Wednesday, March 11, 2026
10am to 7pm, BC
Registration
Registrations are open! Fill in the form here.
CLIC and the IC Faculty are proud to present the 7th edition of IC Boost Day, a day dedicated to your future career in Computer and Communication Sciences! Take part in mock coding interviews, join various talks and meet plenty of EPFL IC alumni! They will be here to answer all the questions you may have as a future EPFL alumnus/alumna, both during specific “meetup sessions” or during our famous networking lunch! ICBD is a unique opportunity to prepare for your professional future in the world of computer science and engineering.
Alumni & guests
Alumni and guests present at the event
George Fotiadis
Mohamed Kafsi
Nexthink SA
Arnaud Delamare
Oracle
Tom Demont
E-xpert Solutions
Adi Seredinschi
Circle
Mounir Taha
Kudelski Labs
Lomig Megard
SwissBorg
Hông-Ân Sandlin
Swiss Armed Forces
Ruben Merz
Amazon
Nazli Deniz Uzuner
Microsoft
Maja Stamenkovic
Netlight
Christian Mouchet
Hasso Plattner Institute
Timon Zimmermann
MageMetrics / Visium SA
Merlin Nimier-David
NVIDIA
Baptiste Nicolet
NVIDIA
Harold Benoit
Microsoft AI
Aman Bansal
Microsoft AI
Johan Paratte
Arcanite
Matteo Yann Feo
Nestlé R&D | DeepTech Center
Joël Theytaz
ELCA Group
Florian Cassayre
CERN
Eloïse Doyard
OneDoc
Vincent Etter
Google DeepMind
Michael Allemann
Swisscom
Hugo El Guedj
Arcanite
Moe Haidar
Nexthink
Lucas Trognon
FIA – Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
Alexandros Poupakis
EPIC
Jordane Widmer
EPFL Alumni
Aurélie Secrétan
EPFL CED Employability and Development Center
Gonxhe Idrizi
Procter & Gamble
Oussama Abouzaid
Expedia Group
Timetable
Activities
Breakfast
A short breakfast before the start of the activities.
Mock coding Interview
You have spent years studying the ins and outs of computer science, and coding interviews may very well be one of the first times you will need to put into practice the skills you acquired. As such, we believe it would be beneficial for you to practice and get advice directly from the people who run them! This activity begins with a presentation of what you need to expect from a (traditional) interview, and then a few mock coding interviews with an alumnus from either Google or Oracle. Note that there is a limited number of spots for this activity so make sure to sign up for it as soon as possible.
Arnaud Delamare - Johan Paratte - Tom Demont - Hugo El Guedj - Oussama Abouzaid
Talk: Recent Advances in Distributed Networks
We will cover recent advances in distributed network design, sometimes called blockchains, focusing on achieving predictable costs, deterministic settlement, and stable latency through innovations like the Malachite consensus engine (Tendermint-based) and a Multi-Proposer architecture. Some of these engineering efforts are necessary to build institutional-grade networks with features such as predictable fees and a permissioned validator set.
Adi Seredinschi
Speed Networking
The Speed Networking sessions are a new way for both students and IC alumni from diverse backgrounds to meet and network: for each session (45min), you will have 7 minutes to present yourself to each of the 6 alumni one after the other, and they will present you their company and their profiles. This should let fast exchange of information and contact for both parties, and successful or interesting meetings can be later continued during the network lunch or the closing aperitif! Note that there is a limited number of spots for this activity so make sure to sign up for it as soon as possible.
Joël Theytaz - Eloïse Doyard - Matteo Yann Feo - Vincent Etter - Michael Allemann - George Fotiadis - Moe Haidar - Lucas Trognon - Mohamed Kafsi - Gonxhe Idrizi
EPFL Alumni Presentation
Your degree opens doors. The EPFL Alumni ecosystem helps you navigate what comes next, starting today. This session explores how mentoring opportunities and access to experienced graduates can support your transition into professional life. The aim is to present the alumni network as a practical toolkit you can activate now and continue using as your career evolves.
Jordane Widmer
Talk: Designing for Distrust: The Impossible Trade-offs
You have a signing key. It controls firmware updates pushed to millions of devices. Together, we'll design its security architecture step by step, where each solution breaks something and forces the next evolution. Then we'll remove the safety net and see what happens when the execution environment disappears entirely.
Lomig Megard
CV Presentation by CED
By the end of this course, you will be able to write a clear and relevant CV, which will considerably increase your chances of being invited for interview.
We will review the structure of a CV and discuss how to write each section in relation to the job advert. We will also give advice on formatting and proofreading, including a discussion on the use of IA.
Aurélie Secrétan
Networking Lunch
During the lunch break, professors, alumni and students will come together over a meal, providing the perfect setting for networking and conversation. You will have the chance to engage directly with alumni, tapping into their wealth of knowledge and experience. The lunch is going to be a delicious vegetarian buffet!
Talk: Why Does Industry Care About Agentic Systems?
Agentic systems—autonomous AI that reasons, plans, and acts toward goals—are reshaping organizations. But why does industry care?
There many lenses (viewpoints) we can use to answer this question: going from technical lenses (e.g. large language model reasoning capabilities), knowledge management, to strategic management. And companies fear being left behind
It is a fast paced field, that changes faster than organizations (and most individuals) can adapt. Hence, to navigate this fast paced evolution, we want to focus on invariants (things that don't change) and mental models (abstractions).
This talk will give you a brief introduction into agentic systems, and then discuss and explore invariants and mental models that you can use to navigate these changes.
Ruben Merz
Discussion: Academia vs Industry
In this session, our hosts will compare the contrasting worlds of Academia vs. Industry. From research-driven environments to fast-paced business solutions. Students will have the chance to ask questions on career paths, work culture, and the evolving landscape of both sectors.
Christian Mouchet - Timon Zimmermann
Talk: Introduction to cryptography: A 5D overview of the domain.
This talk will present an overview of cryptography and the different orientations that exist in the domain, namely: symmetric vs assymetric, integrity vs privacy, breaking vs protecting, theoretical vs practical and traditional vs post quantum. The goal would also be to show the opportunities that are present in academy and in the industry.
Mounir Taha
Discussion: How to train your large language model from scratch?
Round table around training SOTA LLMs at large scale. This includes the various considerations involved such as data, compute, architecture, training infra, etc.
Harold Benoit - Aman Bansal
Discussion: Women in IT
On this 45min session, you are encouraged to ask questions about challenges, opportunities, and how to support more diversity in the ever-growing field of computer science.
Nazli Deniz Uzuner - Maja Stamenkovic
Talk: Open Source
Open source is more than just publicly available code: it's a model for collaboration and innovation at global scale. We'll explore how open source projects are built, governed, and sustained, from small community-driven libraries to large foundations powering critical infrastructure. We'll discuss licensing, community dynamics and maintainership challenges. Finally, you'll discover how you can leverage open source to advance your career.
Florian Cassayre
LinkedIn Photobooth
Get a professional portrait for your LinkedIn profile or CV, taken by the EPFL Photo Club.
Talk: Data Architecture in the Defense Context
More than ever Switzerland’s reactivity to potential threats relies of the Swiss Armed Forces readiness for defense. In an ever more complex and volatile world, data are strategical assets that should support decision-making. The nature and variety of those data, along with the diversity of the data consumers and tasks across our organization require that data availability and timeliness be paired with their trustworthiness. The Swiss Armed Forces are undergoing a digital transformation and the challenges that come with the responsible integration of AI. This talk will touch upon these points and how data architecture is central to this discussion.
Hông-Ân Sandlin
Discussion: Research and Development
In this discussion, our hosts will take you through the exciting world of Research and Development. From breakthroughs in science to technological innovations, this is your chance to learn more about how research shapes industries and society. You are encouraged to ask questions on the R&D process and its challenges.
Baptiste Nicolet - Merlin Nimier-David
Talk: Beyond the Hype: Why "unsexy" problems and "API wrappers" make the best NLP startups
In university, NLP is taught through the lens of research, training models and chasing benchmarks. But what happens when you leave the lab to build a profitable business?
Drawing from my experience as a startup founder and current Software Engineer at Google, this talk bridges the gap between academic theory and startup reality. We'll explore why the most successful applied AI companies aren't trying to build AGI. Instead, they are doing two things: embracing the "thin wrapper" model to create superior user workflows, and applying NLP APIs to "unsexy," but highly profitable B2B problems.
Join us to learn why the foundation model is just a commodity engine, and how to build a real, defensible startup moat through UI/UX, data pipelines, and solving actual enterprise pain points.
George Fotiadis
Discussion: PHDs
Are you considering just maybe possibly taking on a PhD after your MSc? Then this discussion is for you. EPIC, the EPFL IC PhD association, will first present basic information about the why's and how's of a PhD, at EPFL or beyond. Then, you will have the opportunity to discuss with current PhD students to ask your questions, and get their first-hand impressions about what a PhD is like.
Alexandros Poupakis - Salim Najib - Federico Stella - Ayan Chakraborty - Laurane Marco
Closing aperitif
The event will end with an aperitif, a second opportunity to interact with the alumni, professor and other students.