swissnex San Francisco | Annual Report 2012

san francisco

2012 Initiative of the State Secretariat for Education and Research SER Annex of the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco Swiss Knowledge Network Outposts in Bangalore, Boston, San Francisco, Shanghai, and Singapore

SWISSNEX 2012 ANNUAL REPORT

Table of Contents

Read the annual report online at www.swissnexsf.org/annualreport

FOREWORD / 2 2012 BY THE NUMBERS / 3 MANDATES & INITIATIVES / 4 VISITING STARTUPS & RESIDENTS / 6 STUDY TOURS & DELEGATIONS / 7 MAKING OF THE SKIN SERIES / 8 NEXTRENDS / 10 EVENTS / 11 PEOPLE / 13 FINANCIALS / 14 PARTNERS & SPONSORS, MEDIA MENTIONS / 15 OUTLOOK / 16

Foreword

SWISSNEX SAN FRANCISCO IS MATURING AND STRETCHING OUR SKIN—AND OUR REACH. AS WE MATURE, we shift from one-on-one connectors to curators of longer-term, more complex projects. We build true communities and ecosystems around what we do, and our stakeholders benefit from the holistic approach we take.

Christian Simm —

Founder and Executive Director, swissnex San Francisco

Speaking of skin, you’ll see on page eight how a simple idea to host an exhibit on the body’s largest and most visible organ transformed into a beautiful web of meetings and introductions, public events, unexpected pairings, and global collaborations still ongoing. The perfect example of our networked way of connecting Switzerland and North America.

As we take on new challenges, we find new ways to share what we learn with our audience. In the pages that follow, find a sampling of our work in the last year. Readers can now also find our reports on what’s hot and what’s next in the American West on our blog, nextrends, launched in 2012. WWW.NEXTRENDS.ORG

/2

2012 By the Numbers CONTACTS IN OUR NETWORK

>20,000 POPULATION AND SIZE

SWISSNEX 2012 ANNUAL REPORT

STUDY TOURS & DELEGATIONS

EIGHT

FACEBOOK FANS FROM SWITZERLAND

1,563 In the US / 1,224

Switzerland

ESPRESSOS CONSUMED

4,490

STAFF

SEVENTEEN WEBSITE TRAFFIC FROM FACEBOOK

15%

YOUTUBE SUBSCRIBERS

San Francisco Bay Area

Population Switzerland / 8 million San Francisco Bay Area / 6.8 million Size Switzerland / 41,285 km2 San Francisco Bay Area / 17,932 km2

1,460 NINE

FOUR

EVENT ALERTS SENT BY EMAIL

312,264

87 From Switzerland

57,774 11,000 visits on mobile devices 48% from iPhones / 26% from iPads

SWISSNEX ALUMNI

297

minutes

BUSINESS TRIPS 40 Total

VISITING STARTUPS

TWENTY-ONE

224

28,737 21,000 from Switzerland

12,569

NOTABLE PRESS MENTIONS

107

EVENT SPEAKERS

SWISS UNIVERSITIES WORKED WITH

15 to Switzerland

EVENTS

VISITORS TO OUR WEBSITE

VIEWS OF NEW FORA.TV VIDEOS

TIME SPENT WATCHING OUR YOUTUBE VIDEOS

7,500

ATTENDEES TO OUR EXHIBITS, CONFERENCES, AND PANELS

INTERNS AND IT SPECIALISTS

38,782

SWISSNEX RESIDENTS

BUILDING FT ²

TWITTER STATS

2,809 Followers gained 952 Followers (2.6 per day) ZIP TIES USED IN THE THIRD SPACE SCULPTURE, PRESENTED AT BURNING MAN

250,000

PARTNERS AND SPONSORS

209 MANDATES & INITIATIVES

13

143

Former staff, interns, and longterm visitors

NEXTRENDS

21,000 Views of our blog Countries readers live in / 114 Number of posts / 15

/3

Mandates and Initiatives

13

Special projects, research, and services supported by partner agreements with outside parties in 2012.

CANTON OF VAUD

GEBERT RÜF FOUNDATION – US MARKET ENTRY CAMP

Support internationalization efforts of the Swiss state’s educational institutions and collaborators, and facilitate partnerships with West Coast universities.

Assist Swiss startups in the three-month US Market Entry CAMP accelerator program.

CTI START-UP Share Silicon Valley entrepreneurial expertise, accelerate privileged access to a broad network of contacts, and provide a home base for Swiss startups.

ÉCOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FÉDÉRALE DE LAUSANNE (EPFL) Conduct university outreach, promotion, and media relations in North America.

EPFL AND UNIVERSITY OF ST. GALLEN STARTUP BOOSTERS Provide a platform for university spin-offs (from EPFL and the University of St. Gallen) to test their business models and products against the US market.

PRO HELVETIA Develop a presence on the West Coast of North America for cutting-edge Swiss artists and projects fusing art and technology.

REUTAX Identify innovations in the workplace and workforce recruiting.

SWISS UNIVERSITIES’ INTERNATIONAL MARKETING (SUIM) Full content analysis of website and comparison to similar sites in other countries.

UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA (UNIGE)

SWISS FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ZURICH (ETHZ)

Support internationalization efforts and facilitate partnerships with West Coast universities.

Support programming for university delegations and promote the university on the West Coast.

UNIVERSITY OF LAUSANNE (UNIL)

GEBERT RÜF FOUNDATION – SOCIAL MEDIA Enable Swiss higher education to leverage social networking for communications through two-year “Swiss Academia and the Social Media Landscape” program.

Facilitate student ambassador program and identify strategic partnerships for the School of Business and Economics.

“When I first read the proposal for Swiss Academia and the Social Media Landscape, I was smiling. It was a crazy idea. But after five minutes of studying the proposal, I got it. swissnex had the guts to turn up with this idea. They are able to push novel topics into the sector of higher education.”

/4

PHILIPP EGGER —

CEO, Gebert Rüf Foundation Basel, Switzerland

SWISSNEX 2012 ANNUAL REPORT

LUC MEIER —

Project Head for the “Under One Roof” initiative at EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland Former Associate Director and Head of Public Programs at swissnex San Francisco

“SWISSNEX IS LEADING THE WAY IN SMART, INNOVATIVE MODES OF SCIENCE DIPLOMACY—THAT’S THE BEST WAY TO CREATE GREAT THINGS GOING AHEAD. IT’S BEEN MY LIFE FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS, AND I’LL KEEP TUNING IN FOR INSPIRATION.”

— Art meets science. Recording the sounds of a redwood forest with the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, the Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology, the Swiss Federal Institute of Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, and the US National Park Service. /5

Visiting Startups

21

Swiss startups officially used our startup services in San Francisco, including our three-month accelerator program, the US Market Entry CAMP. Many more took part in our other startup activities, such as the November Startup Roadshow in Switzerland and the Experience Silicon Valley Contest in December.

10 US Market Entry CAMP Participants

* Participated in the

acceleration CAMP at swissnex Boston

11 Other Startup Visitors

01 NextWidgets

06 Koemei

Alex Savic

Temitope Ola

02 QualySense*

07 SUBA

Francesco Dell’Endice Olga Mykhailova

Christopher Webb

03 Dualsystems* Daniel Auerbach

Roger Fischer Charlotte Gubler

04 Gbanga

09 Koubachi

Matthias Sala

Philipp Bolliger

05 Jilion

10 Flatev

Mehdi Aminian Zeno Crivelli

Carlos Ruiz Jonas Müller

01 Dacuda

06 Scandit

Karim Nemr Alex Ilic

Samuel Müller

02 Lemoptix

Pedro Pinto

Nicolas Abelé

03 Optotune Jörg Wertli

04 BugBuster Olivier Crameri Renault John Lecoultre

05 Nomad3D Alain Fogel

08 Kaywa

4 Residents

YEAR-ROUND

SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER

Greater Kathy Zurich Hahn Area ETHZ

MAY–JULY

Klaus Bredel ETHZ

SEPTEMBER 2012–JUNE 2013

Carole Varone UNIGE

07 HelloSlide 08 Hirschfaktor Fabio Magagna

09 Biognosys Philipp Antoni Johan Malmstroem

10 Vela Solaris Simon Geisshüsler

11 qipp Stefan Zanetti

“I’m spending time at swissnex organizing a symposium on Music & Emotions.

The staff knows exactly who I should talk to and helps me get connected to the right faculty members, companies, and artists. swissnex makes my stay in the Bay Area very productive.”

/6

CAROLE VARONE —

Knowledge Transfer Officer, Swiss Center For Affective Sciences Geneva, Switzerland

Study Tours and Delegations

MAR

MAR

Social Media Study Tour Social media immersion for Swiss academia

Guardian Angels FET Flagship International Advisory Board & Consortium Meeting

MAR

APR

Cissy Yiwen Sun, swissnex China

APR

SWISSNEX 2012 ANNUAL REPORT

Patrick Aebischer, EPFL President, and delegation Molecular imaging and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

MAY

University of Art and Design Lausanne (ECAL) Design schools, designers, and Types We Can Make exhibition

Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI) Incubators, accelerators, entrepreneurship initiatives, and innovation centers

Communications and interdisciplinary events at swissnex San Francisco

MAY

Radio Télévision Suisse

8

Innovations in media curation and content exploitation

DEC

City of Zurich

Art and business in preparation for Mayor Corine Mauch’s visit to San Francisco in June 2013

ROGER FISCHER —

CEO, Kaywa | Switzerland Visiting Startup, US Market Entry CAMP Participant

“SWISSNEX SAN FRANCISCO’S SUPPORT WAS DECISIVE FOR THE SUCCESSFUL ESTABLISHMENT OF KAYWA’S AMERICAN SUBSIDIARY AND CONTINUES TO PROVIDE TIMELY ADVICE FOR US.”

< The Social Media Study Tour in March at Facebook Headquarters in Menlo Park, California

/7

Making of the Skin Series

Coming up with our programs is complex business. And that’s how we like it. Every connection is key to developing our ideas, identifying the right subjects, choosing the right partners, and creating value for collaborators, participants, and the public on both sides of the globe. Below, discover how our event series on skin came to be.

Teaching kids about science in spare time connects Aurelie to future speaker on fingerprinting

SÉVERINE PILLOUD

MADELEINE BAUMANN

AURÉLIE COULON

INSTITUT ET HAUTE ÉCOLE DE LA SANTÉ LA SOURCE

INSTITUT ET HAUTE ÉCOLE DE LA SANTÉ LA SOURCE

L’ É P R O U V E T E

SWISSNEX SAN FRANCISCO

UNIL

Fencing hobby leads to job at swissnex and birth of skin series

KIERON LESLIE UCSF

SARAH LOMBARDI

A R T B R U T, L A U S A N N E

R O X A N N E C U R R AT

YA N N M A R U S S I C H

F O U N D AT I O N CLAUDE VERDAN

PERCEUSE PRODUCTION

VICTORIA SWEET UCSF

MAXLINE STETTLER C A N T O N O F VA U D

SUZANNE HRABA-RENEVEY SWISSNEX SINGAPORE

CHRISTIAN SIMM

SWISSNEX SAN FRANCISCO

Preparations for the skin exhibition in 2013 started back in early 2012

L E E A N N L A U R E N TA P P L E G AT E EPFL, CHUV

WA S S I M R A F F O U L

N AT I O N A L B U R N C A R E C E N T E R , CHUV

VÉRONIQUE SÉCHET CHUV

GRAND CENTRAL ART CENTER

LACE

THE LAB

PERFORMANCE ART INSTITUTE

AIMAGO

YA N N M A R U S S I C H TOUR BLEU REMIX

/8

OCT 2012

AUG 2012

JUN 2012

JAN 2012

2012

C T I S TA R T U P

THE CHANGING VIEW OF SKIN DISEASES

PEOPLE/CONNECTIONS O U T S I D E O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

CHRISTOPHE CHAMPOD INSTITUTE OF FORENSIC SCIENCE, UNIL

EVENTS IN CALIFORNIA I N D I R E C T R E S U LT

F R A N C E S C O PA N E S E E P F L , F O U N D AT I O N CLAUDE VERDAN

JOËLLE VUILLE UC IRVINE

Inspired by the skin series, decides to spend his sabbatical between swissnex Boston in 2013 and swissnex San Francisco in 2014

LY N W E G G E N M A N - O ’ C O N N O R SFPD

SWISSNEX INDIA

SFPD

SWISSNEX CHINA

SWISSNEX BOSTON

S O P H I E L A M PA R T E R

DO FINGERPRINTS TELL THE TRUTH?

SKIN, CELLS, AND SKIN GRAFTS EXHIBIT

See and hear these connections come alive!

T O U C H I N G A R T: TRIBUTE TO JUDITH SCOTT

SEP 2013

NOV 2012

This connection also led to an event in 2013 as part of the skin series

WWW.SKINSERIES. SWISSNEXSF.ORG

APR 2013

Yann Marussich to do a residency at the Performance Art Institute in mid-July 2013

FEB 2013

M AY O R E D L E E

SAN FRANCISCO CITY

We hear that the collaboration with SFPD makes the Mayor happy!

KISHORE HARI

B AY A R E A S C I E N C E F E S T I V A L

Exhibit likely to travel to other swissnex locations and beyond

SWISSNEX SAN FRANCISCO

S K I N N O V AT I O N

/9

nextrends

– Our blog, nextrends, launched in 2012. Posts written by the staff of swissnex San Francisco provide the freshest news and insights from our vantage point in the American West, one of the world’s most innovative environments.

WWW.NEXTRENDS.ORG

“I always anticipate your very interesting nextrends with great joy. It is always an inspiring firework of ideas, new developments, and as such, a glimpse into the future.”

/ 10

PETER BÄR —

Head of Secretariat, Federal Communications Commission (ComCom) Bern, Switzerland

Events

SWISSNEX 2012 ANNUAL REPORT

Data Journalism / Apr Cognitive Robots and AI / Jan

Robots and Humans / May

Types We Can Make / May

Think Art—Act Science in Salt Lake City / May

107 Scan What You Can / Feb

Swiss Alumni Gathering / June

Events in 2012 gained visibility for Swiss innovators and ideas. Topics ranged from particle physics to video game design; high tech materials to typography.

“It was an extremely exciting audience in one of the most innovative areas of the world. I was very much looking forward to this talk in order to get feedback… it was extremely positive and there is interest in teaming up with our project.”

DIRK HELBING —

Chair of Sociology, Modeling and Simulation; Speaker at “FuturICT: New Era of Participatory Global Computing”; Scientific coordinator of the FuturICT project, ETHZ, Zurich, Switzerland

/ 11

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Dr. Jai Ranganathan, organizer of the #SciFund Challenge and speaker at Crowdfunding Science event in June. / 12

People

SWISSNEX 2012 ANNUAL REPORT

Christian Laura Natasha

Liliane

Ilona

Sophie

UNIVERSITY AFFAIRS

PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Luc

MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS

Aurélie

Florencia Andréa

COMMUNICATIONS Julia

Vanessa Megan

John Gioia

ENTREPRENEURSHIP & INNOVATION

Birgit

Cyril

Management and Operations Christian Simm, Executive Director Laura Erickson, Associate Director, Head of Finance and Operations Ilona Tschopp, Facilities and Operations Manager Natasha Feiger, Facilities and Operations Manager *

Communications Florencia Prada, Head of Digital Marketing Julia Kuhn Mirza, Senior Communications Manager Megan Williams, Head of Communications John Cannon, Communications Specialist *

Public Programs / University Affairs Aurélie Coulon, Head of Life Sciences Andréa Muller, Project Manager

* Have since moved on;

Public Programs Sophie Lamparter, Head of Interdisciplinary Projects Luc Meier, Associate Director, Head of Public Programs * Liliane Ackle, Project Manager *

University Affairs Vanessa Drigo, Head of University Affairs *

Entrepreneurship & Innovation Gioia Deucher, Head of Startup Services Birgit Coleman, Connections Explorer Cyril Dorsaz, Startup Services Project Manager

Temporary Interns and Credit Suisse IT Specialists Lyly Berrut, Jr. Project Manager * Gian Gallati, Jr. Project Manager * Stefan Koller, IT Specialist * Livie Kundert, Jr. Project Manager * Jennifer Lerchbacher, IT Specialist * Hélène Montavon, Jr. Project Manager * Melanie Picard, Jr. Communications Manager Johann Recordon, Jr. Project Manager Nathalie Schmidlin, Jr. Communications Manager *

they are missed but remain an important part of our network!

/ 13

Financials Cost-Sharing 1%

TOTAL BUDGET 2012

Mandates 28%

SER PROJECTS

$250,000

SER COMBINED OPERATING

$728,778

GENERAL THIRD PARTY

$360,250

EVENT PARTNERS

$450,526

MANDATES

$694,335

COST-SHARING TOTAL

SER Combined Operating 29%

$14,804 $2,498,693

Event Partners 18%

ACTIVITIES 2012: 3RD PARTY VS. SER PROJECTS

SER PROJECTS THIRD PARTY CASH THIRD PARTY IN-KIND

SER Projects 10%

Third Party In-Kind 22%

General Third Party 14%

SER Projects 14%

$250,000 $1,130,470 $389,444

Third Party Cash 64%

/ 14

Partners and Sponsors

SWISSNEX 2012 ANNUAL REPORT

Gebert Rüf Foundation Swiss Federal Office for Building and Logistics (BBL) Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI) Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia Credit Suisse École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Presence Switzerland (PRS) ThinkSwiss Program Dwell Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) The Leonardo - Utah’s Science & Technology Museum University of Geneva (UNIGE) Canton of Vaud Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) View the full list of 209 impressive partners:

WWW.SWISSNEXSF.ORG/2012PARTNERS

Media Mentions LE TEMPS

DWELL

RTS RADIO TÉLÉVISION SUISSE

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

SAN FRANCISCO BUSINESS TIMES

WIRED

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

L’HEBDO

PAUL PREUSS —

Communications and Media Relations Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, Event Partner, “Hunting for the Higgs Boson”

“LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LAB HAS WORKED WITH SWISSNEX FOR YEARS, AND EVERY COLLABORATION IS A DELIGHT. THEIR TOP-NOTCH CREATIVE CREW CARES DEEPLY ABOUT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND THEY KNOW HOW TO SPREAD THE WORD TO THE BAY AREA’S HIPPEST MOVERS AND SHAKERS.”

24 HEURES

swissnex San Francisco was popular in 2012.

There were 215 other notable press mentions that didn’t fit here!

/ 15

Outlook

IN 2013, SWISSNEX SAN FRANCISCO CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF CONNECTING. IN HONOR OF THAT MILESTONE, we are empowering Swiss students to help us imagine the future with a transmedia competition: young minds employing multiple storytelling platforms to envision the year 2023, a decade from now. WWW.STORY2023.COM Our Urban Data Challenge asks international participants to dream up better transportation for tomorrow by creating a data visualization based on data sets from the cities of Geneva, Zurich, and San Francisco (WWW.URBANDATACHALLENGE.ORG). Cities are also at the center of upcoming programs on green roofs, living walls, street parks, and more.

We build communities through our activities, such as the numbers of Swiss startups in Switzerland who are now aligned thanks to our expanded startup services, including our expert webinars on US market entry. And Swiss communications specialists from higher education are maintaining connections we forged through our social media program. It lives on as the Digital Campus, offering tools to best leverage new communication technology. WWW.SOCIALMEDIASWITZERLAND.ORG So keep listening, keep watching, keep reading, and keep connecting with us.

Together, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s imagine the future . WWW.SWISSNEXSF.ORG

/ 16

swissnex San Francisco 730 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA t: (415) 912-5901 f: (415) 912-5905 www.swissnexsf.org