Education

Three sections to train tomorrow’s architects and engineers

©EPFL-SAR/EPFL-SGC/EPFL-SSIE

Each of ENAC’s three sections delivers excellence in education, with world-class courses that enable students to become experts. During their Bachelor’s degree, they acquire the foundations on which their chosen Master’s specialization will be based.

 

Architecture (SAR)

The Architecture Section (SAR) engages the big-picture thinking inherent in the discipline of architecture to address the pressing challenges of the climate crisis and the threat of ecosystem collapse. It takes a transdisciplinary and transcalar approach to teaching, exploring new ways of critically engaging urban design and architecture – and their holistic processes, instruments and technologies – in the ecological transition.

Civil Engineering (SGC)

The Civil Engineering Section (SGC) places the challenge of sustainability with respect to natural resources, urbanization and risks at the center of its polytechnic training priorities. Its teaching program is geared toward research and development for more sustainable structures, new forms of energy, and optimized transportation and mobility systems.

Environmental Sciences and Engineering (SSIE)

The Environmental Sciences and Engineering Section (SSIE) trains engineers to develop solutions to the complex environmental problems our planet is facing, such as climate change, resource depletion, pollution and biodiversity loss. It equips students with solid scientific and technological foundations, while factoring human, economic and social dimensions into its teaching.

Interdisciplinarity education

Combining disciplinary depth and interdisciplinary breadth, ENAC trains architects and engineers to excel in their chosen disciplines and to work effectively with professionals from other fields. This capacity for inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration is essential to address global sustainability challenges and to ensure ongoing innovation.

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“Design Together” program

Students from the three sections work together in multidisciplinary teams to solve complex sustainability challenges.

Student Kreativity and innovation Lab (SKIL)

This academic makerspace fosters hands-on learning and interdisciplinary collaboration between students, allowing them to transform their ideas into reality — whether physical or digital.

Interdisciplinary minors

ENAC hosts three interdisciplinary minors: Engineering for Sustainability; Integrated Design, Architecture and Sustainability (IDEAS); and Urban Planning and Territorial Development.

Continuing education

ENAC’s mission is not limited to the education of successful professionals. We also aim to update and develop the knowledge and skills of established experts. This is why the faculty offers a wide range of continuing education programs.

News about Education

Group work on the IDEAS Minor. Left to right: Sarah Planchamp, Loïc Fumeaux, Luana Ferrari, Sébastien Léveillé, Charlotte Jianoux and San Yun.© A.Goy/ENAC-EPFL

“The main benefit is that we all learned to speak the same language”

— The Integrated Design Architecture and Sustainability (IDEAS) program offers an interdisciplinary minor, PhD seminars and networking opportunities for PhD students from affiliated laboratories. Now, ten years on from its launch, we reflect on how this fast-growing initiative has evolved and hear from past participants.

Donato Kofel has completed his Master’s project in environmental sciences and engineering. © aAlain Herzog / 2023 EPFL

Trees are not always a miracle cure for improving air quality

— MASTER'S PROJECT – Donato Kofel has quantified the positive and negative effects of trees on outdoor air quality in Geneva Canton. His method can be used by city planners to design their large-scale planting programs more effectively.

Gaelle Abi Younes decided to focus on on-demand buses for her Master’s project © Marie Geiser/2023/EPFL

How to make an on-demand bus network viable

— MASTER'S PROJECT – For her EPFL Master’s project in civil engineering, Gaelle Abi Younes examined why on-demand buses have met with only limited success. She used technical and financial models to show how they could become a genuine alternative to cars in outlying areas.

© 2023 EPFL Alain Herzog

“The people were incredibly welcoming, but they're still rebuilding”

— Aline Bönzli and Caroline Heitmann headed to Croatia to help assess two buildings damaged by a devastating earthquake in December 2020.

Aurélio Muttoni © Murielle Gerber / 2023 EPFL

“My work outside the classroom increases my credibility"

— Aurelio Muttoni was recently named best teacher in the civil engineering section at EPFL for 2022. In reality, he has only one foot in the lecture hall: the other is in the field, as he’s also a partner in two engineering firms. In his view, this dual role bring benefits for both his students and his business associates.

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