Prof. em. Dr. Konrad Hungerbühler

Konrad Hungerbühler had been full Professor for Safety & Environmental Technology at the Institute for Chemical and Bio-Engineering, ETH Zurich, from 1994 until his retirement in 2018.

Prof. Hungerbühler, born 1952, originates from Zurich and Romanshorn. He studied chemical engineering at the ETH Zurich. He received his doctorate under Professor J.R. Bourne and was awarded the ETH medal for his dissertation. With his transfer to the central chemical engineering department at Ciba in 1979, he began 15 years of employment in industry. Subsequently, he set up a process development group in the production plant at Grenzach. Previous to his appointment at the ETH Zurich, he was head of the research department in the textile division of Ciba in Basel.

Our research goals focus on the development of tools and methods for ecoefficient and inherently safe products and processes; case studies form the basis for this task. Emphasis is placed on the early stages of process and product development, where broad freedom in design coincides with high uncertainty. These case studies also create an implementation-oriented platform for teaching in the area of environmental and risk-oriented design of chemical products and processes.