CMEFE receives 1 MCHF to boost its activities.

Thanks to the support of the Geneva State, more than 1 MCHF have been invested in the last few months to renew the laboratory infrastructure, experimental equipment, and computational capabilities. An additionnal subsonic wind tunnel will also be installed in the next few weeks. cont'd

Aerodynamic tests of the Ri211 Moto2 from Rapid Inside NCS

The Ri211 Moto2 from Rapid Inside NCS (Carpi, Modena) is under testing in the cmefe wind tunnel. Body parts in rapid prototyping have been produced and are tested. The applied forces are measured using a six component balance and the flow structure is studied using visualization technics. web

Gordias, a new calculation cluster of 224 cores installed at hepia

As a partner of the Multi site ARC project, hepia-cmefe in collaboration with SUPSI from Lugano (Switzerland) is working at the delivery and installation of a high power computing distributed network for Switzerland. The new cluster named « Gordias » (ClusterVision, 14 twin boards, double CPU quad cores for a total of 224 cores, connexion « infiniband », CPUs « Intel Xeon E5530 » at 2.40 GHz) has been connected to SMSCG (Swiss Multi SCience Grid).

Gold for Jason Lamy Chappuis in Vancouver 2010

Swiss Innovation in Basel

Two students propose a micro-gravity experiment for the European Space Agency “Fly your thesis” program

Visit to the ONERA Modane-Avrieux site

Students and apprentices from cmefe-hepia have traveled to the ONERA (Office National d’Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales) center in Modane-Avrieux. This center, a 2h30 drive from Geneva, boasts a great number of wind tunnels and test facilities. It is also the place where all ONERA force balances are being manufactured. The S1MA wind tunnel is the biggest in Europe with a 7 m-diameter test section and flow speeds up to Mach 1. A great number of industries (Dassault, Airbus, Eurocopter, etc.) conduct tests regularly in this center, which is one of the largest in the world. Cmefe-hepia and the center have nourished a productive relationship for many years.

CFD simulation of an intake manifold for an internal combustion engine – experimental validation

Cmefe-hepia is in the process of providing many new developments to the biomobile.ch internal combustion engine. Work in progress includes CFD engine simulations, as well as the setup of an electronic control station (Bruno Jacon, Prof. Patrick Haas). The objective of the CFD simulation is the understanding of transient phenomena occurring in the intake manifold. An intake in composite materials has been manufactured and the engine performance is being evaluated in terms of the air-fuel ratio.

Movie sequence of the biomobile.ch 2010 engine

First tests with the Magnetti Marelli engine control unit and the new elliptically-shaped intake manifold.

“Latele” broadcast on TSI (Swiss Italian Television)

Swiss Italian Television (TSI) has produced an episode of their “Latele” series at cmefe-hepia on April 10, 2009. The main theme of the episode was “the wind”. Roberto Putzu, HES professor, has had the opportunity to provide some explanations concerning the use of the cmefe-hepia large wind tunnel.

Yves Rossy Fusionman is running tests in cmefe-hepia wind tunnel

Yves Rossy (fusionman) has conducted tests in the cmefe-hepia large wind tunnel in order to evaluate the performance of a new instrument and piece of equipment. The pilot, using a wing propelled by 4 turbo-engines, has been planning some new flights for the coming years. Yves Rossy had already performed tests in the cmefe-hepia wind tunnel in the past. web

Biomobile.ch at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show

Cmefe is a participant of the 2009 Geneva Motor Show from March 5 to March 9, 2009. The car, as well as various ongoing projects, are part of the show, in particular the development of a carbon-aluminum frame and a fuel injection and control system.

Message from the President of the Swiss confederation to the authors of biomobile.ch.

Aerodynamic study of a decorative lighting system of large size

Cmefe has performed a study for a French company, responsible for the decorative lighting system of many monuments and cities in Europe. The goal was to define a method to predict wind-generated aerodynamic loads on strings of decorative lights placed over structures of tens of square meters in size. This company has provided decorative lighting systems for the Champs Elysées (Paris, France), historical monuments in Lisbon (Portugal), or plainly store fronts in many european cities. The method developed by cmefe relies on a wind tunnel testing campaign with basic decoration geometries. Simple mathematical relations can now be used to extrapolate the results to real decorative systems of different sizes and shapes. This way, there is no need for further tests or CFD simulations in future projects.

Study of aerodynamic comfort in the square located between Fribourg University and the Egineering and Architecture School (HEIA-FR)

Within the Carcodex program, cmefe has performed a series of experiments of wind effects on scaled-down models of the square located between Fribourg University and the Engineering and Architecture School (HEIA-FR). The goal of these tests was the understanding of flow behavior over the existing buildings in urban environments.

A biomobile.ch workshop at the Nature Congress 2009 in Basel

Members of biomobile.ch project will hold a workshop on biofuels at the the Nature Congress 2009 in Basel (February 19-22, 2009).

Biomobile.ch will be at Pollutec, Lyon Expo 2008

Hepia will be present at the Pollutec expo in Lyon (France) on December 1-5, 2008. A seminar will be organized by OSEC on Thursday December 4 at 13h30 in room 5/6: “Waste recycling, wastewater, and renewable energy: opportunities on the swiss market.”

Wind tunnel tests of fast train circuit breakers – Sécheron SA

CMEFE has performed some testing for Sécheron SA on the aerodynamic loads of circuit breakers designed for fast trains. These elements located on the train rooftop next to the pantograph are used to interrupt power flow to the train. These systems are subjected to wind loads at speeds greater than 300 km/h.

Hydrodynamic CFD simulation of a 60 foot sailboat, Bestaven’s Charente-Maritime Innovations / Aquarelle.com – Participation at the 2009 Vendée Globe

CMEFE has performed in 2008 a CFD simulation to improve the hydrodynamics of the keel and its bulb for an open 60 sailboat. In-situ three-dimensional scans at La Rochelle (France) by our colleagues at CNMP-IMEC have been used to model the geometry. CFD flow simulations have led to the design of new geometries. Currently, other studies within the IMEC institute are being envisaged for this boat.

Wednesday September 24, 2008, Yves Rossy FusionMan will attempt to cross the English Channel with a wing tied to its back

Wednesday September 24, 2008, Yves Rossy FusionMan will attempt to cross the English Channel with a wing tied to its back and powered by miniature turbo-engines. Ten years ago, in 1998, he conducted tests on the first generation of wings in cmefe wind tunnel at Pont Butin.

CMEFE hires two professors

CMEFE has hired two new professors. Flavio Noca, PhD from Caltech, and research scientist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena (USA), then at EPFL (Switzerland), will be leading the development of new testbeds and will be managing experimental fluid mechanics projects. He will be teaching fluid mechanics, as well as a new course focused on the environmental aspects that are proper to the new generation of mechanical engineers.

Roberto Putzu, engineering graduate from the Politecnico of Torino (Italy), research engineer at the FIAT research center, then at Thales Alenia Space Italia, will be managing projects focused on fluid mechanics and energy. He will be teaching fluid mechanics as well as applied energetics.

CMEFE installs new fan controllers for its large wind tunnel

Cmefe has decided to invest in a new state-of-the-art fan controller for its large wind tunnel. The former system, which dates back to 1990, has been replaced by a unit with more precision and less electromagnetic noise generation.

Biomobile.ch at the 2008 Book Fair in Geneva

Biomobile.ch was presented at the 22nd annual book fair in Geneva on April 30 – May 4, 2008.

CMEFE has signed an agreement with the French Skiing Federation (FFS)

An agreement has been signed with the French Skiing Federation (FFS). This agreement will provide an official seal to an existing and fruitful collaboration, particularly aimed at activities concerning the aerodynamics of skiers and their equipment.

CMEFE has invested in new CFD simulation hardware

CMEFE has purchased two 64-bit Sun servers. A new computing cluster will be set up. It will include 8 more nodes as well as 32 GB of RAM.

Biomobile.ch project at the forefront of the FH Oberrösterreich (Austria) open house

CMEFE has presented its biomobile.ch project at the FH Oberrösterreich (Austria) open house in Wels on March 14-15, 2008. This technical university, which offers an educational cursus similar to the one at HES-SO, has dedicated those two days to the topic of “sustainable mobility”. A professor from this university was in the past an Erasmus exchange student at cmefe.

Carmen – waste heat into the Rhône river within an urban environment

The “Comptes Rendus du Congrès du Rhône” (2006) have been published in the « Archives des Sciences de la Société de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle de Genève ». The work on waste heat into the Rhône river within an urban environment has been performed by cmefe in collaboration with CUEPE from the University of Geneva. Details

Plan-Les-Ouates primary school (Geneva, Switzerland) visits cmefe

Sixth graders and their teacher, Mrs Corinne Ramillon, from Plan-Les-Ouates primary school (Geneva, Switzerland) have visited cmefe. Mrs Ramillon tries to make students sensitive to environmental and energy problems.

CMEFE nominated for the 2007 Swiss ethics prize

CMEFE has been nominated to receive an ethics prize for its project biomobile.ch. The Swiss ethics prize, managed by HEIG-VD through its research unit on company ethics, aims at rewarding efforts carried by a Swiss public organization or company engaged in social responsibility or sustainable development.

A course for University of Savoie students

Master’s students from the University of Savoie have attended a one-day course in aerodynamics at cmefe. This course included a theoretical presentation, as well as two experimental demos in the supersonic and subsonic wind tunnel.

 Partenaires : EIL, IMEC / CMEFE, EPFL, UniL, WSL, OFEV, MICS

TetraEner (EU), Genève - Lac - Nations

CMEFE is a partner in an FP6 project, TetraEner, which deals in particular with lake and stream water as a cooling agent. This project includes a proof-of-concept called GLN (Geneva – Lac – Nations), sponsored by SIG (Services Industriels de Genève), whose objective is to provide a 15 MW worth of cooling power to the Nations neighborhood (which includes the UN) through the use of lake water. In this project, cmefe will define a methodology to design this type of system and to optimize the location of the cooling water re-injection into the lake and river. EPFL, the University of Geneva, Bonnard and Gardel, the Service Cantonal de l’Energie, as well as the Services Industriels de Genève, are among the partners involved in the swiss side of the project. Other activities take place in San Sebastian (Spain).

Clean Air 2007 – “9th International Conference on Energy for a Clean Environment”, July 2-5 2007, Póvoa de Varzim, Spain

CMEFE has given a talk at the 2007 Clean Air conference, which has taken place in Portugal on July 2-5, 2007, in collaboration with the consulting company Conti & Associés Ingénieurs SA, Geneva.Presentation Summary

Biomobile.ch has partecipated at the Shell Eco-Marathon from May 11th to 13th, 2007. After promising tests on Friday, four races were carried out on Saturday and Sunday with an extraordinary constancy and a reliability. A consumption of 834 km per liter was measured during the third race. This performance, carried out with the bio-fuel Biocarb X-41 developed within the framework of the project, corresponds to the 30ème position within the general classification of 257 registered teams. Details

CMEFE is part of the selection committee for this international conference, which is being held every two years. The main topics include the improvement of combustion processes, the use of alternative fuels, lowering of greenhouse gases production and air pollution. In addition, an article, entitled “Combined heat and power generation and heat pump for residential use. System design for minimum CO2 emissions and best economy,” submitted by Conti & Associés Ingénieurs SA (Geneva) in collaboration with cmefe, has been accepted as an oral presentation. The results that will be presented in this paper are the result of a project led by E. Conti following two diploma projects performed at cmefe in 2003 and 2004.

It is presented along with another HES-SO ecomobile, Consomini. On the same stand, you will be able to see a scaled-down model (1:2) of the Swisspirit vehicle, designed et built in collaboration with HES-SO. It is the same model that was tested in cmefe wind tunnel. Details Press

Press conference XSpeedSki 2007 Verbier – Nendaz Friday March 9, 2007

The conference will be held at the cmefe site on Friday March 9, 2007, for the KL World Championship opening inauguration ceremony, with the presence of both men and women world champions. Web

Pollutec 2006 – Lyon (France) on November 28 – December 1, 2006

HES-SO, Geneva, had an information stand at the Pollutec expo in Lyon (France) on November 28 – December 1, 2006. This expo is the key event for professionals working on environmental issues.

Energytech – Lausanne (Switzerland) November 16-18, 2006

CMEFE was present at the first expo on sustainable development and renewable energy, which was held in Lausanne (Switzerland) on November 16-18, 2006.

La Cité des Métiers – Palexpo Geneva, November 13-19, 2006

Michel Perraudin and his mechanical engineering students have presented at “La Cité des Métiers” (job day) some of the activities in which our group is involved.

cmefe contributes to the success of high-quality coffee capsule systems!

Hans Rychiger AG is a company that is active in the field of high-quality packaging; it produces machines for various well-known companies. Faced with an issue of residual air evacuation within machines used for encapsulating powdered coffee and other similar products, the company has hired the services of cmefe to provide advice and counseling on the design of the gaseous protection chamber. The appearance of the machine on the market shows that the stringent requirements imposed by the client regarding the residual air content have been satisfactorily met.

ER’06 – Renewable Energy Symposium 2006

Cmefe has presented its biomobile.ch and Consomini projects at the mobility session of the renewable energy symposium ER’06 in Yverdon (Switzeland) on October 3-4, 2006.. Presentation

Biofuels at Vel Expo Ticino 2006

Info Vel has organized the Vel Expo Ticino on September 7 – 10, 2006, in Lugano (Switzerland). It is an expo on high performance vehicles. Patrick Haas from cmefe has given a talk on biomobile.ch, Biocarb X-41 biofuel, and greenhouse gas emissions fro various biofuels. Presentation (it)

Interview TSI "Il Quotidiano" 07.09.06 (real player)

PLEA 2006 - 23th International conference on passive and low energy architecture

cmefe is a member of the review committee for presentations at the 2006 PLEA conference under the sign “Clever design and affordable comfort: a challenge for low energy architecture and urban planning”. He is particularly involved with presentations dealing with CFD simulations of building internal and external flows.

CFD simulation of convective flows in a 19th century church

The Roman Catholic Church in Geneva and the consulting engineering office Putallaz Ingénieurs Conseils have hired the cmefe to compute the convective flows inside the church in Compesières (Geneva). The structure, which dates back to 1270, has been donated by the bishop of Geneva to the Order of Malta. It was renovated in several instances, in 1633 and in 1834 in particular. It is now subject to archaeological digs. CFD simulations have included floor heating combined with forced air convection. CMEFE was also involved in the past (2004) in CFD thermal and flow simulations of the air within the opera auditorium in Geneva (in partnership with the laboratory for architectural and environmental physics, LPAE, at HES-SO) in order to provide a solution to the ventilation design.

Heat waste into the Rhône river in an urban environment

The study performed jointly by CMEFE and CUEPE concerned with heat waste into the Rhône river in an urban environment has ben presented at the “Congrès du Rhône” on June 15-16, 2006, in Geneva. Article Details

“Tomorrow energies” at EPFL

The Alliance group has organized on May 23, 2006, a symposium on tomorrow energies. M. Perraudin from cmefe has presented the biomobile.ch project as well as recent developments on biofuels. Presentation

Biomobile.ch at Shell Eco-Marathon on May 20-21, 2006

Both HES-SO eco-mobiles have participated at the Shell Eco-Marathon, which takes place in Nogaro (France) on May 20-21, 2006. Details

"Alternative method for biomass combustion control"

Présentation du CMEFE à la "7th European Conference on Industrial Furnaces and Boilers (INFUB)" à Porto, 18 - 21 avril 2006. Article

Philippe May is 5th man beyond 250 km/h

High-speed skier Philippe May (Valais, Switzerland), who regularly trains in cmefe wind tunnel, has established a personal record. He is now one out of five men to have gone beyond 250 km/h. Details

Time-dependent flow simulations within an array of tubes

Cmefe has started a study on the time-dependent flows within a bank of tubes. The goal is to characterize the thermal transfer processes in such geometries. Animation

A Romanian society gives a prize to the WSC07 association

The WSC07 association has received a prize for the Swisspirit project from the Romanian inventors’ society. This society rewards innovative projects that are environmentally oriented. Michel Perraudin was the WSC07 representative to receive the prize during the ceremony, which was held during the inventions expo.

HES-SO partner of Swisspirit at the 2007 World Solar Challenge

The Swisspirit vehicle will be a participant at the 20th World Solar Challenge 2007 edition. This prestigious race links Darwin to Adelaïde over a trail that is 3’000 km long at speeds over 100 km/h with the sun as sole energy source. It is considered as the ultimate challenge in terms of energy. Cmefe will be involved in the vehicle aerodynamic testing. Experimental studies in cmefe wind tunnel, as well as CFD simulations will provide design solutions to optimize the vehicle aerodynamic performance. Our HES-SO colleagues from Fribourg (Switzerland) will be working on telemetry as well as communication systems. Cmefe will thus put to use many years of experience on vehicles with high energy efficiency. Details Web

Biomobile.ch at the 2006 geneva Auto Show

Biomobile.ch will be presented at the 2006 geneva Auto Show on March 2-12 (Hall 3).
Details. Details

French skier Antoine Dénériaz has won the downhill competition at the 2006 winter Olympics in Torino. He is part of the team that has regularly trained last fall in cmefe wind tunnel. Details

cmefe earns NER prize

The NER prize from the Services Industriels of Geneva (SIG) has been awarded to cmefe for the study of a thermal dephaser, done in collaboration with CUEPE at the University of Geneva. It will allow cmefe to join a group of scientists involved with the swiss office of energy (OFEN). The goal is the development of promising solutions in the field of thermal cooling.

Testing of a contra-rotating wind turbine

Tests of a contra-rotating turbine are currently being conducted at cmefe. The project is led by EOTHEME in Bex (Switzerland) and by our colleague in Yverdon (Prof Marc Correvon). HES-SO is currently providing support through strategic internal funds. The project is a collaboration with Prof Raoul Herzog (HEIG-VD) and Prof Olivier Zürcher (EIA-FR).

Cmefe and Biocarb at the Geneva 2005 S-DEV conference

Cmefe and Biocarb have presented their activities on biofuels at the S-DEV conference in Geneva on October 11-13, 2005.

CFD simulation of a dielectric jet

Charmilles Technologies SA has hired cmefe services to perform a study of a dielectric jet inside electro-discharge machines (EDM). The injection nozzles are in part responsible for the performance of the machines. The study will comprise an experimental study as well as a numerical study. Flow modeling has required a computing mesh with 3,5 million elements. The mesh size varies from 0,01 to 20 mm over a distance of a few centimeters.

cmefe develops a six-component force balance with higher load capacity and purchases a new data acquisition system

During the month of September 2005, cmefe has started the assembly of a new six-component force balance to be used for aerodynamic force measurements in the wind tunnel. It will be used for research projects as well industrial contracts. It has been designed and manufactured by cmefe. To complete the installation, cmefe has purchased a new data acquisition system from a leading company, HBM.

HES-SO present at the 2005 Clean Air conference

Optimisation of wood-fired boilers using optical sensors, Clean Air - International Conference on Energy for a Clean Environment, June 27 - 30, 2005, Lisbon – Portugal.

Article, presentation

Electronic circuit cooling for CERN

CERN has signed a contract with cmefe for the study of electronic circuit cooling to monitor the conditions at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider). These systems, installed within the tunnel, are devoid of fans. The study will include a CFD simulation as well an experimental investigation to validate the model.

Cmefe has developed a thermal model for the Rhône river. A working group on the Rhône thermal environment has been created on may 2005. It is led by cmefe, CUEPE (Centre Universitaire d'Etude des Problèmes de l'Energie at the University of Geneva Science Department), DIAE (Département de l'Intérieur, de l'Agriculture et de l'Environnement), SCanE (Service Cantonal de l'Energie), DomEau. The task of this working group is to understand and evaluate the impact of heat waste upon the Rhône river ecology. Details

Philippe May established new KL record

Philippe May from Valais (Switzerland), who regularly trains in cmefe wind tunnel, has reached the speed of 248.280 km/h for a personal record. It is the fourth fastest speed ever recorded. Details

M. Katsuhisha Yoda, president of Honda SA (Switzerland), and M. Jean-Marie Duret, director of the Engineering School of Geneva, have signed an agreement on Thursday April, 2005, thanks to which Honda will be providing engines as well as technical support to biomobile.ch.

A finite volume model of the consomini vehicle has been created. This study conduct by the cmefe has for objective to validate a CFD simulation model for the aerodynamic optimisation of the ecomobiles of the HES-SO.

During WEC 2004 (World Engineer's Convention), cmefe had a stand on aerodynamic testing.