O Canada…

In 2015, Prof. Paolo Ermanni, Dr. Joanna Wong, and I kick-started a new research focus in ETH Zurich’s Composite Materials and Adaptive Structures Lab. I was a new doctoral candidate and was excited to work on the search for viable methods to mass-produce structural glass fibres coated with a thermoplastic polymer. This disruptive technology is a game changer in the high-volume production of lightweight structures and is set to improve cost efficiency and sustainability for industries such as automotive, aerospace, clean energy, infrastructure, and commodity plastics. The project produced tangible results and led to new grant funding and additional PhD appointments.

Just when the project was at its peak, Joanna Wong accepted a position as an Assistant Professor for Engineering Materials, University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. Naturally, when assembling my dissertation in the autumn semester 2019, I was keen to return to a more intensive exchange with her on this technology. With a bit of luck and a lot of ingenuity, I managed to win a Mitacs Globalink Research Award that funded a collaborative project between ETH Zurich’s CMASLab and the University of Calgary lab. It funded a stay in Calgary as a visiting researcher - which I was particularly excited about after having completed all of my higher education at ETH Zurich. I had never really experienced education at a different university, let alone a different country.

So, what was it like to live in Canada’s “Prairies”? First of all, it was cold! I arrived just in time for the winter season’s first snowstorm - in late September. Turns out, Fall does not really exist in Canada. The weather dropped drastically from 20°C straight down to -14°C over a weekend! So much for my plans to do some hiking in the Rockies. Instead, I enjoyed slow-roasted Alberta beef and craft beer, catching the games of the local ice hockey team, the Calgary Flames and visiting the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology. As any good host, Joanna invited me on outings nearly every weekend, including to a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner (in early October) at her parents’ home. In general, Canadians seem to fulfil the typical stereotypes as friendly, welcoming, and communicative people. As a stereotypical and respectfully silent Swiss, I was amazed to find myself blending in with the locals and discussing all facets of life with neighbours, city hall staffers, grocery store cashiers, and even random people on the street.

At the lab, I was welcomed by two energetic students, who helped me to get acquainted with the equipment and were keen to learn about my work, what it is like to live in Switzerland, and to study at ETH Zurich. I found myself benefitting from working with new people in a foreign lab, being able to bounce ideas off each other, and getting some fresh perspectives. The same applied to my collaborative writing with Joanna, which became more interactive and resulted in quicker iterations compared with our previous exchanges and the eight-hour time difference. This was tremendously helpful. It enabled me to conclude my doctoral dissertation before starting a Pioneer Fellowship in April this year and even sparked some new ideas for it.

Christoph Schneeberger

The thing that keeps me busiest at the moment is: scaling the lab equipment I use for my Pioneer Fellowship.
My favourite app is: Agantty. It's simple, but it does wonders for organising my work.
One book or movie I recommend: "ReMastered: Devil at the Crossroads". It highlights the life and story of Robert Johnson, the first Blues musician who was said to have gotten his skills from selling his soul to the devil. It's a tragic story and a highly enlightening documentary.
And if all else fails, my instant pick-me-up is: my over-the-top empathetic wife! :)