Download - Newsletter october2015 2
New global ETH alumni newsle2er In addi'on to the magazine “Globe” ETH Zurich alumni will receive a revamped monthly global newsle@er “Update” that is sent via email. In case you have missed the recent emails you can s'll read the reports on the alumni homepage under “News and Media”. Besides news from Zurich and informa'on about a@rac've offers for alumni (currently discounted leadership assessmnet course, for example) the newsle@er also contains news from country chapters. Most recently it reported about the visit of Prof. Renate Schubert who met the alumni at the Singapore ETH Centre (SEC) on the 24.August 2015. we will con'nue to contribute ar'cles to Update to inform about our local ac'vi'es.
Singapore chapter: New commi2ee composi:on In the last newsle@er we were looking for a new secretary for the chapter. As most of you would have seen from the emails sent from his address, we are very happy that we could appoint Lincoln Lewis from SEC, as our new secretary. At the same 'me, unfortunately, commi@ee member Max Meyer resigned due to a increasingly travel-‐intensive work schedule.
The commi@ee now consists of the following members: President: Katja Fink
Vice-‐president: Hans Jaeger Secretary: Lincoln Lewis Treasurer: Manohar Velpuri
Swissnex closure and opening of the Science and Technology Office of the Embassy of Switzerland in Singapore Since the inaugura'on of the ETHalumni chapter in Singapore we have been in constant touch with the local swissnex office. Suzanne Hraba-‐Renevey and her team have been instrumental in several ways, par'cularly by providing informa'on about visi'ng Swiss VIPs for poten'al mee'ngs with the
Newsle@er October 2015
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Singapore Chapter
When I was in Europe early September this year, friends in Singapore texted me: “Don’t come back, we have bad haze again”. And I thought, lucky me, escaped. How could I know that the haze would persist for WEEKS! This is different from 2013 when we had a very bad weekend with PSI values over 300 (at which point I fled to Hong Kong) but were spared week-‐long exposure. In previous years I had always thought that land was cleared for palm oil planta'on. Only this year we hear about the part that paper produc'on plays in the burning of the forests in Sumatra and Kalimantan. One Singapore-‐based company responsible for some of the burnings had their paper products (Paseo, Jolly, Nice, etc) removed from the shelves of major local supermarket chains. This will, however, not change the fact that people will always buy the cheapest paper available, which likely comes from uncontrolled, unsustainable sources (much to my dismay I discovered Jolly toilet paper in my cupboard…). In the long run, policies and regula'ons must change and in the even longer run the en're produc'on approach must change. New research into alterna've ways of sustainable produc'on of paper and other products is greatly needed. The ar'cle “Resources: Scarcity and waste” in the latest issue of Globe, the magazine of ETH Zurich and ETH Zurich Alumni gives insight into the work of ETH researchers trying to tackle resource-‐related problems.
L eh : T h e n ew SG c h a p t e r s e c r e t a r y Lincoln Lewis
W e n e e d m o r e commi2ee members! If you think that this could be something for you please don’t be shy and contact [email protected] (goes to Katja)
SEC Future Ci:es Laboratories Lunch Talks The Singapore-‐ETH Centre’s Future Ci'es Laboratory (FCL) invites ETH alumni and their friends to the Lunch Talk series on Wednesdays (12:00 -‐ 1:00pm) at their workspace. The topics of the lectures range from architecture and photography to physical sciences, and are followed by a ques'on and answer period with the speaker. Please refer to FCL’s website for the schedule and details of upcoming talks. If you would like to be added to the Lunch Talk email no'fica'on list please inform [email protected] The following are a selec'on of upcoming talks: ·∙ Living with Tsunami Risk: Migra:on and Evacua:on Decisions by Jamie McCaughey (NTU Earth Observatory of Singapore, and an ETH doctoral student) 11 November 2015, 12noon – 1pm ·∙ Singapore’s Na:onal Science Experiment: Using Personal Data to Inspire Students by Erik Wilhelm (SUTD faculty, and an ETH alumnus) 2 December 2015, 12noon – 1pm
Upcoming alumni events: • 12. Nov 2015, 7pm, Brewerkz
Clarke Quay: ETH meets HSG. If you would like to join please RSVP to chris'[email protected]
• 14. Dec 2015: Visit of the new SUTD campus in Changi. Details will follow soon.
• Nasi Lemak Kukus: A new date will be
announced once the haze condi'on has improved and al fresco dining is safe
Katja Fink and the Singapore chapter commi@ee
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local alumni, by maintaining and sharing contacts of all alumni and key interac'on partner in Singapore, and by coordina'ng bigger events, which were ini'ated by the ETHalumni or in which we par'cipated. The highlights were two Swiss alumni mee'ngs, which could not have been realized without the professional and financial help of Swissnex: a panel discussion and networking evening with the visi'ng federal councilor Johann Schneider-‐Ammann and the “Water resources”-‐centered panel discussion and visit of the Marina Barrage with Prof. Alexander Zehnder and representa'ves from local organiza'ons Hyflux and PUB. The swissnex office in Biopolis has closed its doors and the ETHalumni chapter has moved its official address to the SEC. Fortunately, a plan for con'nuity has been taken care of and has already been implemented, we are happy that two experienced former Swissnex employees, Mr. Sebas'en Monnet and Ms. Rebecca Zay, have started their du'es at the Science and Technology Office of the Embassy of Switzerland. The office has opened officially on 1. October 2015. As the president of the ETHalumni chapter and in the name of the chapter commi@ee I would like to sincerely thank Suzanne and her team for the past good working rela'onship. We wish Suzanne a great start in her new endeavors in Switzerland and look forward to con'nuous, solid Singapore-‐Swiss rela'ons managed by Sebas'en and Rebecca.
From leh: Suzanne Hraba-‐Renevey, Sebas'en Monnet and Katja Fink at Suzanne’s farewell dinner at the embassadors residence.