Who we are
Before qualifying as an EPF physicist, Sylvie Villa was part of the first class of microelectronics graduates from the Lausanne evening engineering school. The integrated circuit she designed for her diploma thesis was manufactured at the time by EM Microelectronic Marin, Switzerland's leading integrated circuit manufacturer and a subsidiary of the Swatch Group since 1985.
Sylvie installed and operated a Mentor CAD/CAM system at the evening engineering school, for the design, simulation and manufacture of integrated circuits. She trained the industry's engineers in these tools and provided the hotline.
Sylvie then devoted a long part of her career to teaching and integrating women into technical fields. She was head of the Engineering and Architecture department at HES-SO and director of the Equality program at HEIG-VD. Highly committed to the impact of human beings, she has also always made her students aware of their future responsibility towards the "destiny" of the technical machines they develop (obsolescence, grey energy and life cycle, etc.). It's therefore a great pleasure for her to set an example by diverting the primary use of these industrial machines and extending their production life.