Engineering

EPFL researchers have built a drone that can walk, hop, and jump into flight with the aid of birdlike legs, greatly expanding the range of potential environments accessible to unmanned aerial vehicles.

Robots that can sense touch and perceive temperature differences? An unexpected material might just make this a reality. At Empa's Laboratory for High-Performance Ceramics, researchers are developing soft and intelligent sensor materials based on ceramic particles.

In addition to individual research projects with companies, Empa also enters into strategic, long-term industrial partnerships. The cooperation with BASF is an excellent example of this: Starting with a project on the production of graphene nanostructures in 2011, numerous other topics have been worked on jointly with various Empa research teams over the years. And since 2017, BASF's Scouting & Academic Collaborations team has been based at Empa with its own offices. In this interview, Alice Glättli, Senior Vice President Group Research at BASF, gives an insight into the reasons that led to this strategic partnership.

Hydrogen-powered planes are set to take wing around the world in the future. To make this possible, engineers have to develop the jet engines that will power them. Experiments by researchers at ETH Zurich are now providing the necessary basis for making these engines powerful and durable.

Originally developed for electric cars, nowadays they supply mobile phone antennas with electricity, and tomorrow perhaps entire districts: The salt battery is a safe and long-lasting battery technology with huge potential. Empa researchers are collaborating with an industrial partner to further develop these special batteries.