Prix de la Fondation Dimitris N. Chorafas / « Fondation Dimitris N ...

EIDGENÖSSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE LAUSANNE
POLITECNICO FEDERALE DI LOSANNA
SWISS FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY LAUSANNE
COMMISSION DE RECHERCHE
Prix de la Fondation Dimitris N. Chorafas / « Fondation Dimitris N. Chorafas » award
Lauréats de 2001 jusqu’à ce jour
Année Nom et prénom Section Directeur de
thèse
2010 Gaël Nardin SB Prof. Benoît
Deveaud-
Plédran
2010 Tadi Tej SV Prof. Olaf
Blanke
2009 Towne
Christopher
2009 Sivagnanam
Venkataragavalu
2008 Abonnenc
Mélanie
SV
STI
SB
Prof.
Aebischer
Patrick
Prof. Gijs
Martin
Prof. Hubert
Girault
Titre de la thèse
Phase-resolved imaging of
exciton polaritons.
Neural Mechanisms of The
Embodied Self - Merging Virtual
Reality and Electrical
Neuroimaging.
Adeno-Associated Virus-
Mediated Gene Therapy for
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
and Other Spinal Cord
Disorders.
Microfluidic Immunoassays
based on Self-Assembled
Magnetic Bead Patterns and
Time-Resolved Luminescence
Detection
Miniaturized analytical systems
for mass spectrometry-based
Laudatio
Gael Nardin has performed very delicate spectroscopy
experiments on new particles, called polaritons. He has,
very particularly, been able to visualize, for the first time
in a very direct way, the creation of quantized vortices
in the wake of an obstacle placed in a superfluid.
Dr Tadi is an electronic engineer whose scientific work
spans the fields of cognitive science, brain imaging,
engineering, and virtual reality. In his work he made
ground-breaking insights concerning online body
processing and self-consciousness, as well as their
brain mechanisms in temporo-parietal and frontal
cortex.
For the development of innovative approaches of gene
therapy for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis and other motoneuron diseases.
For the synergistic implementation of original concepts
in physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering into
Lab-on-a-Chip microsystems.
"for her remarkable PhD thesis dedicated to the
development of miniaturized analytical systems for
CVDV/Monday, July 18, 2011 page 1

EIDGENÖSSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE LAUSANNE
POLITECNICO FEDERALE DI LOSANNA
SWISS FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY LAUSANNE
COMMISSION DE RECHERCHE
Prix de la Fondation Dimitris N. Chorafas / « Fondation Dimitris N. Chorafas » award
2008 Nuth Mathieu STI Prof. Lyesse
Laloui
2007 Schickel-Zuber
Vincent
I&C
Prof. Boi
Faltings
2007 Pott Vincent STI Prof. A.
Ionescu
2006 Rinaldi Tania SV Prof. H.
Markram
protein studies. mass spectrometry based protein studies. "
Constitutive modelling of Dr. Nuth has developed an innovative theory to
unsaturated soils with hydrogeomechanical
couplings. sustainability-oriented design of geo-structures,
describe the mechanical behavior of soils and to allow a
accounting for future climatic scenarios, and
contributing to natural risk management.
Ontology filtering.
The thesis is exemplary in that it covers the entire
spectrum from theoretical insights on the
recommendation problem, development of the ontology
filtering method based on these insights, and its
development into a practical technology.
Gate-all-around silicon
nanowires for hybrid single
electron transistoir/cmos
applications.
Altered neocortical microcircuitry
in the valproic acid rat model of
autism.
For his contributions to top-down silicon nanowire
technology and the experimental investigation of single
electron transistor effects in one dimensional silicon
nanostructures.
For her major contribution to our understanding of the
molecular, cellular and synaptic alterations in Autism.
2006 Boucher Julien SB Prof. I.
Marison
2005 Patric Hagmann STI Profs. J.-Ph.
Thiran and R.
Meuli
2005 Erika
Nehnevajova
ENAC
Prof. J.-P.
Schwitzguebe
l
Oleaginous plant seeds and
seed by-products for water
treatment.
From Diffusion MRI to Brain
Connectomics
Non-GMO Approach for the
Improvement of heavy metal
accumulation and extraction of
For an internationally acclaimed study on water
treatment with important implications for sustainable
development and potable water resources.
In his thesis, Dr Patric Hagmann pioneered the field of brain
connectivity analysis by Diffusion MRI. His scientific contributions
range from fundamental Diffusion MR Physics to algorithmic
developments in tractography, and to the study of the global brain
connectivity by network and graph theories.
The PhD thesis of Mrs Erika Nehnevajova reports on an original,
innovative and important research, developed simultaneously in the
field and at laboratory scale, to remediate soils contaminated by
metals, by the use of appropriate and efficient green plants.
CVDV/Monday, July 18, 2011 page 2

EIDGENÖSSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE LAUSANNE
POLITECNICO FEDERALE DI LOSANNA
SWISS FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY LAUSANNE
COMMISSION DE RECHERCHE
2005 Andersen
Marilyne
Prix de la Fondation Dimitris N. Chorafas / « Fondation Dimitris N. Chorafas » award
SAR
Prof. J.-L.
Scartezzini
2004 Cristescu Razvan SSC Prof. M.
Vetterli
2004 Chiurtu Nicolae SSC Prof. B.
Rimoldi
2004 Guillemin Antoine SAR Prof. J.-L.
Scartezzini
high yielding Crop Species for
Efficient Phytoextraction of
Contaminated Soil.
Innovative bidirectional videogoniophotometer
for advanced
fenestration systems
Efficient decentralized
communications in sensors
networks
Multiple Antenna Systems For
Mobile Communications
Using Genetic Algorithms To
Take Into Account User Wishes
Dans sa thèse, Dr Marilyne Andersen se penche sur un des
problèmes très importants de la construction de bâtiments
commerciaux et domestiques : la lumière. Elle démontre non
seulement l’intérêt scientifique de ce domaine mais ses apports
directs au bien-être des utilisateurs et ses importantes liaisons avec
l’économie. La lauréate prouve ainsi sa grande motivation à la
cause du développement durable dans une spécialité, l’habitat, où la
consommation énergétique et la mobilité correspondent au tiers des
contraintes imposées à l’environnement.
Mr. Cristescu’s thesis advances our understanding of
communication networks by considering the dissemination of
correlated data such as those from environmental sensors. The
question of decentralized compression of correlated in this thesis
recipient of previous attention ; the dissemination aspect considered
in this thesis introduces new and interesting problems and insights
as the nodes that perform the source coding become privy to the
data observed at other nodes as they participate in the
dissemination process. This is a remarkable thesis that distills an
engineering problem to its essence, developing sound theory for a
timely and important scenario.
Mr. Chiurtu's thesis on multiple antenna systems represents a
significant advancement in the understanding of their usefulness in
wireless communication. Initial theoretical studies had suggested
very large benefits of such systems under idealized conditions, but
left unaddressed if such benefits would still occur under practical
conditions. By bringing together techniques from fields as diverse as
electromagnetism and the mathematical theory of communications,
this thesis pushes the envelope of theory to encompass much more
realistic conditions, determining how much benefit to expect in
practice, and giving insight to the design of future wireless
communication systems.
Le Dr. Antoine Guillemin a dédié sa thèse à l'habitat, une activité à
laquelle les pays développés consacrent un peu plus du tiers de
CVDV/Monday, July 18, 2011 page 3

EIDGENÖSSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE LAUSANNE
POLITECNICO FEDERALE DI LOSANNA
SWISS FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY LAUSANNE
COMMISSION DE RECHERCHE
2003 Schimming
Thomas
Prix de la Fondation Dimitris N. Chorafas / « Fondation Dimitris N. Chorafas » award
SSC Prof. M.
Hasler
In An Advanced Building Control
System
Statistical analysis and
optimization of chaos based
broadband communications.
2003 Werner David SIE Dr P. Hoehener Gaseous tracer diffusion from a
point source as a site
investigation method
2002 De Feo Oscar SSC Prof. M.
Hasler
2002 Monnerat Bastien SCGC Prof. A.
Renken
Laudatio
(suite)
Modeling Diversity by strange
Attractors with Application to
temporal pattern recognition
Production d’hydrogène en
régime périodique à partir
d’hydrocarbures sur des
catalyseurs structurés
l'énergie consommée. Son approche scientifique du problème est
remarquable par son interdisciplinarité qui fait référence tant à la
technologie qu'aux aspects économiques et sociaux. Son excellent
travail s'inscrit ainsi parfaitement dans l'esprit du développement
durable.
This thesis puts the topic of chaos communications on a unified
theoretical basis by identifying that statistical estimation of
transmitted symbols is the key receiver concept, and realising that
the use of statistical likelihoods based on the supposed models is
the optimally correct approach. This highly original research work
brings perspective, organisation and order to the question and will
ease the way for others to comprehend the important issues of this
new domain.
The author describes an innovative method for investigating
unsaturated soils contaminated with organic compounds. Because it
is simple, cheap and rapid, this technique presents an excellent
potential of becoming a standard method. This work contributes thus
significantly to a very new field of tracer techniques applied to soil
gas.
At the interface between nonlinear dynamics and machine learning,
de Feo’s thesis proposes the use of chaos theory for temporal
pattern recognition. This is a new idea, potentially opening the way
to the development of powerful methods for the understanding of
interesting cognitive processes. Drawing from several disciplines,
the candidate accomplishes a tour de force intaking a truly original
idea and developing it to a level of understanding that makes it
applicable in several real-world problems in information technology.
La substitution des combustibles fossiles par l'hydrogène d'origine
renouvelable est l'une des solutions à long terme pour diminuer la
charge atmosphérique en CO2. La famille des piles à combustible à
basse température représente en effet une alternative prometteuse
au moteur à combustion interne. Ces piles requièrent cependant
une alimentation en hydrogène de haute pureté.
Dans sa thèse de doctorat, Bastien Monnerat conjugue les avantages d'une dynamique des fluides optimale et de la haute conductibilité thermique des lits catalytiques
fixes pour produire de l'hydrogène à partir de méthane (gaz naturel), suffisamment pur pour être servi directement comme combustible de ces piles. Il contribue ainsi
grandement à la production d'une énergie non-polluante pour le secteur des transports routiers, toujours en croissance.
CVDV/Monday, July 18, 2011 page 4

EIDGENÖSSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE LAUSANNE
POLITECNICO FEDERALE DI LOSANNA
SWISS FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY LAUSANNE
COMMISSION DE RECHERCHE
Prix de la Fondation Dimitris N. Chorafas / « Fondation Dimitris N. Chorafas » award
2001 Lebrun Jérôme SSC Prof. M. Vetterli Balancing MultiWavelets A central problem in communication systems is the compression of
information signals so that higher efficiencies can be obtained in its
transmission and storage. Recently, wavelets have had an important
impact on compression, becoming part of new compression
standards. But many questions remain open, for example when
dealing with multi-dimensional signals such as images or video.
Such signals are more complex in nature and consequently their
compression is less well understood. One important new
construction, called multiwavelets, overcomes several of the
limitations of classical wavelets. This thesis has given a complete
characterization of this new set, leading to original constructions that
open up a new realm in the compression of complex information
signals.
2001 Lütolf Christine SMA Prof. T. Liebling Modeling and optimizing energy
production in a stochastic
environment: from aggregate
mid term planning to on-line
scheduling
Une des tâches principales des managers aujourd’hui est celle de
décider. Dans un monde en évolution très rapide et dans lequel la
globalisation de l’économie et de la politique est de règle, une erreur
peut avoir des conséquences dramatiques pour un nombre
croissant de personnes. La production d’énergie est une des
activités humaines les plus importantes de notre civilisation et il est
crucial de la planifier intelligemment si l’on veut bâtir un monde
durable. Il est donc absolument nécessaire que des outils d’aide à la
décision bien étudiés et efficaces soient à la disposition des
décideurs tant économiques que politiques.
Laudatio
(suite)
Dr. Christine Lütolf a développé un modèle applicable à la production énergétique qui a été remarqué par le jury de thèse à cause de sa qualité scientifique exceptionnelle.
On soulignera la grande créativité déployée par Mlle Lütolf tant dans la modélisation proprement dite que dans la conception et la réalisation algorithmique des méthodes
qu’elle a imaginées. Etabli à partir du cas concret de la production et de la distribution d’énergie électrique, le modèle développe des principes applicables à d’autres
situations. A cela s’ajoute le volet non moins important de l’application directe du travail au domaine du développement durable. Ce fait est d’autant plus remarquable que
les sciences de base, telle la mathématique, ne sont malheureusement que rarement impliquées dans des dimensions interdisciplinaires relevant à la fois de l’économie,
de la société et des sciences, et en particulier de l‘environnement. Mlle Lütolf a montré de façon magistrale que cette nouvelle approche du chercheur face à sa
responsabilité sociétale est tout à fait possible.
CVDV/Monday, July 18, 2011 page 5