Meet the Spring 2023 Changemakers

Dimitrio is a Bachelor student in Microengineering and is passionate about mental health and personal development. Burnouts at work are reaching an all-time high and the dependence on digital devices makes it harder for employees to take care of their mental health. This is why Dimitrio is creating ‘digital detox’ and team wellness retreats for companies to offer to their employees for healthier and happier teams. With his project, Dimitrio won the Keep Testing award at the Changemakers Spring 2023 Award Ceremony.     

Polina is a Master student in Environmental Engineering. As a Ukrainian who is passionate about sustainability, Polina wants to address the thousands of destroyed buildings as a result of war in her home country. Her vision is to create safe recycling and repurposing of construction elements from demolished buildings in order to construct new buildings or contribute to alternative industries.

Jiechen is a Bachelor student in Mathematics. Sometimes, finding answers to questions related to campus events or academic requirements can be very time-consuming and unsuccessful. To solve this problem, Mathis is creating ‘Wind’, which is a digital bulletin board with an OpenAI GPT API to help students find answers quicker and avoid missing out on opportunities.

Awen is a Master student in Cyber Security while Leo is a Master student in Computer Science. Together, they wish to help entrepreneurs boost their productivity by developing Filos, which employs AI to understand users’ unique personalities and behaviours to assist in goal prioritization, execution, and tracking. With their project, Awen and Leo won the Keep Pushing award at the Changemakers Spring 2023 Award Ceremony. 

Yasmin and Alexandre are Master students in Robotics and Assia is a Master student in Life Sciences. As friends who enjoy discovering new cuisines with authentic cooking, they conceptualized a new app that connects people who enjoy cooking with those who love eating by democratising eating out in a friendly atmosphere that promotes cultural exchanges.

Aleksandr is a Master student in Data Science and is passionate about interior design. Sourcing materials and furniture for interior design projects can be both time consuming and costly. Aleksandr is building SpaceMatch AI, which helps designers work faster and better through an intelligent tool that streamlines the process of product sourcing for the perfect interior items.

Thomas is a Bachelor student in Life Sciences and personally loves moss. This is why he’s creating a moss-based air purification system that uses the natural properties of bryophytes to reduce indoor air pollution while adding an aesthetic touch that promotes wellbeing of homeowners. With his project, Thomas won the Public’s Best Pitch award at the Changemakers Spring 2023 Award Ceremony. 

Emanuele is a Master student in Statistics. The growing popularity of hybrid and remote work has resulted in most office spaces partially vacant. Recognising the huge opportunity, Emanuele is creating a platform that enables remote workers and entrepreneurs to book empty office desks at companies and studios with underutilised office spaces. The platform, which offers sustainable coworking spaces, is a win-win situation for everyone.

Elior is a Bachelor student in Computer Science and is passionate about sustainability and ethical consumption. After seeing how much textile is wasted when student associations and companies create branded t-shirts that are often unworn, Elior decided to take matters into his own hands. His project aims to reduce the waste of textile production by offering new branding solutions with dissolvable ink and second-hand clothing to create branded merchandising.

Baptiste is a Bachelor student in Computer Science and noticed how difficult it is for students to find healthy take-away dinners on campus, without having to rely on delivery services. To fix this, Baptise is launching OpenEats, which aims to offer 24/7 accessible refrigerators located throughout the EPFL and UNiL campuses to help students maintain a healthy lifestyle without compromising their study schedule or spending extra time and money on food. With his project, Baptiste won the Nestlé Young Entrepreneur award at the Changemakers Spring 2023 Award Ceremony. 

Matteo is a Master student in Mechanical Engineering. Getting ready to go from Paris to London by train on a random Sunday, Matteo realized that he had forgotten his passport at home in Lausanne and desperately needed a way to get his passport delivered to him without spending a fortune. This is how he came up with the idea to create a crowd-shipping platform where private travelers can transport strangers’ parcels to be partially compensated for their travel costs while contributing to more sustainable future with mutually supportive communities.