Swiss Artist Ugo Rondinone at the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. The Consulate of Switzerland was very happy to co-sponsor the VIP opening of Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone’s spectacular Art Wall installation at the ICA. The artist’s installation will remain at the ICA for an entire year. The event was combined with the presentation of ICA’s latest Foster Prize and attracted a colorful crowd of well over 500 donors, artists, gallery owners, and other friends of contemporary art. One of the highlights of this very special event was the Swiss Consulate sponsored reception with culinary specialities from all corners of Switzerland.
Be sure to check the ICA’s Flickr page for more snapshots of this unique evening. The ICA and its great exhibitions are one of the many cultural highlights of Boston; check their website and enjoy a leader in contemporary art, www.icaboston.org.
Visit of Pierre Keller, director of Ecal, in Boston
Friday, November 14, was art and design day for swissnex Boston. Pierre Keller, director of the Lausanne University of Art and Design, known as Ecal (www.ecal.ch), made a stop in Boston on his way to the West Coast. Over the past 15 years, Pierre Keller has transformed the school into a university that is recognized as one of the best design schools in the world. For some, Pierre Keller has probably done as much to revitalize the image of Swiss design as the invention of the Swatch.
Interested in expanding existing collaborations and creating new links to selected U.S. art and design schools, he visited the Rhode Island School of Design and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. In the evening, Pascal Marmier, Consul and director of swissnex Boston, hosted a reception on the occasion of Pierre’s visit. After a refreshing presentation on the school and its various design projects, Pierre and the many guests of the Boston arts and design community enjoyed cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and great conversations.
On Saturday, Pierre continued his trip to our sister institution swissnex San Francisco, where he will participate in the opening of “Design Preis Schweiz”, an exhibit about contemporary Swiss design, which will be on display in Boston in February. For more info on the Design Preis Schweiz visit www.designpreis.ch. An article about the upcoming exhibit at swissnex San Francisco can be found here.
Election night at Swiss residence
Organized in partnership with L'Hebdo (a Swiss weekly newspaper), the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, and the Forum of 100 outstanding personalities from the French part of Switzerland, the election night at the newly decorated Swiss residence in Lexington gathered around 100 people. The participants included researchers from local institutions, entrepreneurs and business executives, all interested in discussing the importance of the election, especially from a transatlantic perspective.
Bruno Giussani, blogger, journalist and TED conference producer, moderated the discussions in particular with the two speakers that kicked off the evening. First, David Talbot of the MIT Technology Review shared his thoughts on the role of social technologies in the campaign leading to the election. He analyzed the way that the two campaigns built different organizations (see article in Technology Review). Using a social networking tool analyzing blogs and sentiment on the web, Swiss scientist Peter Gloor presented in realtime what people think about Obama and McCain in the blogosphere. After enjoying a buffet of Swiss and US food, the audience mingled awaiting the results which came around 11pm. Both the concession speech by Senator Mc Cain and the victory speech of President elect Barack Obama seemed to touch the hearts of the many guests.
See also the blog entry from "Forum des 100": http://www.forumdes100.com/2008/11/la-soire-lector.html
On Thursday October 9 the Consulate of Switzerland / Swissnex Boston invited to its Happy Hour.
About 50 participants used the opportunity at the very informal gathering to share ideas and discover what other fellow researchers and young professionals are doing in the area. Our guest speaker Christina Alfirev, Tufts, shared her insights gained from a summer internship at Greater Boston Legal Services. Please find her presentation below. And two visitors from University of Geneva joined to meet our community as well: Jacques de Werra, professor at the School of Law / Marisa Jaconi, University of Geneva, Faculty of Medicine.
Presentation Asylum in the US and Switzerland.pdf
Swiss Evening at Dudley House
Swissnex Boston was invited to participate in a Swiss Evening at Dudley House. Dudley House is the center at Harvard University for students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and a small community of undergraduates. Each year, the Intellectual and Cultural Fellows at Dudley House organize a series of events, including the “Dudley iTravel with iSee fellows”. The purpose of these events is to introduce different cultures from different countries and areas to the students at Harvard and to provide a platform where students around the world can share their experiences with their fellow students and other House members.
Swissnex Boston gave a presentation about the Swiss research and education landscape. The presentation aimed at making Harvard students and scholars aware of the outstanding quality of the Swiss education and research system and to show them what opportunities it could offer to them, be it in the academic or non-academic field. Although it was already midterm, the event successfully attracted more than 40 students and scholars. A Q&A session and a Swiss reception followed the presentation and offered the opportunity to engaging in further discussions about a variety of Swiss characteristics.
How Corporations tackle Climate Change: The Example of Swiss Re.
During a Brown Bag Seminar at Cambridge Innovation Center, Stephen Dishart, Managing Director, Corporate Communications & HR and Head, Americas Communications at Swiss Re, talked about climate change and the role of Swiss Re facing this major global problem.
Swiss Re is a leading and highly diversified global reinsurer and offers financial services products that enable risk taking essential to enterprise and progress. Stephen Dishart pointed out why climate change is such a main issue in the daily business of Swiss Re. Understanding the risk, developing products & services for
mitigation and adaptation, never stopping the risk dialogue and advocacy as well as addressing its own Carbon footprint are so much in the focus of the company that many nice projects and programs jumped out of this spirit which are helping to keep our world greener and safer.
The distinguished speech and the highly interesting discussion showed very well the innovative approach of a Swiss company tackling the probably main problem of the near future.
Reception during visit of Professor Jacques de Werra of University of Geneva
20 guets came to the Swiss residence to meet Professor Jacques de Werra of University of Geneva around cocktails and hors d'oeuves. Professor de Werra spent a week at Harvard to present his research activities in the field of IP, internet and arts law as well as to discuss research and educational collaboration with partners at the Harvard Law School. The guests attending the reception were business men involved in innovation and tech transfer, professors from various local universities (Harvard, MIT, Northeastern) and investors active with startup companies.
Swiss Experience
Members of the Harvard Law School LL.M. (*) Class of 2009 organized an event entitled “Swiss Experience” on Saturday, 12 October 2008. More than 30 Harvard Law School students took part in this event and enjoyed the opportunity of tasting various sorts of Swiss cheese (Gruyère, Raclette and Emmental), Swiss wines (red Dôle and white Fendant from the Swiss canton of Wallis) and, last but not least, the world-renowned Swiss chocolate!
Organizers and participants would like to thank Swissnex (Consulate of Switzerland) for its kind support in the organization of this event!
(Joëlle Becker / Philipp Fischer)
(*) The LL.M. (Master of Laws) program offered by Harvard Law School is a one-year post-graduate program in law. Members of the Harvard Law School LL.M. Class of 2009 come from over 60 countries and various professional backgrounds (e.g. lawyers, government officials, law professors, judges, diplomats, human rights activists and doctoral students). For further information, please visit http://www.law.harvard.edu/academics/degrees/gradprogram/llm/index.html
Swissnex hosted the third meeting of the Strategic Investors Forum
On Monday September 22nd Swissnex hosted the third meeting of the Strategic Investors Forum. SIF was founded in January of 2008 by Andrew Jay, partner at Siemens Ventures, and Val Livada, a Boston based technology consultant and Senior Lecturer at the Sloan School of Management at MIT.
The Forum, which has a close working relationship with Sloan, is intended to provide an active social network for large corporations which have venture capital arms or other investment activities for emerging technologies.
At Monday's meeting the group heard from Leon Sandler, Director of MIT's Deshpande Center, and Prof. Chris Ober, Head of Technology Transfer at Cornell's School of Engineering. The audience included Kodak, Astra Zeneca, WR Grace, Johnson & Johnson, Partners Health, Silicon Valley Bank, Siemens.
Lounge Chairs at Logan International Airport
The next time you walk through Logan International Airport you might rest on one of the artistic lounge chairs, sponsored by the Consulate of Switzerland.
The lounge chairs are part of Logan’s effort to add a cultural touch and to provide local artists with the opportunity to showcase their work.
Photos from the opening event on September 17, 2008 at Logan International Airport.
Swissnex at Boston GreenFest 2008
On Sunday, September 28, Swissnex Boston was part of the first Boston GreenFest 2008, an entertaining education festival celebrating the many ways one can create a better world through greening the neighborhoods, the communities and the entire Boston area. Swissnex Boston showcased the ThinkSwiss Climate Trail which had been previously on view in Washington. Despite the trenchial downpour caused by the passing by of hurricane Kyle, the GreenFest attracted a good crowd of people interested in green issues.
The staff of swissnex Boston staff answered numerous questions with regard to Swiss “greenness”: Why does Switzerland take part in the GreenFest? What is so special about green building in Switzerland? What would it take to make U.S. housing more energy efficient? Thus, Boston GreenFest 2008 provided swissnex Boston with an excellent opportunity to showcase Switzerland as the most greenhouse gas-efficient country in the developed world, to display Swiss know-how in green building and clean energies and to illustrate the latest scientific findings on climate change.
Click here for more information about the ThinkSwiss Climate Trail.
Swiss Federal Councilor Micheline Calmy Rey at Harvard University
The Head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs replied favorably to an invitation by Harvard University for a public talk on Thursday, September 25, 2008.
Ms. Calmy Rey participated in a special edition of the HPCR Live Seminar (Harvard Program for Conflict Research) on humanitarian law and diplomacy. The live seminar, initiated by HPCR Director Claude Bruderlein, is an innovative web-based discussion for UN and other humanitarian professionals from over 140 countries.
Harvard honored Ms. Calmy Rey with an official welcoming by the Harvard University Marshal, Jacqueline O’Neil. The ceremony took place at historic Wadsworth House and the guest of honor signed the official guest book.
The Consulate-swissnex Boston organized an informal afternoon tea at the Harvard Faculty Club for Ms. Calmy Rey and 9 young Swiss students and professionals from the Boston area (Christina Alfirev, Yvonne Moret, Daniela Domeisen, Sarah Kopse-Scholberg, Alwin Kopse, Marilyne Anderson, Anna Grichting, Alfonso von Wunschheim, and Daniel Kaufmann).
The official talk at the Harvard Center for European Studies (CES) attracted close to 100 people. Patricia Craig, Director of the CES welcomed the Head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs to the presentation and discussion on the “Switzerland’s Challenges of the 21st Century in a Fragmented World”. The panel included Professor Jacqueline Bhabha, Director of Harvard’s University Committee on Human Rights Studies, Swiss Ambassador to the UN Peter Maurer, and moderator Claude Bruderlein.
A Swiss style reception concluded the short and successful visit of our Foreign Minister at Harvard University.
Click here for the Diplomacy Through Dialogue Video.
Click here to download a copy of the speech.
LOUIS PALMER: AROUND THE WORLD IN A SOLAR POWERED CAR
Boston September 15-16
“Today, we celebrate solutions”, announced Cambridge City Councilor Henrietta Davis while handing a diploma of recognition to Louis Palmer last Tuesday at the Harvard Faculty Club. The Swiss Consulate attracted twenty five prominent representatives of the Harvard community, Cambridge and Boston administration and the Swiss business and diplomatic world to a luncheon at the Faculty club. All of the guests were recognized as members of the community who strive towards an environmentally friendly future and the occasion for their gathering was to commemorate the second day of Mr. Palmer’s visit to Boston. In the keynote address of the speakers one could identify the unifying theme: change is necessary if we love our children, the overarching message: change is possible if we all take the right actions towards a sustainable lifestyle, and the recognition of Mr. Palmer’s invention– a fully solar powered car - as a creative yet immediately implementable path towards such a lifestyle.
Louis Palmer is a Swiss school teacher who since early child has had a dream – to travel the world in a solar car. After touring Africa on a bike, crossing Asia by car and setting a world record for flying over South America in the smallest aircraft, he decided to take on what at the time seemed like an impossible task – the construction of a solar car. With the help of enthusiastic Swiss college students, main sponsor Q-cells (the world’s largest manufacturer of solar batteries), and other Swiss business, he was able to construct the “first Swiss car”, which can be driven for a hundred miles without recharging. Mr. Palmer has spent the last fourteen months on the world roads, crossing desserts in Saudi Arabia, meeting with his local police escorts, conversing with and posing for journalists.
Everywhere but in one country of the world (and only due to an outdated government decree banning from entry Swiss licensed vehicles), he was welcome and safe. He danced with Dancing Davey (http://vimeo.com/1776258), was shown on CNN (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbbkK692FoY), The highlight of the trip – the climate change conference in Bali where the solar taxi was proclaimed the official taxi of over two hundred ministers, and the following ride with UN secretary general Ban Ki Mun in New York. Bank Ki Mun enjoyed himself so much that he invited Mr. Palmer to be his official driver at the UN climate change conference in Poland in November.
Louis Palmer visited Boston only for two days. But these two days were certainly eventful. On Monday at noon, over sixty students and press representatives welcomed Mr. Palmer at the Tufts Fletcher School for International Affairs. Later that day, the MIT Solar Race Team co-hosted a perfectly attended lecture on the MIT campus. The solar taxi parked in front of the building, right next to the solar car constructed by the MIT team as well as their new prototype for the next race in 2009. Everywhere, lecture attendees applauded Mr. Palmer for his innovative vision, sense of humor, and conviction.
For fueling the solar taxi, Mr. Palmer would refer to the sun. For fueling the batteries of all attendees at the lectures was responsible the Swiss Baker, who served homemade, all natural own style bread, gourmand meats, and colorful arrangements of fruit and refreshments.
Mr. Palmer just finished his tour of North America in Montreal and is currently awaiting the arrival of the ship to take him and the taxi back to Europe. Bon voyage, Louis, and we are looking forward to seeing you on TV when you drive Mr. Ban Ki Mun again at the conference in Poland!
www.solartaxi.com
(Divna Gogeva from Bulgaria, Harvard Class 2009, intern at the Swiss Consulate)
Swiss Beach Day at the Charles River
A large crowd gathered on Sunday, September 7, for a Swiss Beach Day at the Charles River to celebrate the unveiling of the exhibit „Think Swim, Think Swiss: Bringing Swiss-Style Swimming to the Charles River”, a joint project of swissnex Boston and the Charles River Conservancy. And what a great day at the river it was: an innovative exhibit, the Charles River glistening in the background, unexpectedly beautiful weather, thankful guests as well as great music and games all contributed to a very special outdoor event. The trip to Switzerland offered by Swiss International Air Lines and Switzerland Tourism as well as the Lindt Chocolate added extra excitement and sweetness to the Swiss Beach Day which was highly appreciated by the over 500 people attending the event.
The Swiss Beach Day at the Charles was a great example of our “ThinkSwiss” campaign which aims to showcase Switzerland’s innovative approaches to the many challenges facing us today, be it the field of water protection management where Switzerland successfully cleaned up its waters, or in many other fields such as life sciences, finance or public transportation. Find more information about the program at www.thinkswiss.org
We hope that the exhibit “Think Swim, Think Swiss” and the Swiss Beach Day at the Charles helped to further the idea of bringing back swimming to the Charles River. We are convinced that people left after the event with a vision of a swimmable Charles. For further details on the Swimmable Charles Initiative go to www.swimthecharles.org or www.thecharles.org.
Click here for a retrospective 
Lecture of Hope and Enthusiasm by Dr. Martin Vosseler
www.sunwalk2008.com
Dr. Martin Vosseler arrived at Boston Public Garden after having spent seven and a half months walking down the US roads, crossing the 3,500-mile distance from Los Angeles.
The lecture by Dr. Martin Vosseler, a sixty-year old Swiss physician, attracted almost a hundred friends of the environment at the Consulate of Switzerland in Cambridge.
What started as a passion for non-nuclear proliferation, in the 90s became for Dr. Vosseler a commitment to the promotion of solar power. In 1995 Dr. Vosseler quit his medical practice in Switzerland to dedicate his time exclusively to advocating fully renewable energy practices. In 2003, he walked from Basel, Switzerland, to Jerusalem to campaign for solar energy. And last year, he was a member of the crew of the first solar-powered vessel to cross the Atlantic.
Dr. Vosseler began his sunwalk in Los Angeles on January 1, 2008. An average day is well over 20 miles, and on some days, he clocks up to 38 miles. Despite the blisters on his feet and the fatigue weighing down his legs, his mind remains focused on his final destination, the Boston Common. The lessons learned as a physician translate seamlessly into his new role as an environmental activist. “The energy we use—coal, gas, and oil—is killing us. It’s as if our planet is suffering arterial bleeding. In a situation like this, you have one priority only - stop the bleeding!” he says in front of the absorbed audience
Dr. Vosseler met a countless number of people of all ages during his seven-and-a-half-month walk. He is fascinated with the wonderful hospitality of so many US citizens. And he hopes that the USA will take the leadership in the usage of renewable energy sources. After all, it was US President Jimmy Carter who installed solar panels on the White House thirty years ago in an attempt to sensitize the public opinion to the urgency and importance of the issue (more info).
1. of August, Swiss National Day
On Friday August 1st, nearly 90 members of SwissLinkBoston and friends of Switzerland got together for a BBQ at MIT's Edgerton House in celebration of Switzerland's National Day. The Boston weather on August 1st played along beautifully, unlike in most of Switzerland, where many celebrations were canceled due to heavy rainfalls.
In Switzerland, Swiss National Day is celebrated with displays of paper lanterns (lampions), bonfires, parades, fireworks, and the flying of the Swiss Flag. SwissLinkBoston, who planned and organized this event, ensured that this celebration in Boston included traditional aspects as well to make everybody feel "home", and decorated the courtyard with such paper lanterns and other displays with Swiss flag prints. Guests were also welcomed with a large Swiss flag at the main entrance.
A fun fact: One of the guest's RSVP included a question about the event's primary language and whether only the Swiss language would be spoken, as she would otherwise need to "bow out". The answer: Quite the opposite! This BBQ really brought all of the French-language Swiss, the German and Italian-speaking compatriots together. This fun mix of languages and people made this event a very successful one.
The students and young professionals of SwissLinkBoston thank swissnex (Consulate of Switzerland) for helping sponsor this event!
Farewell Dinner of the Continuing Education Program for Swiss Teachers at Salve Regina, Newport
The Consulate of Switzerland/ swissnex Boston was invited to join the farewell dinner of the Continuing Education Program for Swiss Teachers at Salve Regina University on August 1, 2008. The program, intended for prospective English teachers, was organized by Heinrich Wirth, Dean of Continuing Education and Graduate Studies at Thurgau University of Teacher Education and George Antone, Director of International Programs at Salve Regina University. Heinrich Wirth came in touch with Salve Regina on a study trip for Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences to the Greater Boston area that was organized by swissnex Boston in 2004. He then decided that Salve Regina would be an ideal place for a continuing education program. After four years of preparations the program became reality. 
The farewell dinner afforded swissnex Boston with the opportunity to get a glimpse of what the previous weeks had to offer and how much the Swiss teachers had enjoyed a great time at Newport. Not only the interesting mix of courses, but also Salve Regina’s exceptional hospitality in accommodating the Swiss teachers contributed to an outstanding program.
For more information about the program visit www.swiss-in-america.info.
Traveling Tradesman
"Auf der Walz" or "Auf Wanderschaft" is a German expression that means traveling on the job. It is a centuries-old custom that was started by the Craftsmen Guilds of Europe, around the Middle Ages, and is still practiced there. A young man could enter the apprenticeship of a stonemason, carpenter, roofer or furniture-maker under the supervision of a master of his chosen craft, performing at first menial work for very little money.
This Monday four young and strong Tradesman from Switzerland and Germany visited us.
Each year his responsibilities increase and if he proves himself trustworthy his wages are increased. When his three-year apprenticeship is up, he is considered a fellow (Geselle) after he’s taken a final exam. Then these young men and women are encouraged to go "Auf der Walz" if they want to take their learned craft and become a master.
In the past it was required to travel before becoming a master. Now it is voluntary and a matter of honor. The fellow, however, still has to be under the age of thirty and single and have accumulated no debt.
The decision to undertake this journey requires the fellow to remain outside a 50 km radius of his home. Once he acquired his craft after three years of apprenticeship, he will journey for two years and one day (in the past it was three to six years and one day), and can travel wherever he wants to including other European countries. Sometimes they will travel as far as Russia or Malaysia.
He will leave with only the bare necessities, literally packing only a bundle. He cannot return home until his journey is complete (with the exception of illness or death). His entire possessions consist of his craftsman's clothes (Zunft Kluft) and tools.
Most outfits for guilds are in black and white and adhere to strict dress codes. A proper outfit will be his black long pants, black shoes or boots, a white collarless shirt, and a velvet or corduroy vest with eight buttons (symbolizing an eight-hour work day). There's a colored scarf or tie that is pinned to the collar identifying his craft, sometimes necklaces that show the emblems of cities in which he worked, and a spiral walking-stick called Stenz that the fellow himself made. Last but not least his black wide-brimmed hat.
Farewell Garden Party
The Farewell Garden Party of Kathleen and Christoph von Arb on the eve of July 4 was about to begin on the beautiful back yard of the Swiss Residence in Lexington when the thunderstorm hit. In a miraculous team effort of less than 20 minutes, the entire set up for 120 guests - grill, tables, decorations, candles, chairs, bar, buffet, etc - had to be moved inside the house while the guests were arriving. As the first heavy drops fell, the last of 15 tables was moved inside and the party could begin. One would never have imagined possible such a big sit down dinner. But the cosiness just made it that much more friendly and comfortable. After a toast to the two sister Republics - the United States and Switzerland, the guests enjoyed food from the grill including some Swiss Bratwuerste. The Consul General gave a brief run down of all that has happened in the past six years and expressd his heartfelt thanks to the swissnex Team, to the many partners and sponsors and above all to his wife. The great success of the Science Consulate - swissnex Boston is all their doing. This was followed by kind words of appreciation to Kathleen and Christoph von Arb for the service they have rendered in Boston since 2002 by Joe von Rickenbach, CEO of Parexel International and by Prof. Wolfgang Klietmann from Harvard University. Finally, Christoph von Arb introduced his successor, Pascal Marmier who in turn expressed his thoughts and together with Kati Reusche handed Christoph some gifts which will be a great help in his new life back in Switzerland as he moves to the private sector and launches his own consultancy.
School Buildings - The State of Affairs
A new architecture for a new education
Thank you for an informative day at your symposium. I enjoyed all the
speakers and was totally surprised by the lunch. You and Swissnex were
very good hosts!
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Thanks so much for organizing yesterday’s symposium. It was a very thought-provoking and worthwhile discussion. We are lucky here in Cambridge and Boston to have such a generous and thoughtful Swiss presence!
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Thank you for hosting yesterday’s symposium on school building architecture and education. My colleagues and I found the discussions very informative and helpful as we move forward with the development of two new academic buildings for UMass Boston.
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These were some of the beautiful reactions to the symposium which swissnex Boston organized in combination with the opening of the exhibit “School Buildings – The State of Affairs: A New Architecture for A New Education.
Despite a thunderstorm and pouring rain, many visitors joined the Opening Reception to the month-long exhibit at the Compton Gallery which was organized in partnership with the MIT Museum. The reception started the fruitful discussion among the educators, architects, and educational planners and politicians about the everchanging direction of public education and the architectural challenges that come with it.
Inspired and motivated from the exhibit and the previous evening’s conversations, the symposium continued the discussions the following morning at MIT’s Stata Center. The two parted symposium began with a focus on the questions and issue linked to education. A couple of changes to the list of speakers resulted in a diverse, all embracing, fruitful, and lively exchange of ideas around the many related topics like: how do we create environments that people become designers in, how do we keep up a dialog between architects and educators, how do we create learning environments rather than buildings, shouldn’t schools be iconic buildings. The various Swiss and North American examples shown in the presentations supported the conceptual discussions well and added to the transatlantic dialog. After a nourishing lunch that also provided the opportunity for networking as well as experiencing the Stata Center’s exemplifying environment, the second part of the symposium continued with a focus on architecture. Incorporating new teaching methods as well as the student’s personal development, architects are asked to create environments that students can explore and experience their creative capabilities. Communities often need to share school facilities. Changing social patterns require new services at schools. Constrained municipal budgets lead to more multi-use buildings that serve educational as well as community needs. The insights provided by the speakers from the School Building Authorities of Boston and Zurich not only exemplified the difficulties and constraints but also the various approaches the two countries take. As the exhibit points out: Designing schools today is an increasingly collaborative effort including teacher, students, educational consultants, and parents. In response to these challenging policies and requirements, architects are creating schools that look, feel and function differently. It is a new architecture for a new education.
We invite you to visit the exhibtion: School Buildings – The State of Affairs until Friday, August 10, 2008, daily from 10-5. For further information, see http://www.thinkswiss.org/schoolbuildings/
Transatlantic Pitching Session
As the venture leaders reached the end of their stay in Boston, they were the central feature of a “Transatlantic Pitching Session”. The event gathered more than 150 participants from the local tech and innovation community. The participants had the chance to hear not only the 60 second pitches from the Swiss entrepreneurs, but also the pitches from a dozen local entrepreneurs active in biotech and IT. The transatlantic format allowed for an excellent amount of discussion and networking around Swiss and US food and wine! The slides of the pitches are available here
Visit of CTI directors
In parallel to the venture leaders program, swissnex Boston organized a week-long program for Dr. Ingrid Kissling-Naef, head of CTI and vice-director of BBT, and Martin Bopp, head of CTI startup support. Both CTI leaders visited local institutions (MIT, Harvard, Boston University) to learn more about the current strategies of facilitating startup activity at schools and the programs in place to coach entrepreneurs. A special meeting was also organized by Rudi Scheiber-Kurtz about women innovators and entrepreneurs. Rudi invited more than 15 guests to come discuss their experience and ideas related to “Patterns of Women, Business and Capital in Boston”. The discussion focused on a few key topics such as the role of mentoring for aspiring entrepreneurs, the support that is existing or could be developed as well as the difficulty to find financing.
8th edition of the venture leaders program
Swissnex Boston was delighted to have another group of 20 promising young entrepreneurs for a 10-day entrepreneurial bootcamp called venture leaders. Thanks to the support of CTI and venturelab, we put together a series of interactive sessions and meetings with leading figures of the local high-tech scene. The group also spent 4 days at Babson to analyze and reflect on business strategies for their growing ventures.
This year, the entrepreneurs from Switzerland were promoting spinoff companies from most universities and all regions. The diversity of the participants was impressive with several nationalities represented. The projects ranged from an imaginative social networking device to a new drug delivery syringe. An overview of each project and entrepreneur can be found at [please add link]. As last year, the group was coached by a team of innovation experts from Switzerland: Beat Schillig and Jordi Montserrat of venturelab as well as Jean-Pierre Vuilleumier of CTI Invest
Charles River One Mile Swim Race
The annual Charles River One Mile Swim took place on Sunday June 15th with 103 participants, a more than fifty percent increase over the previous year’s field size. “The swim was excellent! I had the best time swimming in the Charles River, the water temperature was perfect,” commented swimmer Guillermo Nuñez.
Overcast skies withheld long enough to launch the race at 8am. By the time the first swimmers had completed the course, just twenty minutes later, a light drizzle turned into a deluge which necessitated the cancellation of the post-race awards ceremony. A post-race event called the Celebratory Splash, organized by the Charles River Conservancy, was also a casualty of the weather. The event was planned to be a brief jump in the river by local celebrities and people who have played an important role in the improvement of the Charles. The list included Bob Zimmerman, head of the CRWA, Robert Varney, Regional Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s New England Office, Jarrett Barrios, former State Senator and President of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons, Nancy Schön, sculptor of the Make Way for Ducklings Statue in the Public Gardens, Renata von Tscharner, president of the Charles River Conservancy and Christoph von Arb, Consul General and director of swissnex boston.
swissnex Boston is partnering with the Charles River Conservancy to bring swimming back to the Charles River. As the water quality of the Charles River continues to improve, it is time to make “river swimming” in the United States a reality. The exhibition “Think Swim, Think Swiss: Bringing Swiss style swimming to the Charles River” will display examples of Swiss bathing structures to explore the technological, environmental and cultural context of river swimming. It is sponsored by “ThinkSwiss – Brainstorm the future”.
Swiss American Chamber of Commerce - Launch of the Boston Chapter
The inaugural meeting of the new Boston Chapter of the Swiss American Chamber of Commerce took place on June 17, 2008 at the Residence of the Consul General in Lexington. After a hearty breakfast the Chairman, Peter Vogel from Bossard opened the meeting and discussed with the nine Board members present a range of issues regarding the first operational steps of the new Chapter. It is fair to say that the discussion was extremely positive and dynamic with lots of ideas brought to the table. Swissnex will be a close partner of the Chamber and is looking forward to launch many joint initiatives. This is also reflected in the fact that the Head of the Consulate and Director of swissnex Boston is invited to be present at the Board meetings as an advisory member. Any corporation in the New England Area is welcome to become a member for a modest annual fee and profit from the many services and networking opportunities provided by AmCham in Zurich and by the Boston Chapter by subscribing electronically on the official website: www.amcham.ch
EURO 08 OPENING GAME
In collaboration with SwissLinkBoston, a networking platform for Swiss students, researchers and young professionals living in the Boston area , swissnex Boston invited to the opening game of the European Soccer Championship taking place in Switzerland and Austria. Although our team was unfortunately defeated by the Czech Republic’s team, more than 100 Swiss supporters and guests from other nations (even two Czech fans found their way!) celebrated the beginning of the third biggest sport event worldwide, attracting more than a billion people to Switzerland and Austria for the upcoming month.
MIT Club of Boston: Gala Evening at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts
At this year's Gala Evening, the MIT Club of Boston celebrated MIT's International Programs. Switzerland was one of the main sponsors by providing every guest with a Swiss bag filled with travel guides, CDs, books and chocolate. The Consulate of Switzerland in Boston was represented by Christoph von Arb and his wife Kathleen. The Black Tie Dinner was preceded with Cultural performances from India, Macedonia and China at the Museum of Fine Arts and was a welcome opportunity for the Director of swissnex Boston to discuss with the President of MIT, Dr. Susan Hockfield many international issues confronting MIT today as the dinner progressed. MIT is not only committed to offer its best students more opportunities to study abroad, it also understands the need of gaining first hand experience in other cultural environments around the world and provide specific opportunities to that end such as the MISTI program. Dr. Hockfield showed great interest in further developping the ties with ETH and EPFL and again apologized for not being able to receive then Presidents of Swiss Universities during their UMEC 2008 visit in Boston a week later. 
UMEC
May 11-16, 2008
An incredibly insightful, diverse and valuable week has passed. swissnex Boston organized a weeklong study trip along the east coast for the majority of the nine Swiss University Presidents and Vice Presidents. To tackle a series of issues associated with the presidency of a University, we offered in depth encounters with University management and leadership at Boston University, Olin College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Yale University, meetings with MIT’s former president Charles Vest and the president of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges Richard Legon at the Embassy of Switzerland in Washington, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), and back up the coast to a meeting with young Swiss studying in Boston as well as with Glenn Strehle, MIT’s Treasurer Emeritus.
The mix of private and public, Ivy League, small and large, north and south, young and old, traditional and unconventional could not have been more prominent. However, as the week progressed and issues such as university structures and governance, funding and fundraising, global competition and networks, endowment and investment as well as truly impacting missions and philosophies were discussed in formal meetings, lunches, dinners and receptions, these initial difference started to blur. While each university has its own special history and presence, the questions and challenges they are facing are very similar.
Apart from the transatlantic exchanges, the value of the majority of Swiss university presidents’ having more than time- limited business exchanges with other rectorate members became a truly cherished the opportunity.
Swissnex Boston would like to thank all the incredible and fascinating people who have made this week only the beginning of many more fruitful contacts, exchanges and co-operations.
Delegation of Canton de Vaud visits Boston
swissnex Boston was delighted to welcome to the Boston area, Minister Mermoud (Economy) and a delegation of Canton de Vaud. In addition to Mr. Mermoud, the delegation was composed of Jacques Pasche, Executive Director, DEWS, Jean-Frederick Berthoud, Executive Director, DEV, and Lionel Eperon, Chef du service de l'economie, du logement et du tourisme. During their short stay in Boston, the delegates met with entrepreneurs and student leaders to talk about collaborative opportunities between Boston and Canton de Vaud. They visited both MIT and Harvard to meet with Faculty and Students. The delegation was coming from Canada and continued to New York at the end of a busy day.
Executive MBA Seminar Universities of Applied Sciences Bern and St.Gallen
The collaboration between the Universities of Applied Sciences Bern and St.Gallen, the Babson College and swissnex Boston provided the participants of the Executive MBA Program 2008 with an outstanding experience also during this year’s stay.
After their mostly theoretical 4-day-seminar on “Innovation to Market” at Babson, swissnex Boston offered two days full of different possibilities to get hands on accounts from people’s direct experiences. Besides the lively presentations from people who bridge Switzerland with the United States, the participants attended a workshop at which they had to prove their own innovation ability. On the second day, the group first visited Biogen Idec and then Patrick Dolberg (President and CEO U.S. part) welcomed the executives at the facilities of Holcim’s U.S. headquarter engaging in a lively exchange.
Groundbreaking
We are very excited to inform you that construction of our 2nd floor
pavilion at 420 Broadway has finally started and we anticipate to move
back by November.
Groundbreaking took place last Tuesday May 6, 2008. Please stop by
from time to time to check the progress of the work.
I’m looking forward to your being back on Broadway; it’s a couple blocks down the street from where I live - Bette Davis
The swissnex San Francisco team wishes its colleagues in Boston all
the best for the construction phase and looks forward to visiting you
in your new offices asap ! - Christian Simm
great news and great to have an ETA of completion for the Swissnex
building I am sure. - Karen Feinberg