LWE

We create devices to control waves and exploit the energy, momentum, or information they carry.

We create devices to control waves and exploit the energy, momentum, or information they carry.

About us

Welcome to the Laboratory of Wave Engineering !

Be it of electrical nature (microwaves, optics), or of mechanical nature (acoustics, elastics), wave propagation at the core of modern technologies, with applications including information processing, sensing, imaging, telecommunications, and energy transfer and management. We focus on unveiling the mechanisms that govern wave interactions with complex environments and artificial materials, and apply our science to tackle challenging applications. Our current research interest includes:

– The fundamental physics of wave emission, propagation and scattering.

– Non-reciprocal and topological wave phenomena.

– Wave-based information technologies and neuromorphic computing with increased energy efficiency, performance, and/or small sizes.

© iStock

Moving objects precisely with sound

— EPFL researchers have succeeded in directing floating objects around an aquatic obstacle course using only soundwaves. Their novel, optics-inspired method holds great promise for biomedical applications such as noninvasive targeted drug delivery.

AI-generated (DALL-E 3) conceptual image depicting light waves passing through a physical system. © LWE/EPFL

Training algorithm breaks barriers to deep physical neural networks

— EPFL researchers have developed an algorithm to train an analog neural network just as accurately as a digital one, enabling the development of more efficient alternatives to power-hungry deep learning hardware.

Romain Fleury © Alain Herzog

Romain Fleury receives Brillouin medal

— Romain Fleury, head of the Laboratory of Wave Engineering in the School of Engineering, has been awarded the prestigious Brillouin medal for his work on phonon transport.

© 2021 EPFL

Professors Mahsa Shoaran and Romain Fleury awarded ERC Starting Grant

— Prof. Mahsa Shoaran and Prof. Romain Fleury, from the institute of Electrical and Micro Engineering (IEM) at the School of Engineering have been awarded Starting Grants from the European Research Council (ERC). Due to the non-association of Switzerland to Horizon Europe, their projects will be financed by Switzerland (SERI).

© 2021 EPFL-STI

Zhe Zhang wins the PIERS 2021 best student paper award

— Zhe Zhang, a doctoral candidate in the School of Engineering at EPFL, has been awarded the first prize at the best student paper competition at the prestigious conference PIERS 2021.

Topological isolator as a multiplexer © Zhe Zhang / EPFL 2021

How to force photons to never bounce back

— EPFL scientists have developed a topology-based method that forces microwave photons to travel along one way paths, despite unprecedented levels of disorder and obstacles on their way. This discovery paves the way to a new generation of high-frequency circuits and extremely robust, compact communication devices.

Miniaturized Ka-band filters © Maliheh Khatibi, EPFL-LWE

Minwave is awarded an Ignition grant by EPFL Tech Launchpad

— The spin-off of LWE will use this Ignition grant to further develop miniaturized microwave technologies.

A gauche, le réseau de haut-parleurs. Devant, le métamatériau acoustique qui encode l’information. A droite, les microphones utilisés pour imager la source. @Bakhtiyar Orazbayev/EPFL

Deep learning and metamaterials make the invisible visible

— By combining purpose-built materials and neural networks, researchers at EPFL have shown that sound can be used in high-resolution imagery.

Romain Fleury teaches two electromagnetics classes. © Alain Herzog 2019 EPFL

“I teach a subject that's notoriously hard to learn”

— Romain Fleury, a tenure-track assistant professor who heads the Laboratory of Wave Engineering, has been awarded the STI Polysphere teaching award, a distinction awarded by the EPFL students to the best teacher in the School of Engineering.

© Jamanin Caillet / 2018 EPFL

Making opaque materials totally transparent

— EPFL researchers have found a way to make materials that are normally opaque to sound waves completely transparent. Their system involves placing acoustic relays at strategic locations so that sound waves can propagate at a constant amplitude – regardless of what may lie in their path. This method could eventually be used to make it possible to hide objects like submarines.

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Contact

Prof. Romain Fleury


[email protected]


EPFL-STI-IEM-LWE

Station 11

CH 1015 – Lausanne


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