With pleasure the SCS welcomes the Adolphe Merkle Institute at University of Fribourg as new SCS Institutional Member.
The Adolphe Merkle Institute (AMI) is an interdisciplinary center of competence in soft nano- and materials science. AMI strives to be a leader in fundamental and application-oriented interdisciplinary research on soft nanoscience and educates the next generation of scientists, stimulate innovation, foster industrial competitiveness, and improve the quality of life.
Since 2013 the AMI is leading the interdisciplinary National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) for Bio-Inspired Materials and has been striving to become an internationally recognized hub for paradigm-shifting research, innovation, and education in the domain of “smart” materials whose function and design are inspired by nature.
Transcending traditional disciplines, the center integrates the research activities of 21 research groups from AMI, the University of Fribourg’s departments of chemistry, medicine, biology, and physics, and partners at the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) and Lausanne (EPFL).
Links
AMI Website
Research
History
Annual Reports since 2008
Adolphe Merkle was born in 1924 in the bilingual (German/French) canton of Fribourg in the western part of Switzerland and studied economics at the University of Fribourg. Having completed his studies, he went into business in the property sector at the age of 27. In 1952, Adolphe Merkle came across an ailing company called Vibro-Meter. He subsequently bought the company and breathed new life into it under the name Vibro-Meter International AG. The company developed vibration measurement systems – a vital element in the correct functioning of numerous machines used in industry. Adolphe Merkle was the director and sole shareholder of the company for over forty years until he sold it to the Swiss company Elektrowatt AG in 1991. In 2005, he donated four million Swiss francs to the university to support teaching, research, and further education. Much of the donation was used to establish Frimat, the Fribourg Center for Nanomaterials, which works closely with AMI. In late 2007, Adolphe Merkle, then 83 years old, set up the Adolphe Merkle Foundation and donated 100 million Swiss francs to support the University of Fribourg. He explained his motivation as “wanting to give something back to Fribourg, since the university town had given so much to him”.
Are you and your company/institute interested in becoming an SCS institutional member as well? Please find more information about the SCS on our website and contact if you have any questions.
David Spichiger, SCS / Source: ami.swiss
17.05.2024