Meet the Fall 2021 Changemakers

We are delighted to present the 20 young talents that are part of the third edition of the Changemakers!

During the course of 3 months the group is following an intense programme encompassing a series of learning sessions, community exchanges, access to expertise, resources and many more.

Find out more about each of the participant! Check out the Award Ceremony that happened on 15th of December 2021 here 

The Award Ceremony prizes were sponsored by our partner Logitech.

Samuele is a Master student in Robotics. He is extremely passionate about flying (from animals to airplanes) and as such, his project consists of developing a sustainable, short-range, individual passenger, flying vehicle intended to reduce the high number of incidents of vertical workers. 

His solution not only has the potential to prevent many tragedies from happening but will also look stunning.

Louis is a Master student in Microengineering. He is passionate about new technologies and is working on a cryptocurrency trading bot that helps individuals optimize their investments and deal efficiently with the volatility of this unstable financial asset.

This bot could eliminate human error in the implementation of complex trading strategies, leading to better results in a fast and easy way.

Ilyes is a Bachelor student in Microengineering with the dream to become a successful serial entrepreneur.

For his first startup, he wants to rethink the way we currently do grocery shopping, developing a mobile application that uses artificial intelligence to facilitate the way shoppers buy their groceries. His application learns the shopping habits of its users and allows them to do grocery shopping in a smarter way.

Maia is a Bachelor student in Mechanical Engineering stemming from Argentina. She is passionate about sustainability and feels highly concerned about tackling issues such as climate change and inequalities around the world.

Her project consists of developing a data-driven system that automatically monitors the water quality in water-stressed areas and uploads this information to a digital platform accessible for NGOs working in the water and sanitation sector. This will not only improve the way water quality is currently monitored but will concretely help NGOs to save time, money and gain efficiency.

Nada is a Master student in Physics passionate about understanding the world around her. 

Together with Yi, she wants to create a sustainable and inexpensive glucometer that uses the polarization of light to measure blood sugar instead of chemical processes. This will provide an affordable and sustainable alternative to the current devices.

As a Master student in Physics, Yi  enjoys exploring the most fundamental rules of the universe. However, she is not only satisfied with looking at the stars but wants to turn her knowledge into concrete projects.

Together with Nada, she wants to create a sustainable and inexpensive glucometer that uses the polarization of light to measure blood sugar instead of chemical processes. This will provide an affordable and sustainable alternative to the current devices.

Ramez is a Master student in Robotics from Egypt, who wants to use his knowledge and skills to make a positive impact on people’s lives.

Together with his team, he is developing a platform for people with disabilities to easily find and buy existing assistive technology solutions useful for their daily lives. Additionally, the platform will allow users to request personalized products tailored to their specific needs. 

Their solution will make assistive technologies more accessible for people with disabilities, create additional sales channels for such products while accelerating the development of new technologies.

Amaëlle is a Master student in Robotics with an intrinsic drive to help others through technology. 

She is now working with her team in a platform for people with disabilities to easily find and buy existing assistive technology solutions useful for their daily lives. Additionally, the platform will allow users to request personalized products tailored to their specific needs.  

Their solution will make assistive technologies more accessible for people with disabilities, create additional sales channels for such products while accelerating the development of new technologies.

Clément is a Master student in Robotics. He is passionate about creating concrete engineering projects that could help people in their lives.

Clément and his team are developing a platform for people with disabilities to easily find and buy existing assistive technology solutions useful for their daily lives. Additionally, the platform will allow users to request personalized products tailored to their specific needs.  

Their solution will make assistive technologies more accessible for people with disabilities, create additional sales channels for such products while accelerating the development of new technologies.

Jeremy is a Bachelor student in Microengineering passionate about entrepreneurship. 

Currently, he is working on a digital platform that would allow decision-makers in Cameroon to make data-driven decisions by digitalizing their processes and making information transparent and available for its constituents.

Antoine is a Master student in Civil Engineering passionate to create from podcasts to digital art. 

Currently, he is developing lightweight panels that would turn current construction surfaces into efficient buildings. This low-tech solution could drastically decrease the carbon footprint of buildings’ energy consumption, which is one of the main causes of CO2 emissions nowadays.

Yohan is a Bachelor student in Microengineering who built his first radio-controlled airplane at the age of 10.

Currently, he is developing R2Home, a fully autonomous system designed to guide the return to earth of any scientific payload that was sent in the atmosphere using a sounding balloon or a rocket. This solution would help avoid waste falling in nature while also increasing the amount of data that can be recovered for a given flight time.

Léa is a Master student in Material Science and Engineering passionate about sports. 

Together with Thaïs, she is developing the “Vin km” – a new sports event that combines a 20 km race across the vineyards of Lavaux with wine tasting at the local cellars. Besides promoting local tourism in the region among the youth, the event seeks to share best sustainability practices for sports events.

Thaïs is a Master student in Life Science Engineering and an award winning student entrepreneur. 

Together with Léa, she is working on the “Vin km”, an event that combines a 20-km run across the vineyards of Lavaux with wine tasting at the local cellars. Besides promoting local tourism in the region among the youth, the event seeks to share best sustainability practices for sports events.

Yara is a PHD student in Supply Chain Management who came to EPFL with the idea of starting her own company.

She is developing a sustainable cloth stain removal device that is portable, easy to use, and will remove stains in less than three minutes. This device will significantly reduce the water consumption and energy used to wash cloth stains while optimizing their removal, resulting in considerable time savings.

Nikolaos is a Master student in Nuclear engineering, passionate about the energy sector, especially in nuclear fusion and energy efficiency.

He wants to commercialize a compact and low-cost version of continuously variable transmissions (CVT) – an impactful technology that can be applied to increase the fuel consumption efficiency in cars, to maximize the energy output of wind turbines, or to make the robots more agile and efficient in the tasks they can perform.

Noé is a Bachelor student in Physics motivated to develop a startup in the mobile apps space. 

He is developing a user-friendly event application for young adults looking to join events and socialize. This solution will be optimized to the needs of the event organizers who currently lack a suitable solution.

Paul-Antoine is a Master student in Mechanical Engineering passionate about racing cars and motorsports. 

Currently, he wants to set up a network of plastic recycling workshops in which plastic residues will be turned into low-cost, sustainable furniture. Besides learning about how plastic is processed, customers can also shop for their new cupboard or night table.

Contact 

Marius Aeberli
[email protected]
+41 21 693 08 08

Vice Presidency for Innovation (VPI)
EPFL Innovation Park
Building J – 1015 Lausanne