“Maybe it’s to do with the type of person”

ETH News: AMIV is not only one of the oldest associations at ETH Zurich, it¡¯s also the largest, and is said to be the most active. What is the secret to your success?
Aurel Neff: Maybe it has to do with the type of person who studies mechanical or electrical engineering. We have 3,800 students in our degree programmes, and our events offer them the chance to meet other students and to network. This obviously meets a need, and the opportunities are well used. I think that bringing students together is our association¡¯s most important purpose. And another aspect: we have succeeded in implementing many projects that benefit our members. This is thanks to the money that we make from our activities and from sponsors.

Can you give us some examples of your work?
We have 13 committees, including ones that create their own beer and coffee; we have a well-equipped workshop in which everyone can make use of 3D printing or soldering. Our exam preparation courses are also always well received, as is the two-day ¡°Kontakt¡± job fair, at which 50 companies introduce themselves to the students. We organise 35 events per semester. That¡¯s more than two per week, and they are always fully booked.

125 years is a long time. What do you know about AMIV¡¯s beginnings?
The association started off as more of a fraternity. The members wore uniforms and the focus was on the social aspect: they drank a lot and sang student songs. Our association is much more open today. We also offer something for students who wouldn¡¯t be interested in joining a fraternity.

What about the right to participate on the departmental level that you currently have?
This was also not the case from the beginning. After an incident in the 1960s, when a student died after an electric shock, ETH offered the association the right to participate on issues of safety regulations. Additional rights were then added later. We now have a seat at the department conferences and, together with the doctoral students, make up a significant proportion of those present. Today, we can voice our opinion on the department budget and the appointment of new professors.

What have your greatest achievements in university politics been recently?
We were involved in amending the electrical engineering programme regulations, which will enter into force soon. We are also committed to ensuring that results from midterm exams have at most a positive effect on the final result. Not all subjects include midterm exams, which leads to the unsatisfactory situation of many students concentrating on the tested subjects and neglecting the others. With the change, students now have greater freedom of choice.

Student participation is the life and soul of associations. Is it easy for you to find motivated people?
It changes every year. Sometimes it¡¯s difficult to find people willing to be committee members; however, those that do commit are very dedicated. It is particularly important for us to engage with new students. We always have a weekend away with 100 of them, to introduce them to the association and try to integrate them into AMIV.

And what are your biggest challenges?
Due to the Bologna system, we have a relatively large number of international students in the Master¡¯s programme who do not speak German. However, we don¡¯t want to hold all the events in English, as that could potentially alienate many new German-speaking Bachelor¡¯s students. These students are the least familiar with university life, and we definitely want to reach them. In terms of the language, we therefore have a bit of a dilemma. We¡¯ve so far solved it by forming new committees for individual Master¡¯s specialisations that conduct their own events, usually in English.

You¡¯ll be celebrating your anniversary throughout the whole of next week. What are the highlights?
At the anniversary celebration on Thursday, there will be a panel discussion with Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Amman and ETH President Lino Guzzella. Schneider-Ammann studied electrical engineering at ETH, and Guzzella is an ETH mechanical engineer. Further highlights include an exhibition in ETH¡¯s main building with exhibits from Technorama in Winterthur, which we hope will also appeal to prospective students. And on Monday evening, we¡¯re going to grill an ox on the Polyterrasse.