Letting ideas flow
Water was the focus of ETH Week 2016. For the second edition of this week-long event, ETH Zurich called on bachelor's and master's students from all departments to approach a subject creatively and develop collective solutions.
Textbooks stayed at home for the week: during ETH Week 2016, around 180 students worked independently on a subject in small interdisciplinary groups, and presented creative concepts at the end. This year's theme was ‘Challenging Water’.
ETH Week was held for the first time last year and was so well received that it was now in its second edition, with a greater number of participants. The event is part of the Critical Thinking initiative, through which ETH Zurich promotes interdisciplinary and creative thinking.
For many students, the incentive to participate is the fact that their own ideas are sought after: they can and should actively develop something, rather than learning passively. This year, under the guidance of professionals and on the basis of visits to companies and lectures given by experts, they designed solutions related to water, a key resource. The demanding technical programme was complemented by team events and sports activities.
Friday, 16th of September, all 18 of the 8- to 10-member groups presented their finished concepts to a jury. The participants also were able to choose their favourite solution via an app, and the best ideas received awards from Rector Sarah Springman. The award ceremony took place at the Hönggerberg campus in the HIF building, which served as a meeting place as well as the central location for lectures and work over the course of the entire week.
Updates from ETH Week and the winning team are published on the external pageETH Week Facebook page.
