Dario FloreanoProf. Dario Floreano is director of the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). Since 2010, he is the founding director of the Swiss National Center of Competence in Robotics, a research program that brings together more than 20 labs across Switzerland. Prof. Floreano holds an M.A. in Vision, an M.S. in Neural Computation, and a PhD in Robotics. He has held research positions at Sony Computer Science Laboratory, at Caltech/JPL, and at Harvard University. His main research interests are Robotics and A.I. at the convergence of biology and engineering. Prof. Floreano made pioneering contributions to the fields of evolutionary robotics, aerial robotics, and soft robotics. He served in numerous advisory boards and committees, including the Future and Emerging Technologies division of the European Commission, the World Economic Forum Agenda Council, the International Society of Artificial Life, the International Neural Network Society, and in the editorial committee of several scientific journals. In addition, he helped spinning off two drone companies (senseFly.com and Flyability.com) and a non-for-profit portal on robotics and A.I. (RoboHub.org). Books
Manuale sulle Reti Neurali, il Mulino (in Italian), 1996 (first edition), 2006 (second edition)Evolutionary Robotics, MIT Press, 2000
Bio-Inspired Artificial Intelligence, MIT Press, 2008
Flying Insects and Robots, Springer Verlag, 2010
Jean-Claude BolaySince January 2020, Jean-Claude Bolay works as consultant, specialized in urban development in Southern countries and in scientific and academic international cooperation.Previously he was Director of the Cooperation & Development Center of EPFL (CODEV) and Professor at the Faculty of Natural, Architectural and Built Environment (ENAC). By training he is sociologist (bachelor) and political scientist (PhD from the University of Lausanne, Prize of the University of Lausanne). To reach his grade, he was awarded a scholarship from the Swiss National Foundation of Science and worked during 2 years in the postgrade Colegio de Mexico, in Mexico City (1982-83) and therefore in the Center for Latin American Studies of the UC Berkeley University, California (1984). From 1986 till 1989 he has been working as senior staff of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in the frame of a slum’ upgrading project of the World Bank and Cameroun Government in Duala, Cameroun. He was contracted by the EPFL in the frame of urban research projects in developing countries, becoming quickly the leader of several projects focused on urban upgrading actions, urban planning, social participation, urban environmental issues and governance in much diversified contexts as Burkina Faso, Bolivia, Argentina, Cuba, Ecuador, Vietnam, to cite some of them. He teaches at the master level in the Architecture section since 1995. In 2001 he was named by the President of the EPFL as responsible of the cooperation with emerging and developing countries’ partners, and therefore in 2005 as professor. He is presently leading a team of 25 scientific and administrative collaborators. He published more than 60 articles and edit several books on urban issues in developing countries as on development and scientific cooperation. He is also Director of the UNESCO Chair “Technologies for Development” and has organized 5 International Conference of the Chair focused on the links between research and operational implementation of development’ projects.https://www.mycloud.swisscom.ch/s/S00D9A9B2395F521E74EA94D2341E0A59719C7D75EB Philippe ThalmannOriginaire de Malters (LU), Philippe Thalmann est né à Lausanne en 1963. Il est licencié en économie politique de l'Université de Lausanne en 1984, où il a aussi obtenu le diplôme postgrade dans la même branche en 1986. M. Thalmann est entré dans le programme doctoral en économie de l'Université Harvard (Cambridge, E.-U.) en 1986 et l'a achevé avec le doctorat (Ph.D.) en 1990. De retour en Suisse, il est nommé maître-assistant à l'Université de Genève pour y enseigner l'économie et les finances publiques, puis professeur assistant à l'Université de Lausanne en 1993, pour y enseigner l'économétrie appliquée et l'économie nationale. En 1994, M. Thalmann est nommé professeur extraordinaire à l'EPFL (aujourd'hui professeur associé). Lors de la réorganisation de l'EPFL en 2000, il réoriente sa chaire de l'économie de la construction vers l'économie de l'environnement naturel et construit.
Peter RyserDr. Peter Ryser is a Professor Emeritus at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. He has over three decades of research and teaching experience from various corporate and academic institutions. He was previously a Director at Siemens Building Technologies where he was responsible for R&D, product innovation and patents. Dr. Ryser has a Ph.D. in applied Physics from the University of Geneva, a Masters degree in Experimental Physics and an MBA.
Daniel FavratDaniel Favrat a obtenu à l'EPFL son diplôme d'ingénieur mécanicien en 1972 et le titre de docteur ès sciences techniques en 1976.
Il passe ensuite 12 ans dans des centres de recherche industriels au Canada et en Suisse.Depuis 1988, D. Favrat est professeur et directeur du Laboratoire d'énergétique industrielle à l'EPFL. Il est aussi successivement directeur de l'Institut des Sciences de l'énergie et, dès janvier 2007, de l'Institut de Génie Mécanique. Ses recherches portent sur les analyses systémiques prenant en compte l'énergétique, l'environnement et l'économie (optimisation environomique), et les systèmes avancés pour une utilisation plus rationnelle de l'énergie (pompes à chaleur, moteurs, piles à combustible,turbomachines etc.)
Il est membre de l'Académie Suisse des Sciences Techniques et vice-président du comité énergie de la Fédération Mondiale des Organisations d'Ingénieurs. Il est éditeur associé du journal "Energy" et l'auteur de deux livres sur la thermodynamique et l'énergétique publiés aux Presses Polytechniques Universitaires Romandes.
Marie-Valentine Renée Agnès FlorinMarie-Valentine Florin is the executive director of the International Risk Governance Center. She organises IRGC collaborative activities, focusing in particular on the role of IRGC as a multi-stakeholder platform and a convening place at the interface between science and public policy. She joined the International Risk Governance Council (IRGC Foundation) www.irgc.org in 2006.From 2000-2006, she worked for local authorities, helping them develop and implement strategies for sustainable development, and for philanthropic and humanitarian organisations. She spent the first part of her career (1984-1999) in an international socio-cultural research and marketing consulting firm. Marie-Valentine graduated from Science Po in Paris (public policy and management), and then earned post-graduate diplomas in marketing strategy, sustainable development and environmental diplomacy. Her current involvement in IRGC activities is mostly related to:- systemic risks and transitions, governance of risks related to emerging and converging technologies- digital policy, specific risks related to machine learning- precision medicine- synthetic biology- nanotechnology- climate engineering Member of Advisory Committee to the World Economic Forum Global Risk Report 2015-2021; Fellow of the Society of Risk Analysis (SRA). Denis GilletDenis Gillet received the Diploma in Electrical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) in 1988, and the Ph.D. degree in Information Systems also from the EPFL in 1995. During 1992 he was appointed as Research Fellow at the Information Systems Laboratory of Stanford University in the United States. He is currently Maître d'enseignement et de recherche at the EPFL School of Engineering, where he leads the React research group. His current research interests include Technologies Enhanced Learning (TEL), Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Human Devices Interaction (HDI) and Optimal Coordination of Complex and Distributed Systems. Denis Gillet is affiliated at EPFL with the Center for Intelligent Systems and the Center for Digital Education.
