Sunday: Welcome Reception in the main building of the University of St.Gallen

With the welcome aperitif, the WI 2017 at the University of St.Gallen will officially start at 5:30 p.m., Sunday, 12th of February. At the meet and greet, you can obtain an impression of the conference environment and eat your first bratwurst from St.Gallen. At the same time, the opportunity to check in at the conference will be provided as of 4:30 p.m.

Monday: Pub Crawl for Doctoral Candidates and Students

On Monday evening, February 13, 2017, we will organize a pub crawl for the students and doctoral candidates starting at 7 p.m. and show what the bar scene of St.Gallen offers. Therefore, we will head for three to four different bars where we can chat over a drink. When the mood reaches its peak, we will meet at a popular club to close the evening, which opens particularly for the WI 2017 and where the can end the night on the dance floor.

Monday: Academic Networking Dinner

On Monday evening, 13.02.2017, we organize an Academic Networking Dinner starting at 7 pm. In the context of a casual dinner, the opportunity is given to discuss the topics of the conference and to make new acquaintances. The St. Galler Pfalzkeller, originally a basement vault of the St.Gallen monastery, is available as an event location. It was extensively renovated in 1998. Together with the newly constructed entrance of Santiago Calatrava, the cellar now serves as a popular venue for meetings, cultural events and banquets.

Monday: Pub Crawl for Doctoral Candidates and Students

On Tuesday evening, February 14, 2017, the conference dinner of the WI 2017 takes place in Lokremise at 7 p.m. This urban building, which was built from 1903 to 1911 during textile’s golden age, is the largest still preserved “Lokomotiv-Ringdepot” of Switzerland and hence a historic building of national importance. During its renovation in 2009/10, special attention was paid to maintaining the original structure. Hence, a building keeping its industrial history and able to be used for modern cultural events emerged.

Hilti onsite event “Hilti connected”

Hilti invites you for the onsite event “Hilti connected” at Hilti headquarters in Schaan. Join us for an interesting afternoon journey and get some insights about Hilti Global IT. We organize the following program for you (on Tuesday, 14th of February 2017):

01:30 pm	Departure HSG St. Gallen to Hilti AG Schaan
01:30 pm	Arrival at Hilti AG – Welcome & Get to know Hilti
03:00 pm	Hilti IT introduction with Q&A session
04:00 pm	Visit Innovation Center
04:30 pm	Aperitif
05:00 pm	Presentation University of Liechtenstein with Prof. Jan vom Brocke
05:30 pm	Closing & departure from Schaan to HSG St. Gallen
06:30 pm	Arrival HSG St. Gallen

You can register online. The registration is open from now on until January 31th, 2017.

EMPA – The Place where Innovation Starts

Today, Empa (founded as “Eidgenössische Materialprüfungsanstalt2 in 1880)is the interdisciplinary research institute of the ETH department Materials Science and Technology. About 1,000 people are employed at three different sites – of which more than 500 are engineers and researchers, 29 professors, about 100 postdocs, and 200 doctoral candidates. They develop innovative materials and technologies for a sustainable future. As bridge between research and practice, they develop solutions for priority challenges of industry and society in the fields of nanostructured, «smart» materials and surfaces, environmental, energy, and sustainable building technology, as well as biological and medical technologies.

In 2015, about 110 projects funded by the “Schweizer Nationalfonds (SND)“ (Swiss national fund) and about 60 EU projects were in progress at Empa. Twenty-one spinoffs together with other startups of the two business incubators of Empa employ more than 360 employees and counting.

About 200 employees work at the location
St.Gallen – in the west of the city. They conduct research, among others, in the fields of clothing physiology, personal protection systems, functional fibers and textiles, biological and medical technologies, as well as life-cycle analysis and risk assessments for new materials. In the immediate vicinity of Empa, the innovation center of the foundationStartfeldwas opened in 2016, which supports innovative business startups.

At our field trip, you will get to know Empa and gain insights into specific projects from the fields of nanotechnology, X-ray analytics, and innovative textiles. Thereby, you will be provided with the opportunity to obtain first-hand information from the responsible researchers. If possible, you can also obtain insights into the innovation center Startfeld.

Dates:	Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Departure:	3:00 p.m. at the University of St.Gallen
Return:	ca. 6:00 p.m. at the University of St.Gallen
Costs:	none

City Tour of St.Gallen

Get to know the old town of St.Gallen with its abbey district (UNESCO World Heritage Site), abbey church, and the famous abbey library with a guided classical tour of the city.

“City Tour

Dates:	Monday, February 13, 2017, 3.00 p.m.
Venue:	15:15 - University of St.Gallen; 15:30 Tourist Information St.Gallen
Duration:	ca. 2 h
Costs:	CHF 19.00/person (including access to library)

Information regarding registration will follow, payment to be made on site.

Art Tour at the University of St.Gallen

The University of St.Gallen is not only an educational institution but also a much-noticed place of art. With a guided tour of the building and campus, you can experience some of the more than 40 pieces of art by Arp, Giacometti, Miró, Richter, Burckhardt, or Tàpies, which almost all were created by their artists particularly for their respective places. Extensive explanations can be found here.

Dates:	Monday, February 13, 2017, 5 p.m. and Tuesday, February 14, 2017, 5 p.m.
Venue:	In front of the main building of the university
Duration:	ca. 1 h
Costs:	none