Graduation Day – Magistrale

Magistrale 2024 - Photo

Magistrale 2024 ©EPFL – Jamani Caillet

The graduation toke place on October 5, 2024 at the SwissTech Convention Center in the presence of the Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin.

9:30 am
Doors open

10:30am
Opening of the ceremony 

Speeches by:

  • Martin Vetterli
    President of EPFL
  • Guy Parmelin
    Federal Councillor

Doctor Honoris Causa Awards presented to:

  • Daniel Huttenlocher
    Dean of the Schwarzman College of Computing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
  • Kazuyo Sejima
    Architect, architectural firm SANAA, Japan

Academic Awards

Alumni Awards

  • Samantha Anderson
    PhD CGC’19
  • Hadi Barkat
    CDM’02
  • Silvia Quarteroni
    IN’04
  • Marc Ph. Stoecklin
    PhD SC’11

Artistic performances during the ceremony by Martha Martinez and her Big Band.


Alumni Awards

Samantha Anderson
Samantha Anderson

PhD CGC’19

After a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Winnipeg and a Master’s degree from Queen’s University, Samantha Anderson completed her studies with a PhD from EPFL in 2019. A few months after her thesis, she co-founded DePoly, a startup she currently heads as CEO. DePoly is dedicated to revolutionizing plastic recycling through innovative chemical processes. The startup converts PET plastics and polyester textiles into raw chemical components, creating a sustainable circular economy for plastics. In 2023, the company raised CHF 12.3 million to develop its technology, which works without pre-washing or sorting. In 2024, DePoly took 1st place in the Top 100 Swiss Startup Award.

Hadi Barkat
Hadi Barkat

CDM’02

Founder and director of Helvetiq, Hadi Barkat is a Swiss entrepreneur of Algerian origin. He began his career at Shockfish in 2000, before moving into venture capital in 2003 as an investment manager at Logispring. In 2008, he created Helvetiq, an educational board game, during his preparation for Swiss naturalization. The immediate success of the game prompted him to dedicate himself full-time to Helvetiq from 2010 onwards. The company stands out for its simple concepts and clean design, and it quickly internationalized. Today, Helvetiq offers a wide range of games and books and continues to grow.

Silvia Quarteroni
Silvia Quarteroni

IN’04

After completing her Master’s in Computer Science at EPFL and earning her PhD from the University of York, Silvia Quarteroni joined the University of Trento in 2008, and then the Polytechnic University of Milan in 2010 as a postdoctoral research associate. In 2012, she returned to Switzerland to join ELCA as a Senior Consultant, later becoming a Senior Manager in 2017. Silvia Quarteroni joined the Swiss Data Science Center at EPFL in 2019 to work on AI-related transformations and their transfer to the real economy. She became the Director of Transformation and Innovation in 2022. In 2023, she is named at the Forum des 100 and joined the Innovation Council of Innosuisse in 2024.

Marc Stoecklin
Marc Ph. Stoecklin

PhD SC’11

Marc Stoecklin is a Principal Research Scientist at IBM Research Europe and holds the position of Head of Security Research since 2019. His career at IBM Research began with an internship he completed as part of his master’s thesis in 2006. He has contributed to several cybersecurity projects, including key IBM technologies based on artificial intelligence to detect and combat cyber threats. He currently leads the “Quantum Safe Cryptography” strategy at IBM Research, allowing him to work on numerous significant advancements to secure the digital world globally for the quantum era.

Doctor Honoris Causa Awards

Daniel Huttenlocher

Dean
Schwarzman College of Computing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Kazuyo Sejima

Architect
Architectural firm SANAA, Japan

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Contact

For any further information, please write to:
magistrale@epfl.ch

In pictures at previous editions

Video

Watch the Graduation Day 2023

Entrée du SwissTech Convention Center lors de la Magistrale 2021 © Eleyse Zribi, EPFL 2021

Photos

Photos of the 2023 edition are available

Journée Magistrale de 1990 © Patrick Martin, 1990

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