Science : To Infinity and Beyond!

Circular economy is an essential brick that our society needs to place in the way to sustainability. In this context, chemical engineering is at the forefront of the development of new solution to transfer back waste into useful resources. This talk will show examples of new processes developed by our research group to foster the implementation of circular economy.

Insecticides are meant to protect crops, but they don’t always stay put. Our research in Swiss fields shows that these Plant Protection Products often drift into nearby flower strips—refuges for beneficial insects like bees and ladybugs. We tracked insecticide deposition and monitored how it affected non-target arthropods. Some insects were fine, but others showed clear signs of harm, especially near the flower strip edges. These insects play crucial roles in pollination and pest control, yet current regulations don’t fully consider their exposure. If we want a future full of biodiversity, our risk assessments must start looking beyond the crop field.

Quantum sensors can detect tiny changes in gravity, magnetic fields, and time with incredible precision. This could revolutionize how we measure our world. However, many of these amazing capabilities are still stuck in labs, preventing them from solving urgent commercial and societal needs like water resource management, infrastructure monitoring, and autonomous navigation.

I will talk about why Switzerland and the European Space Deep-Tech Innovation Centre (ESDI) are the right place for the European Space Agency (ESA) to bring these technologies of tomorrow to the world of today and how this might benefit us all in the near future.