Are you facing a strategic, technical or organisational challenge and looking for fresh perspectives and well-founded solutions? Our capstone projects offer companies the opportunity to have real-world problems tackled in collaboration with interdisciplinary teams. As part of these projects, current business challenges are systematically analysed and addressed using scientifically sound and practice-oriented methods. The focus is on actionable results that deliver direct added value for your business – ranging from innovative concepts and process optimisation to the foundations for strategic decision-making. By working with committed students, you will benefit from new ways of thinking, an external perspective on existing challenges and concrete solutions tailored to your needs. We invite companies to contribute their challenges to our Capstone projects and to work with us on practical, innovative solutions.
Tasks:
Although the concept of energy-saving contracting is very promising, in practice it has met with little uptake in the Swiss building sector. The aim of the project was to identify pain points from the customer’s perspective and, based on these, to develop practical solutions to increase the practical application of energy-saving contracting. The project was funded by EnergieSchweiz. For the association, the project was of the utmost importance in order to secure its raison d’être vis-à-vis the Federal Office of Energy (FOE) and EnergieSchweiz.
Task definition:
Scrona AG is a deep-tech company founded in 2014 and the developer of the world’s first MEMS-based electrohydrodynamic (EHD) multi-nozzle printing platform.
As the company grows, Scrona faces two key challenges. Firstly, engineers spend a significant proportion of their working hours on assembly and manufacturing tasks rather than on value-adding research and development activities. Secondly, a balance must be struck between protecting intellectual property and scaling up production efficiently.
The aim of the project was to develop an optimal make-or-buy strategy. To this end, the appropriate mix of in-house production and external procurement for the key components of the printing platform is to be determined, and potential manufacturing and development partners identified and evaluated.
Task:
The Schoggitaler is a long-standing fundraising campaign designed to finance nature conservation and heritage protection projects in Switzerland. Despite its high profile, sales of the product have been in steady decline for several years. In particular, it is becoming increasingly difficult to reach younger target groups, whilst the existing product and distribution concept offers only limited scope for differentiation and long-term value creation.
Against this backdrop, the key challenge was to develop innovative approaches to enhance the appeal and relevance of the Schoggitaler. This involved exploring both new distribution channels and digital innovations to tap into additional target groups and strengthen the impact of the fundraising campaign in the long term.
The aim of the project was to develop a concept for product innovation, differentiation and value creation. As part of the analysis, various innovation options were assessed and examined in terms of their feasibility and potential. The app ‘Follow the Schoggitaler’ was identified as the most promising solution. It enables the brand to maintain a year-round presence, increases transparency regarding the use of donations, appeals to new target groups and enhances the impact of donations, whilst entailing only a moderate implementation risk.