What EPFL+ECAL Lab does

EPFL+ECAL Lab is an academic design research centre founded in 2007 as a partnership between EPFL Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ranked among the top two research universities in mainland Europe per QS 2022) and ECAL (École cantonale d'art de Lausanne). The lab operates from studio space inside ECAL's building in Renens, Switzerland, and is administratively placed under EPFL's Associate Vice Presidency for Centers and Platforms. Its stated mission is to perform innovation, education, and research through design practice applied to emerging technologies, targeting critical challenges across health, media, trust and security, heritage and museology, immersive technologies, and food and sustainability.

The lab's core output is transdisciplinary research projects and prototypes produced by an integrated team of designers, engineers, and social scientists. Its methodology spans context exploration, solution ideation, prototyping, and evaluation of emotional and cognitive impact on end users, explicitly positioning the lab as human-centred rather than tech-driven. Beyond research projects, it runs educational programmes that produce graduates (a 2026 cohort was announced) and disseminates work through academic publications, conferences (e.g., DRS 2026 in Edinburgh, Regional Mountain Conference 2026 in Obergurgl), and social/digital channels including Instagram, LinkedIn, Medium, and a newsletter.

The entity is not a commercial product company. It has no public pricing, no disclosed revenue, no venture or private equity backing, and no subsidiaries. It is funded through EPFL's institutional structures, ECAL's founding partnership, research grants, and collaboration agreements with external partners, with distribution occurring via academic collaboration, in-house events, and exhibitions rather than commercial sales channels.

Name

EPFL+ECAL Lab

Legal name

EPFL+ECAL Lab

Website

https://epfl-ecal-lab.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

EPFL+ECAL Lab is an academic design research centre founded in 2007, jointly operated by EPFL and ECAL in Renens, Switzerland. It produces transdisciplinary research projects and prototypes in health, media, immersive technologies, heritage, and sustainability, and runs educational programmes funded through institutional and partner collaborations rather than commercial sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Design Research Services

NAICS

Other Specialized Design Services (54149), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Makerspaces & Fab Labs (Open Build Studios) (EDAMADAC)

Keywords

• Design research
• Academic research collaboration
• Human-centered design
• Emerging technology research
• Transdisciplinary design methodology

Headquarters

HQ city

Renens

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The EPFL+ECAL Lab is a design research centre that performs innovation, education, and research through design practice with emerging technologies. It combines academic research, artistic creativity, and cultural understanding to investigate how new technologies can positively influence human perception, and delivers this through research collaboration projects, educational programmes, and design-driven prototyping for institutional and industry partners.

Product overview

EPFL+ECAL Lab is an academic research institution (founded 2007) affiliated with EPFL Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and ECAL art and design school. It is not a product company but rather offers research collaboration services, educational programmes, and design consulting. The lab develops research projects and prototypes in fields including health, media, trust and security, heritage and museology, immersive technologies, food and sustainability. Its methodology combines design practice with emerging technologies to create impactful, human-centered outcomes for institutional and industry partners.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research Collaboration Projects
• Educational Programmes (MAS in Design Research and Digital Innovation with ECAL)

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe EPFL+ECAL Lab is part of EPFL's Associate Vice Presidency for Centers and Platforms. The lab benefits from the university's top-level infrastructures for supporting creativity, experimentation and prototyping. Regular collaboration occurs with EPFL's numerous labs, research groups, centres and schools. EPFL is one of the top two research universities in mainland Europe (QS Ranking 2022).
• ECAL (École cantonale d'art de Lausanne)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerECAL is the founding partner of EPFL+ECAL Lab. The lab is situated within the ECAL building and benefits from the school's facilities and expertise in creative production, education and knowledge generation. Daily interactions occur through project collaborations and skills exchange in media and interaction design, visual communication and product design.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• IDEO: Globally leading design consultancy applying human-centred and transdisciplinary design methods across industries. Comparable in methodology (designers, engineers, social scientists tackling emerging technology challenges) but operates commercially rather than as an academic lab.
• Parsons School of Design: Major design school within The New School with broad design, technology, and social innovation programmes. Comparable as a design research and education institution with industry-facing projects, though broader in scope and more commercially oriented than EPFL+ECAL Lab.

Regional players

• Tongji University College of Design and Innovation: Leading Chinese design research college housed within a top technical university, focused on transdisciplinary design research. Comparable in mission (design research at intersection of engineering and creativity) but serves a different geographic market.

Direct peers

• Royal College of Art (RCA): UK's leading art and design university with a strong research and postgraduate portfolio across design, communication, and innovation. Directly comparable as a peer academic institution combining design education with industry-funded applied research on emerging technologies.
• Aalto University Department of Design: Nordic design research department within a technical university combining design practice with emerging technology exploration. Comparable in academic positioning at the intersection of design research, engineering, and applied industry projects.
• Carnegie Mellon School of Design: US research university design school with strong emphasis on design research, technology integration, and societal impact. Comparable as a university-embedded design research and education group working on emerging technology projects with industry partners.
• Eindhoven University of Technology — Industrial Design: Research-led industrial design programme embedded in a leading European technical university, with a strong focus on design research and societal challenges. Directly comparable dual-engineering-and-design research orientation analogous to EPFL+ECAL.
• MIT Media Lab: MIT's flagship interdisciplinary research laboratory combining design, technology, and social science. Directly comparable: academic-affiliated lab running transdisciplinary projects on emerging technologies with industry partners, just at materially larger scale and US base.
• Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID): Interaction design research and education institute offering postgraduate programmes and industry consultancy on emerging technology and human-centred design. Directly comparable mission and methodology around designers, engineers, and social scientists working on tech-driven societal challenges.
• Stanford Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school): Stanford's design thinking research and teaching hub combining engineering, business, and design disciplines. Directly comparable: university-anchored innovation lab that teaches design-driven methodology and partners with industry on emerging technology challenges.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/epfl-ecal-lab
• Instagraminstagram.com/epfl_ecal_lab
• Xx.com/epflecallab
• Facebookfacebook.com/epflecallab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about EPFL+ECAL Lab