InSight into careers of D-MATL graduates

Are you interested in finding out what graduates with a degree from D-MATL do once they leave ETH Zurich? Then join us at our next event!

The next InSight event is planned for

17 October 2024
18.00 - 20.30
ETH Hönggerberg

Four ETH Materials Alumni will briefly introduce their company and talk about their career and daily professional life. More information will follow.

 
 
 
 

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Previous InSight Events

Foto of the speakers at the D-MATL InSight event in March 2024 presenting their careers and companies.

Another InSight event took place on March 19, 2024. The following four ETH Materials Alumni presented their companies and provided great input for the audience. While being at different time points in their careers, they all highlighted the importance of connecting with people when exploring career paths and of listening to the gut feeling when it comes to making decisions. We thank the speakers for their openness in sharing their stories.

Speakers

The second InSight Event in 2023 took place on October 17, 2023. The following four ETH Materials Alumni presented their companies and provided great input for the audience.

Speakers

Our first InSight event in 2023 took place on April 4. Three graduates of the Master's degree programme in Materials introduced their professional life and talked about past opportunities and decisions.

Overview of speakers:

The audience was very active and asked many questions, both professional and subject-specific. The lively discussion continued at the reception.

View of the audience at the last InSight Career Event at D-MATL

At our InSight career event on 19 May 2022, four ETH Materials Alumni introduced their company and talked about their career and daily professional life.

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At our InSight career event on 11 November 2021, four ETH Materials Alumni shared their professional experiences and insights after graduation.

Overview of speakers:

Insight Nov 2021

Chance favours the prepared mind, as Louis Pasteur said. To make an impact in one's professional life it is all about seizing opportunities as they come along. Over 45 participants followed actively another online edition of the InSight career event.

The speakers of the InSight on 22 April 2021 were:

 

MaP InSight April 2021 impressions
Participants of the MaP InSight, curious to learn more about the career paths of the ETH Materials Alumni speakers.

The current times force us to keep physical distance and rethink networking activities. Still, ETH students continue their education, although in a distance-learning-format. They will graduate, among many towards the ultimate goal of solving pressing materials science challenges out there in the world.

On 7 May, over 40 participants convened virtually, the first-of-a-kind in the 11-years-history since the launch of the InSight format. Four ETH Materials Alumni, from near and far, shared insights into their professional development. They told their personal stories with great enthusiasm and dedication, leaving an impressed audience, being grateful about the Alumni's contributions.

Overview of speakers:

 

"What can I do after graduation?" is probably one of the most asked questions of students during their education. That is why it was probably no surprise that our InSight event on 24 October 2019 attracted again many participants. Four materials Alumni shared their story and showed that sometimes it is needed to have patience to not take the first good offer, to have courage to trust your gut feeling leaving a good job, but also to go for it when it feels right.

Overview of speakers:

Enlarged view: Speakers InSight 2019-02
The four speakers of the InSight 2019-02: Christoph Mareischen, Janine Conde, Philipp Reibisch and Kathrin Michel (clockwise from top left).

Read more about the InSight 2019-02 in the Science&Industry section of the materialist 'Change' (Dec 2019, article in German).

"My life after ETH ... - or is there any?" At our networking event on 21 March 2019, four ETH Materials Alumni shared their very personal story after graduation. We have learned that 'being interested' is probably the best way to be prepared for a new professional challenge. And also, 'if something did not feel right' to take a moment to reflect on what to do next, as there is always something waiting out there. This can also mean to be persistent, as you might finally catch the job of your dreams after having submitted three applications while waiting for ten years.

This InSight was organised in the series of the 150th Anniversary of ETH Alumni and signified the 10-year celebration after its launch by Sara Morgenthaler, ETH Materials Alumna and former business manager of MaP. We want to thank Sara for her enthusiasm and engagement throughout all these years – all that made this networking format so successful! And of course, we look forward to many more Alumni stories to hear in the next events to come.

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At our InSight career event on 25 October 2018, four ETH Materials Alumni shared their professional experiences and insights after graduation.

Overview of speakers:

What is the job of a materials sciences graduate? Three ETH Materials Alumni gave their very personal response to this question at our InSight career event on 15 March 2018. They spoke about how it is to work in a start-up that is embedded in a bigger enterprise, driving the own ETH spin-off, or striking a new path beyond materials.

Overview of speakers:

At our InSight career event on 16 March 2017, four ETH Materials Alumni shared their professional experiences and insights after graduation. They spoke about their career paths and reflected on skills they have acquired during their studies at ETH which appear to be most valuable in their working life.

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Studying Materials Science is exciting – and what comes next? At our last networking event on 6 October 2016, four Materials Alumni gave personal insights into their career paths after graduation from ETH.

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A degree in Materials Science offers graduates a multitude of different career paths in a variety of industry branches. At our InSight event on 3 March 2016, four of our Materials Alumni talked about their career paths and daily life in industry. Key to their everyday job commitment is the choice to work in interesting markets and on innovative projects, at positions where they can contribute to the success of their enterprises.

Overview of speakers:

After a PhD focused on thin film surface coatings, Samuele Tosatti founded external pageSuSoS AG as a spin-off of ETH Zurich, specialized in the fields of surface modification, functionalisation and characterisation. Starting the enterprise in 2004 with an idea, a partner and a rich toolbox of technological solutions, SuSoS and its founders went through several learning cycles that sharpened their company profile to a successful enterprise of seven highly motivated team members working on high-performance solutions for their customers.

Luana Cavalli Sahli obtained her materials science degree in 2002 and spoke about the challenge to find a job during a time of economic crisis. She launched her career with the prestigious ESA (European Space Agency) traineeship, where she developed test methods to determine galvanic corrosion in space conditions. Afterwards, she joined Alcoa as application engineer for aerospace and defence and later external pageAirex / 3A Composites as solution engineer for core materials where she appreciates to work closely with customers towards solutions for specific applications.

Looking back on his career path, David Sager states “the scope changes, but the complexity stays”. After a PhD in high-temperature superconductors in 2004, he worked as project leader at Hilti and later as product manager at Geberit. Currently, he is responsible for market development and marketing for sealing and bonding at external pageSika, where he is supporting and guiding the local sales organizations to grow in sealant and adhesive business. With each position throughout his career the number of people involved and impact of decisions raised and he advised especially the technical graduates not to forget about company politics and the time required to bring new technologies to the market.

Fabian Fischer graduated from ETH in 2010 and demonstrated the benefit of an industrial master thesis allowing the graduate as well as the company to get to know each other, which, as a consequence, may facilitate the start of a career. Since his master thesis at external pageABB Semiconductors, Fabian has grown his experience in three positions as process engineer, product engineer and eventually as R&D project manager. He now works on the development of new power semiconductor module platforms and appreciates the opportunities at his workplace to take up different challenges in a pleasant working environment.

Impressions of InSight Career event

A degree in Materials Science offers you a multitude of different career options. At our last event on 8 October 2015, four Materials Alumni gave insights into their paths after graduation and the diversity of tasks they fulfil in their jobs each day. Irrespective of the sector they are working in, they all share a great enthusiasm and commitment for their topics, products and people they are working with.

Overview of speakers:

A degree in Materials Science from ETH Zurich is a starting point for a multitude of career paths in different fields and for various positions. In the InSight event of 12 March 2015, four of our graduates spoke about their career choices and the underlying driving forces. The basic knowledge they acquired during their studies helps them to understand, control and develop the materials and processes they are working with each day. Working in a global setting, cross-functional teams and complex environments where they have to fulfil different requirements, however still keeps them learning constantly.

Overview of speakers:

Francesco Albertini did an internship at swissnex Boston after his graduation and then started to work for Altran Switzerland. Meanwhile he is a senior scientist with external pageCilag AG (Schaffhausen), a subsidiary of external pageJohnson & Johnson, which is operating in the field of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. His main task is the development and validation of test methods for testing medical devices and combination products (drug and devices combined). In the highly regulated pharmaceutical environment the test method validation is an essential step for guaranteeing the quality of a product.

After a PhD in polymer technology focusing on high-performance composites for industrial applications, Jérôme Lefèvre joined Quadrant Plastic Composites in Canada. Working in the R&D during the economy crisis was a challenge, which he took as an opportunity to develop and produce low-cost green composites as a replacement for wood in automobile caravans. Back in Switzerland, he became head of R&D at external pageAmmeraal Beltech AG (Jona), known for process and conveyer belting, where key for success is to find the best performance for a particular application.

Valérie Flück started with an internship at Contraves AG after her graduation to gain first experience in industry. With a background in ceramics and polymers it was all but obvious to move to the metal field, but the possibilities and very well equipped laboratories at external pageRolex convinced her to join its R&D department. The site in Biel focuses on the movements of the watches and her work is mainly concerned with the analysis and characterization of materials. She enjoys the contact to a variety of professions from technicians, scientists to suppliers and technical institutes.

The prestigious ESA (European Space Agency) traineeship was the first career step of Boris Iwanovsky after his graduation, where he was involved in the MEDET project for which he analysed samples and data of in-flight experiments. After traveling around the world for one year, he joined external pageRuag Space. As a materials engineer he not only contributes with technical know-how to the success of the project teams, but he is also concerned with internal quality processes, process audits with material and service suppliers and R&D activities across the company.

A degree in Materials Science allows you to choose from a very broad range of career paths. Our last event on 9 October 2014 provided an insight into what's possible. The four presentations revealed that despite the very different fields of application, be it banking, the constructing industry or precision instruments, communication is key to the daily business of all our speakers and that our graduates tend to work at the interface, often between production, engineering or development and marketing, sales or supplier.

Overview of speakers:

Luca Büchi studied Materials Science as a continued education after having done an apprenticeship as a polymechanic at external pageMettler Toledo, a leading global manufacturer and marketer of precision instruments and services for use in laboratories and manufacturing. He rejoined the company again after his studies, where he is now global QAR (quality assurance representative) for balances and moisture analyzers.

After spending a lot of time in the clean room during her Master thesis, Annika Baier wanted to work with something a little bigger. That's why she joined external pageSika a global speciality chemicals company that supplies construction markets and the manufacturing industry. As a product engineer for structural adhesives and strengthening she is the contact point for all questions related to her products, be it their specifications, testing or marketing.

Robert Bielecki hails from Poland and did both his MSc and his PhD at ETH Zurich. Looking for a new challenge in a completely different area afterwards, he joined external pageSolution Providers Management Consulting (renamed to Synpulse, 01.01.2015), a globally active management consulting company in the financial services market, where he now helps to improve processes in banking.

After his studies, Bartjan den Hartogh co-founded and established the spin-off company Nanotion. When this company was sold off to a global player, he moved on to work for external pageFemtoTools, a Swiss high-tech company for ultra high-precision instruments for mechanical testing and robotic handling in the micro- and nanodomains, where he is now head of sales.

Contact

Study Administration Office
  • +41 44 632 25 20

ETH Zurich
Department of Materials
Leopold-Ruzicka-Weg 4
HCP F 33.1
8093 Zürich
Switzerland

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