It all began with the development of a shrewd mechanic from Küsnacht, Johann Ludwig Werder, born in 1808. In 1852 Werder constructed an all-round apparatus that allowed to test the strength of construction materials. Its brilliant modular structure made it possible to compress, disperse and tear samples of material apart. In the wake of stormy industrial developments after the founding of the Swiss Confederation, ever bigger and ever more complex infrastructures resulted in the 19th century. In building considerable risks were sometimes taken, as with the construction of the Gotthard railway, for example. "EMPA came into its own in this period as the urgently required testing authority. The institute developed quantitative methods that allowed for the safe construction of bridges and buildings from the start," says its current director, Louis Schlapbach. The real importance of Werder's invention was soon manifested by the fact that, in 1865, the Swiss Federal Council devoted an official message to it. It came to be known soon after as the "Confederate tensile strength machine“.

A disaster turns into a crucial test case

In 1880 a fundamental decision was taken: the Federal Council appointed Ludwig von Tetmajer, a former assistant of Carl Culmann, the famous head of the engineering department at the Polytechnicum, as director of the new "Institution for testing Construction Materials at the Swiss Federal Polytechnicum“. A little later the institute moved into rooms in the cellars of the Polytechnicum. Its equipment soon included a gas and a hydraulic motor, a diamond-cutting machine, moulding machines, a pulverisation apparatus for minerals, a bore drill and precision compression machines. Demand for tests from industry grew and grew: by 1888 the institute had already carried out 13,522 such procedures.

A nucleus of EMPA: the pioneering testing machine from Werder in a photo taken in 1892. large

In 1891 the institute moved into a new building at Leonhardstrasse 27 where it stayed until 1962. A tragic event represented EMPA's first crucial test case. A train of the Jura-Simplon railway was crossing the Birs Bridge near Münchenstein when the bridge collapsed. 78 people died and 131 were injured–up until then it was the most serious railway accident in continental Europe. Tetmajer headed the inquiry. In his report he wrote that the cause "[lay] in the weak central supports; owing to the eccentric fortification of the buttress and the poor quality of the iron the collapse was significantly accelerated.“ Tetmajer's report had a lasting academic consequences; his investigation revealed that the traditional use by engineers of Euler's hyperbole formula must only be applied in the range of elasticity in the steel under consideration. This contribution put EMPA into the spotlight of international interest for the first time.

New materials and quality of life

Decades of strong growth followed. The Swiss Federal Fuel Testing Institute was integrated in 1928 and the textile testing organisation, the Swiss Test Institute St. Gall in 1937. Since 1988 the main EMPA's main area of activity is no longer testing. The "Versuchsanstalt“ became the "Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research"". A shift occurred towards applied research and development. In 1994 a third location in Thun joined those of Dübendorf and St. Gallen.

Open to insights: School pupils visiting EMPA Dübendorf. (Picture: EMPA) large

Nowadays, EMPA has two missions, says Louis Schlapbach. On the one hand, it generated knowledge about materials and systems and assured the transfer of this knowledge to industry. "Carbon fibre strengthened structures developed at EMPA, for instance, have opened the way for entirely new technical solutions in the construction industry," according to EMPA's director. "Our other main focus is on people's interest in a high living quality. I'm thinking here for instance of the optimisation of the surfaces of medical implants, of protective systems, such as flame-retardant textiles or more reliable data memories," explains Schlapbach.

Living quality, too, as far as rooms are concerned: EMPA is involved here in finding integrated solutions for climatisation, air quality, lighting systems, sound, behaviour in case of fire and admission control. The CEO says: "For example, we aim to further glass, an increasingly important element in construction, to better take over light and energy regulation tasks.“ EMPA is also engaged in the big issues of mobility and communication. The institute is working, for example, on exceptionally low-pollution gas-fuelled vehicles and the production of secure data processors.

ETH domain: common identity

The relationship between EMPA and ETH, or EMPA and the ETH domain, has to be viewed in a national context, says the EMPA director. Asked about the divergent opinions on the future of EMPA–that have surfaced, among other things, in talk of relocation to Lausanne–Schlapbach says, "The ETH domain has to recognise that the competition sits in Asia or the USA, certainly not in Lausanne, Zurich or Dübendorf.“ He is of the opinion that the ETH domain needs to present itself to the outside more as an entity: "There's more than enough work for everyone. This is why the idea of a National Swiss Competence Network appeals to me, if only we succeed in building the prerequisite trust."

And what will the situation at EMPA be in 25 year's time? Louis Schlapbach is convinced that micro and nano-scale technology–already a focus of EMPA's research today–will continue to grow in importance. "We will see a boom, especially in materials inspired by natural role models and that lean on self-organisation and function. But we have to keep an eye on the risks that could be involved in nanotechnology," adds the EMPA director. His institute was already active in the investigation of the consequences of this technology, in collaboration with Buwal and BAG, as well as physicians and social scientists.

Globally allied

In the area of energy there was urgent call for an efficient transformation and exploitation approach, explains Schlapbach. "Buildings and motorised traffic represent a huge potential for reduction without loss of comfort. This is an area where EMPA holds high cards. And not least EMPA was in the process of strengthening its international networking activities: with certain Fraunhofer Institutes or with the VTT, the Finnish network of technical institutions. One of Schlapbach's personal wishes is that relationships to partners in Asia be extended. Good contacts already existed to the National Institute for Materials Science NIMS in Tsukuba, Japan and the Chinese Academy of Science.