ETH Zurich (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich) is a public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. One of the world’s leading technical universities, ETH Zurich has been home to numerous computing pioneers and groundbreaking research in programming languages and systems.
Computing History
ETH Zurich’s computer science department has produced influential work across the field:
Programming Languages: Niklaus Wirth spent most of his career at ETH Zurich, designing Pascal, Modula-2, and Oberon. His emphasis on simplicity, structure, and educational clarity influenced a generation of language designers[1].
The Lilith Workstation: In the late 1970s, Wirth’s group built the Lilith personal workstation entirely in Modula-2, demonstrating that systems could be built in high-level languages.
Project Oberon: The complete Oberon operating system and compiler, developed at ETH Zurich, showed how an entire computing system could be made simple and transparent.
Notable Figures
ETH Zurich has educated and employed many computing pioneers:
- Niklaus Wirth: Designer of Pascal, Modula-2, and Oberon; Turing Award winner
- Albert Einstein: Studied and later taught at ETH Zurich (physics, not computing, but notable)
- Numerous Turing Award winners: Including several in computing-related fields
Research Excellence
The university consistently ranks among the top in the world for computer science research, with particular strengths in:
- Programming languages and compilers
- Systems and architecture
- Formal methods and verification
- Computer graphics
Sources
- Wikipedia. “ETH Zurich.” University history and notable achievements.