10 Swiss Scientrepreneurs Will Test Their Applied Research Project on the Indian Market

16.07.2019 09:00, Guillaume Tinsel

The Academia-Industry Training (AIT) Camp in India has selected 10 Swiss researchers from high-level Swiss universities to discover the market potential of their innovation in the Indian market. They will travel to Bangalore for a full immersion week next September.

The AIT supports young scientists in transforming their applied research into market applications, while discovering their entrepreneurial potential. By connecting scientists from top institutions, both in Switzerland and in India, the program helps create an international network and allows access to one of the most promising markets and intellectual capitals in applied research.

This year’s team is composed of Master’s, PhD and postdoc students from the main Swiss Science Universties: BFH  EPFL, UNIGE,  ETH Zürich, EMPA. They are active in the fields of Medtech, Biotech, Cleantech, Hightech or Material. Discover the researchers and their project at the end of the article.

The Swiss researchers will travel to Bangalore from September 16th to 20th, 2019. On site, the team will attend investor meetings, visit local industries, participate in entrepreneurship and business workshops, but also engage with entrepreneurs and researchers with a similar background, all to effectively learn how to transform their research into a high-quality market product. 


 2018-2019 AIT Team with Indian and Swiss participants in Lausanne in 2019.

The program will continue for a second phase in the winter of 2020. The team will be joined by their Indian counterparts in Switzerland for an advanced entrepreneurship week. Both groups will be able to assess the advancement of their projects and share feedbacks. It will also be the opportunity for Indian researchers to discover in turn the Swiss entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem. The Swiss Camp will end on a competition note, with each country rewarding one of its participants with a special grant to help further develop their projects.

Clément Javerzac, MiraEx founder and EPFL student, was among the selected few of the 2018 edition. In his opinion, “AIT is the perfect program to take a step out of the lab into the real world. It provides young researchers with the first tools and connections to start global and dream big.”

Meet the 10 Swiss researchers flying to Bangalore in September 2019



Andrej Babic, Adiposs, UNIGE, Medtech
Adiposs is a biopharmaceutical company developing new diagnostic methods and agents for medical use.
www.adiposs.com

Hana Samet, C -MedTec, EPFL, Medtech
C-MedTec designs a monitoring and diagnosis helmet helping sport practitioners to behave in a healthy way in case of brain concussion.

Michail Kyriazopoulos, CocoBoard, BFH, Material
Cocoboard is a pioneering coconut-based fiberboard made of coconut husk bonded with natural tannin extracts, designed in Switzerland and manufactured in the Philippines. Cocoboards introduce an innovative low-tech process to transform agroforestry residues into bio-based materials, using only locally available natural resources.
www.cocoboards.com

Morgan Hunter, Emuna, ETH, Biotech
Emuna’s goal is to establish a spin-off out of the lab of Prof. Dr. Cornelia Halin Winter and to use this research base to fuel the development of therapeutics that target immune cell migration. Emuna plans to make use of an outsourced/partnership driven strategy in order to advance key research findings into clinically affirmed therapeutics.

Michele Zanini, FenX, ETH, Cleantech
We want to produce and sell insulation foams products, including panels, bricks and customized parts. The thermo-mechanical properties can be tuned upon customer specifications. During the pilot phase, the production of the foams is outsourced at mid-size manufacturing companies established in close proximity to the construction sites.

Ozge Karakas, Hi-D Imaging, ETH, Medtech
Hi-D Imaging AG provides a novel tailored heart valve selection tool to cardiologists before the heart valve replacement operation of each individual patient. Implementation of this service into hospitals will play a key role in selecting a patient-specific heart valve with an optimal flow.
www.hidimaging.com 

Olgac Ergeneman, Magnes, ETH, Hightech
Measuring forces is key for effective rehabilitation and fast recovery especially for orthopaedic or neurological diseases or injuries of the lower extremities. Magnes developed a magnetic multi-axis force sensing technology. This technology will disrupt the rehabilitation field by measuring the strength and progress of rehabilitation patients.
www.magnes.ch

Tino Matter, Nanoglue, EMPA, Medtech 
Nanoglue makes skin transplants successful. Our nanoparticle paste helps surgeons who want to ensure patient safety and survival by reducing complications and providing swift healing.
www.nanoglue.ch 

Erick Antonio Garcia Cordero, REA, EPFL, Medtech 
REA develops the first at-home test to rule out preterm labour. REA delivers the first smart sanitary pad to allow pregnant woman to diagnose the risk of preterm birth whenever and wherever they want.
www.reatest.ch

Poorya Amini, RisKlick, UNIBE, Medtech
Clinical trials (CTs) are used to determine whether an experimental treatment works well and safe
so that it can obtain market authorization. They are the longest and costliest part of drug
development. Over 90% of CTs fail; imposing financial burden to companies and exposing
volunteers to risk.
www.risklick.ch