From Cambridge math to Olympic medals, PhD research to cookbook writing, Emma Pooley’s journey is anything but linear. 

What does it mean to balance excellence in sport, academia, and beyond? Few people embody that question more fully than Emma Pooley, ETH alumna, Olympic silver medalist, world-class endurance athlete, and now engineer and author.

In this piece based on a recent We Are ETH podcast, Emma Pooley shares her extraordinary path from Cambridge mathematics student to elite endurance athlete, a PhD in engineering at ETH Zurich, and authoring and publishing a cookbook – Oat and Joy. 

From Mathematics to Engineering

Emma’s academic path began in mathematics at Cambridge, but when the subject became “too abstract,” like group theory, she decided to change to engineering. That change eventually brought her to ETH for a PhD in geotechnical engineering, under the supervision of ETH Zurich Professor Sarah Springman. What was meant to be a four-year stay turned into two decades and counting.

Accidental Cycling

Emma didn’t take up cycling until her early 20s, initially as a substitute for running after an injury. It wasn’t love at first ride: 

“The human backside did not evolve to sit on a bike saddle,” she jokes. 

But supportive friends, cake stops during club rides, and the Swiss Alps soon changed everything. What began reluctantly in Cambridge transformed into an elite career in professional cycling after she moved to Switzerland.

Balance Between Science and Sport

Juggling a PhD with international competitions was never easy. Emma recalls long nights at the centrifuge lab followed by gruelling training camps and 60+ races a year. Yet her dual focus brought balance: 

“When racing didn’t go well, research was there and vice versa. It gave me perspective.”

Her supervisor’s support was crucial. Professor Springman advocated for part-time arrangements, enabling Emma to pursue both science and sport at the highest levels.

Reinvention After Retirement

After years of professional cycling, including an Olympic silver medal, Emma shifted gears again, first to triathlon and later to new challenges: co-authoring a cookbook (Oat to Joy), working in sport media, and eventually returning to engineering. Today, she applies her ETH training to real-world projects in geotechnical engineering, collaborating with colleagues, many of them fellow ETH alumni, on natural hazard and building projects.

What Do We Learn?

Emma’s story is as much about perspective as performance. She reflects:

“Most things worth doing in life are not easy. Balancing two demanding paths feels hard at times, but in the long run, it makes you stronger. You may not always be the Usain Bolt of your field, but it’s possible to be excellent in more than one thing.”

From Cambridge to Zurich, cycling tracks to centrifuges, Emma Pooley reminds us that success is not linear, it’s about the courage to adapt, the joy of learning, and the value of staying true to one’s passions.

Listen to the full podcast episode here or watch below: WE ARE ETH Podcast

How MindMetrix’s myflow is redefining mental training through science and technology.

What started as a bold research question at ETH Zürich has now evolved into a cutting-edge spin-off shaping the future of mental well-being. MindMetrix, officially recognized as an ETH Zurich spin-off, is on a mission to bring mental training into everyday life from elite sports to everyday performance.

Their newly published Whitepaper, “Breaking Barriers in Sports”, marks a major milestone in that journey.

The Birth of MindMetrix

The concept behind MindMetrix was born in 2018 at ETH Zurich’s Neural Control of Movement Lab, where Dr. Sarah Meissner and Dr. Marc Bächinger first began exploring ways to quantify and train mental states using physiological data. Supported by an SNSF Spark Grant and an ETH Pioneer Fellowship, they developed the early proof-of-concept for what would become myflow, an intuitive tool for real-time mental state tracking.

What followed was a dynamic collaboration between ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Sport in Magglingen, and an emerging team of neuroscientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs, culminating in the founding of MindMetrix in 2022.

myflow: Neurofeedback Technology

At its core, myflow by MindMetrix AG is a wearable and app-based system that helps users identify and optimize their mental state. Designed initially with athletes in mind, myflow is now reaching broader audiences from corporate teams to health-conscious individuals.

What makes it different? More than just measuring stress or focus, it empowers users to train their mindset, track progress, and build the mental resilience required for high performance.

“It’s a huge mental challenge when you’re running to the shooting range in a competition, the competitors next to you are hitting their targets and the spectators are cheering for every target. myflow helps me to promote the strategies that improve my performance in my races.”

– Joscha Burkhalter, Swiss biathlete and myflow athlete.

The Whitepaper

The newly released Whitepaper is more than a technical summary; it is a call to action for how we approach mental performance training. It brings together insights from their ETH Zurich research, collaboration with elite athletes, and field tests conducted during major events like the Zurich 2024 Cycling World Championships.

Inside, you will find:

• Why mental state is critical for performance and how to train it
• How myFlow uses neurophysiological data for real-time feedback
• What makes MindMetrix’s approach different from traditional biofeedback or mindfulness apps
• Evidence-based methods that merge neuroscience with practical coaching

Download the Whitepaper and explore myflow: https://www.myflow.ch/resources/whitepaper

Way Forward

MindMetrix is more than just a product-driven company, it represents a broader vision for redefining how we approach mental well-being. With mental health challenges on the rise, the team envisions a future where mental training becomes as routine and widely accepted as physical training.

“Being part of the ETH Zurich spin-off community is more than a label, it is a commitment to evidence, excellence, and impact,” says the team.

By grounding their innovation in scientific rigor and ETH Zurich’s spirit of interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation, MindMetrix is making mental well-being more measurable, more trainable, and more personal.

Video: ETH Meets UCI World Championships – myflow