements

Voices from the department – student organisations

VIS President, Jonathan Chen: "VIS fully supports the ETH strategy"
MOEB President, Michael Aerni: "We are  happy to help!"
VMI President: Alexander Viand: "We want to keep connecting people"

Voices from the department – mixed

"This is how we cope with the Coronavirus"

Helpful sources of information and guides

Official information from the Federal Council, the canton of Zurich, and ETH Zurich as well as useful links, tips and tricks
Home office survival guide

Events

Online hackathon CodeVsCovid19

Tip of the month

Keep your office plants watered

New faculty and staff

Welcome, Claudia Otto

D-INFK in the news

D-INFK Spin-off Futurae: Diese Frau macht Logins kinderleicht (Handelszeitung)
Prof. Julia  Vogt: Eine ETH-Forscherin erklärt, was KI den Ärzten bringt (Netzwoche)
Gabriela Keller (Alumna and CEO Ergon Informatik): Gabriela Keller über Leitbilder, Vorbilder und den Wandel in der Schweizer IT (Netzwoche)

News corporate communications

Corporate design refresh: phase two

View READ.ME February 2020 here

Faculty and staff

Welcome, Prof. Ryan Cotterell
Welcome, Prof. Dennis Hofheinz
Welcome, Pauline Lüthi

Prizes and awards

Prof. Onur Mutlu: IEEE Edward J. McCluskey Technical Achievement Award
International Collegiate Programming Contest: Team mETH off to world finals

Stories of the month

Prof. Gunnar Rätsch: A more accurate map of cancer genomes
STIU: The creative sides of computer science

Upcoming events

Informatiktage (23-28 March)
Spring semester 2020: Distinguished colloquium and inaugural lectures
Master your Master (28 February)
Master's degree celebration (28 February)
VIS Kontaktparty (29 February)
ETH Wikipedia Edith-a-thon (5 March)
Global Lectures Series: The Digital Ape (25 March)

Past events

Schnupperstudium by CSNOW (10-14 February)

D-INFK in the news

Prof. Ueli Maurer: Was lernen wir aus Cryptoleaks? (SRF Club)
Senior research associate Dr. Vlad Coroama: Klickscham - Surfen wir die Welt kaputt? (SRF Virus)
Prof. Hao Li (Alumnus): Deepfakes - A threat to democracy or just a bit of fun? (BBC News)
Prof. Marc Pollefeys: Zurich mixed reality researchers designing post-smartphone future (MENAFN)
Prof. Markus Gross: "I’m a Kind of Business Angel" (VentureLab)
Dr. Severin Hacker (Alumnus and Co-Founder Duolingo): The man teaching 300 million people a new language (BBC News)

Please meet

Franz Knobel, head of the organisation committee of the VIS Kontaktparty

View READ.ME January 2020 here

Faculty and staff

Welcome, Professor Siyu Tang
Welcome, Professor Fanny Yang
Professor Ueli Maurer new Director of Studies
Professor Julia Vogt in charge of CSNOW
Good-bye to our colleague Marion Wenger
Dr. Hermann Lehner appointed head of Academic Services

Prizes and awards

Dr. Leonel Aguilar nominated top innovator under 35
Three outstanding Master's theses honoured with ETH Medal

Stories of the month

Prof. Olga Sorkine-Hornung, Lara Schmid: "Women are just as good as men at computer science"
David Dao: Artificial intelligence can help combat climate change

Upcoming events

10th Swiss Day for Computer Science Education (STIU) (5 Feb 2020)
Master's degree celebration (28 Feb 2020)

Past events

D-INFK goes WEF (21-24 Jan 2020)

D-INFK in the news

Simon Zimmermann: Mehr als Spielereien: In Davos sind die Roboter los (n-tv.de)
Prof. Ueli Maurer: VBS: Darum kam Amherds «Krypto-Handy» noch nie zum Einsatz (SRF Tagesschau)
D-INFK Spin-off Beekeeper: Chatten mit dem Gemeindepräsidenten (Moneycab)
D-INFK Spin-off ChainSecurity: PwC Switzerland Incorporates ChainSecurity Team to Expand Blockchain Audit Tools (CoinDesk)

Please meet...

Professor Ueli Maurer, the department's new Director of Studies

Tip of the month

Meet our mascot