Alumni News

On September 7, the OG Ticino went on an excursion to the Valle di Blenio and Biasca to discover and learn more about the local cultural heritage.

On 21 June, the OG Ticino organized an event in three parts. First, we visited the A2 highway renovation site between Gentilino and Lamone. Then we visited the Hermann Hesse Museum in Montagnola, where we were able to learn about many aspects of the writer's life on a guided tour. Finally, we enjoyed an excellent dinner at the Bora da Besa restaurant in Gentilino.

On May 24, 2024, we had the opportunity to discover the fine art of chocolate production at Chocolat Stella in Giubiasco under the guidance of manager Alessandra Alberti, a food engineer at ETH. With around 70% of its products exported to over 50 countries worldwide, the company underlines its international importance and its contribution to global chocolate culture.

The Annual General Meeting of the OG Ticino took place on April 20, 2024 at the Hotel Unione in Bellinzona.

On October 13, the OG Ticino visited the company F.lli Puricelli SA in Riva San Vitale, where the first plant for the separation and recycling of plastics in the canton of Ticino was opened in 2021. The modern plant can split up to 9 different plastics and has a capacity of 6,000 tons per year.

On 3 June, the OG Ticino had the opportunity to visit the Sessa gold mine. The mine is located on Mount Sceré in the Malcantone region. The entire region is rich in underground minerals, and is therefore considered as one of the more important raw material deposits in Switzerland. Under the guidance of ETH alumnus Daniele Ryser and his colleagues, we were able to walk the path that crosses the mountain at about 390 metres.

In the past, most of the members of the Ticino Chapter were architects or civil engineers, but today membership is much more diverse. Pierluigi Telleschi and Chiara Cometta talk about their work on the board. They are delighted that member numbers are on the rise thanks to the huge efforts of the current president Rudi Belotti.

The OG Ticino held its annual ordinary General Assembly on 22 April at the Hotel Federale in Lugano. In addition to the activities of the meeting, President Rudi Belotti gave a review of the events organised in 2022 and presented the 2023 programme. At the end of the meeting, Prof. em. Antonio Togni presented the reform of the doctoral studies at ETH Zurich and explained the news concerning the organisation of the doctoral studies.

On 21st October, a group of 25 alumnae and alumni met at “MeteoSchweiz” in Locarno-Monti to visit the “Centro regionale sud” where weather forecasts are produced for various clients and regions. Moreover, Marco Gaia, head of the center and ETH alumnus, provided insights into current climate changes based on data from meteorological research.

On 17 September, Chapter Ticino had originally planned to visit the AET wind farm on the Gotthard mountain pass. At the top of the pass, the weather conditions with fog and snowfall, however, were not conducive for this programme, we decided on an alternative plan. Eventually, we went to the Lucendro hydroelectric power plant where engineer Edy Losa, ETH alumnus and deputy director of AET, explained the project and functioning of the Gotthard wind farm, and took us on a tour of the power plant.

On June 17th, almost 20 years after the discovery of the tiger mosquito in Ticino, we had the pleasure of visiting the Institute of Microbiology (IM) of the Department of Environment, Constructions and Design (DACD) of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) to learn more about this constantly expanding insect species. This is how we discovered the work of those who monitor, control and fight this mosquito in our territory.

On 14 May, Chapter Ticino held its ordinary General Assembly. After two years of Corona, this year’s assembly took place on site in Bellinzona again. Thereafter, we had the pleasure to attend a lecture given by Dr. Roberto Pronini, director of Azienda Elettrica Ticinese (AET) and alumnus of ETH Zurich. He outlined the current situation of energy production, supply and consumption as well as the perspectives for Switzerland in terms of the Energy Strategy 2050 to be achieved.

On 13 November, we had the pleasure to visit LAC, Lugano Arte e Cultura. Since 2015, it is the largest cultural centre of Canton of Ticino located on the banks of Lake Lugano. The LAC is surrounded by historic buildings of the city of Lugano, such as the former Grand Hotel Palace and the church of Santa Maria degli Angioli which was part of a Franciscan monastery founded in 1490.

Monte San Giorgio represents a unique geological area. Its Middle Triassic fossils are world famous for being very well preserved. Chapter Ticino Alumni set out on September 4 to learn more about the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A few days before the opening of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Chapter Ticino Alumni visited the National Youth Sports Center in Tenero (CST) where top athletes enjoy an excellent training infrastructure in a hospitable environment at Lake Locarno.

Chapter Ticino Alumni visited the construction site of the new hydropower station Ritom. After 100 years of operation, the existing plant will be replaced by a more advanced one.

Silk is a precious material that has been globally popular for 5.000 years. It is a natural fibre that allows for luminous colours. The world of silk involves farmers, engineers, entrepreneurs and artists, merchants and top models. We were hugely fascinated by all this, so we paid the silk museum in Como a visit.

On Saturday, October 5, 2019, the Alumni Chapter Ticino visited the village Giornico and the Museo di Leventina. Thereby, the participants learned interesting details about the history of the village Giornico and they learned about the former conventional traditions and rituals as well as the topic of identity at the museum.

On June 14th, 2019, the regional group Ticino visited the building site of the new campus USI-SUPSI in Lugano. The campus building, which will be completed in July 2020, will be the largest in Ticino.

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of ETH Alumni, on May 31st, 2019, OG Ticino organized a visit to CERN, the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, in Geneva. The 28 participants had a very intense and interesting time: We discovered the most advanced laboratory for particle physics. We were guided by ETH Alumnus Prof. Marzio Nessi, and Prof. Alessandro Cerri.

Piero Martinoli studied and did a PhD in physics at ETH Zurich. Nearly during his whole career, he worked at the University of Neuchâtel. After retiring, he changed to the Università della Svizzera italiana and helped to advance it significantly. 2016, his work was mentioned in the laudatio of the Nobel Prize laureates twice, and since November 2018, he is an honorary member of the ETH Alumni Association. He tells us in this interview, how ETH kept recurring his whole life.

On the April 6, 2019, OG Ticino held its annual general assembly. After the assembly, we had the pleasure to attend a conference by Elisa Garulli presenting the AROMA project. AROMA is a robot that is able to detect volatile substances in the air; a team of ETH students built its prototype for the iGEM’18 international competition.

The Alumni Chapter Ticino visited the new district heating centre of Energie Rinnovabili Losone SA (ERL SA) in Losone near Locarno on November 9, 2018. 15 members participated at this event. The group’s guide was the engineer Pietro Mariotta. He is the secretary of ERL SA’s administrative council and a member of the alumni chapter Ticino.

On September 22, 2018 29 members and friends of OG Ticino Alumni could visit the Rega Base Ticino in Gordola. The enthused visitors, some of them were children, could discover the technical side of Rega as well as the organisational part at their visit.

On June 22, 2018, the OG Ticino Alumni visited the construction site of the Ceneri base tunnel.

On 27 April 2018, 37 members of the Agri-Food and OG Ticino Alumni met in Cadenazzo in order to visit the Campus di ricerca Cadenazzo that unites the two research institutes Agrospocope and WSL under the same roof.

The annual general assembly of the Ortsgruppe Ticino took place on Friday, April 14, 2018, at the Hotel Internazionale in Bellinzona and was attended by 32 participants. The official reunion was followed by a presentation by Dr. Irene Pereira de Sousa, researcher at the Institute of Drug Formulation and Delivery at the ETH Zürich.

Am 20. Oktober trafen sich die beiden Mitgliederorganisationen OG Zürichsee Alumni und OG Ticino Alumni in Rivera und besuchten zusammen die Gastronomie-Firma Sandro Vanini. Die Besucher wurden von der Direktorin und ETH Rat-Mitglied Beatrice Fasana begrüsst. Während der Führung erfuhren die Alumni spannende Details, unter anderem auch, wer die Produktion von Marrons Glacés erstmals in der Schweiz eingeführt hat.

Am 29. September 2017 besuchte die OG Ticino Alumni die Firma Precicast SA in Novazzano. Die Feingiesserei, die in den 1970er Jahren gegründet wurde, beschäftigt heutzutage 800 Mitarbeiter und verfügt über eine Produktionsfläche von 30'000 m², 16'000 m² davon in Novazzano. Precicast ist eine der wenigen Firmen in Europa in ihrem Tätigkeitsbereich.

Unter der Leitung vom Architekt und ETH Alumnus Fabrizio Gellera besuchte die Ortsgruppe Ticino Alumni am 9. Juni den Palazzo del Cinema in Locarno, der in wenige Wochen offiziell neu eröffnet wird. Die neuen Kinosäle wurden für das 70-Jahre-Jubiläum des Filmfestivals entworfen und die ETH Alumni durften bei ihrer Führung vorab einen exklusiven Blick hinter die Kulissen werfen.

Am Freitagabend, 12. Mai, führte ETH Alumna Graziella Rizzi über 40 Alumni der Fachgruppe Agri-Food Alumni und der Ortsgruppe Ticino Alumni durch die JOWA Bäckerei in Sant’Antonino, die sie seit vielen Jahren erfolgreich leitet. 115 Mitarbeiter stellen an sieben Tagen in der Woche sicher, dass die Tessiner Migros-Filialen stets frisches Brot haben.

Am Samstag, 8. April 2017, fand die Generalversammlung der Ortsgruppe Ticino Alumni im Hotel Continental in Lugano statt. Anschliessend an den formellen Teil hielt ETH Alumnus Prof. Andrea Salvadè vor den rund 35 Alumni und Gästen eine sehr interessante und abwechslungsreiche Präsentation über das Institut für Systeme und Angewandte Elektronik der Tessiner Fachhochschule SUPSI (Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana).