After almost 30 years at ETH Zurich, Martin Vogt will retire at the end of November as head of the mechanical workshop at D-ITET. We bid farewell to a committed and helpful leader! His successor is Silvio Scherr, a proven expert with many years of experience in a comparable environment. We wish Silvio a good start and Martin all the best for this new chapter in life.
Martin Vogt about the almost 30 years he spent at D-ITET as head of the mechanical workshop.
On 1 January 1991, at the age of 35, I started working in the electrical engineering workshop of the D-ELEK, as it was then called. At the beginning everything was new for me and not comparable with the private sector I came from.
Many things have changed in the 30 years: the name of the department, the name of the workshop, the staff of course, my supervisor changed five times, and much more. In my time the workshop was rebuilt twice, which meant we had to move the machines out, take 2-3 weeks of holidays during the rebuilding and then move the machines back in.
In the 30 years the machinery has also changed a lot. When I started my activity in 1991, we had one CNC milling machine in the workshop. Today there are three additional CNC milling machines, two CNC lathes, and one cycle-controlled lathe with accessories.
During my time, I purchased the following larger machines and equipment for the workshop and warehouse:
2 Fehlmann drilling machines
1 conventional lathe
1 presetting device
1 sandblasting unit
1 powder coating plant
1 panel saw
1 band saw
1 motorised guillotine shear
1 heating cabinet
Various storage racks
New technologies
We were also allowed to invest in new technologies such as 3D printing. We procured an FDM 3D printer in 2014 with the support of the department, which has always been very busy since.
During the 30 years our workshop carried out very interesting orders for the different institutes, such as
Various mechanical parts for a hybrid car (VW Golf)
Prototype of a muscle measuring device for astronauts for the space station MIR
Various test stands, turbine wheels
Motors with magnetic bearings
Thermo-acoustic motors
Excellent apprentices
In 1991 the staff consisted of myself as workshop manager, five polymechanics, a warehouse employee and a locksmith. Today there are two polymechanics less, but we are still training one apprentice.
In the 30 years I trained six male and one female polymechanics, who always learned the practical basic knowledge from the 2nd to 4th year of apprenticeship in our workshop. They also had to take their final apprenticeship examination at ETH, where I was their supervisor.
I was always very proud of the fact that our students always achieved grades above 5.0, once even a grade of 5.8 as the best student at ETH. As a cantonal expert, I was also allowed to take examinations of other polymechanics in external companies.
Martin Vogt with his successor Silvio Scherr in the warehouse of the mechanical workshop
Time to say good-bye
For me, the 30 years at ETH were highly interesting and I was able to contribute to various projects with my motivation, expertise and experience. I also got to know many people of different nationalities.
Now the time has also come for me to retire and leave ETH. It was a wonderful time, which I will always remember positively and I look back on my time at ETH with pleasure. I will now keep busy riding my ebike, go hiking and take care of my grandchild, and I would like to go on a lot of interesting journeys.
Welcome to D-ITET, Silvio Scherr!
Silvio previously worked for 15 years in the physics workshop at the University of Zurich, the last 5 years of which as deputy workshop manager.
“I am looking forward to a good cooperation with the workshop team and the research groups and to the continuous updating of the workshop park.”
Silvio Scherr, head of the mechanical workshop at D-ITET