Spark Award
ETH Zurich gives the Spark Award for the most promising invention that resulted in a patent application in the past year. The criteria for the evaluation are originality, patent strength and market potential.
Congratulations to the Spark Award winner of 2025!
POP-cycle: electrochemical recycling of organic pollutants into hydrocarbons and table salt
inventors: Patrick T. Domke, Alberto F. Garrido-Castro and Bill Morandi
Upcycling of hazardous substances: In the 20th century, organic pollutants such as DDT and lindane were produced on a megaton scale. When these toxic substances enter the environment, they break down slowly and accumulate in the food chain. Researchers from Bill Morandi’s lab have now developed an upcycling method in which an electrochemical reaction converts the pollutants into valuable raw materials for the chemical industry. ETH news on Spark Award
Celebrating our Top 5 finalists
Top 5 finalists
Miniaturized liquid handling for high-throughput screening in a box
Maximilian Breitfeld, Claudius L. Dietsche, Petra S. Dittrich
ETH news on microdroplets
SO2LAR: light-activated oxygen sensor
Máté Bezdek, Lionel Wettstein
ETH news on sensor
Soft finger exoskeleton to assist grasping in rehabilitation and robotics
Rafael Bänziger, Jan Dittli, Roger Gassert, Olivier Lambercy, Raffaele Ranzani, Jaeyong Song, Natalie Tanczak
ETH news on exoskeleton
RAPTURE: high-performance multi-metal additive manufacturing
Dion Pirchl, Michael Tucker, Raphael Steffen, Markus Bambach
ETH news on metal printing
POP-cycle: electrochemical recycling of organic pollutants into hydrocarbons and table salt
Patrick T. Domke, Alberto F. Garrido-Castro, Bill Morandi
ETH news on POP-cycling
Contact
ETH transfer / Melanie Johnson