Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences SATW

While coupling mechanical and chemical processes is widespread in living organisms, the idea to harness the mechanically induced dissociation of weak covalent and non-covalent bonds to create artificial materials that respond to mechanical stimulation has only recently gained attention. Here we summarize our activities that mainly revolve around the exploitation of non-covalent interactions in (supramolecular) polymeric materials with the goal to translate mechanical stresses into useful, pre-defined events. Focusing on mechano- chromic polymers that alter their optical absorption or fluorescence properties, several new operating principles, mechanosensitive entities, and materials systems were developed. Such materials are expected to be useful for technical applications that range from the detection of very small forces in biological systems to the monitoring of degradation processes and damage in coatings and structural objects.

The Vice President of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences offers some thoughts about the purpose of engineering and scientific work, in the context of the future of the human race. Given that there are certain trends and limits to growth. he sees engineers and technologists playing a crucial role in the survival and development of humanity. For stability, a new symbiotic technology is needed.

Abstract Die Akustik ist ein Teilgebiet der Physik, die Musik eine Kunstform. Die musikalische Akustik befaßt sich mit dem Grenzgebiet zwischen dem physikalisch Beschreibbaren und dem kulturell‐geistig Erlebten.

In this work, we investigated the technical feasibility of 'on-demand' production of selected drugs to cover their demand for a time window of 90 days. We focused on two sub-processes 'automated chemical synthesis' and 'formulation in micropellets' to enable personalized dosing. The production of drugs 'on-demand' is challenging, important, but also attractive. Switzerland could thus gain access to an additional instrument for increasing resilience for supply-critical drugs. The biggest challenge in the case study presented here is the scalability of automated chemical synthesis and the application range of micropellet formulations.