Écublens (French pronunciation: [ekyblɑ̃]) is a municipality in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, located in the district of Ouest Lausannois.

A motte (a raised earthen, fortified hill) of an unknown age is found at a place in the municipality which is known as Chateau-de-la-Motte.

A connection between the motte and nearby Roman era artifacts has not been established.

Under Bernese rule it was part of the bailiwick of Lausanne and was administered by that court.

On 12 May 1800, Napoleon inspected two divisions of his troops in Écublens on his way to the Great St Bernard Pass during his Italian campaign of 1800.

During World War II a small aerodrome was operated in Écublens.

This development would permit the disposal of the nearby Blécherett Aerodrome as that location was deemed to be unfeasible for expansion.

There was an effort in the 1950s to revive the plan and build an 1100 m runway along with facilities for regional and air taxi operations as the Lausanne-Ecublens Regional Airport (French: Aéroport régional Lausanne-Ecublens).

A two-stage proposal foresaw paving at least one of the smaller grass surface runways as well to support recreational and executive use, but ultimately this plan as well was shelved.

[5] Strong growth in the agricultural industry in the 1960s fueled to a population explosion mostly through immigration.

[3] Écublens has an area, as of 2009[update], of 5.7 square kilometers (2.2 sq mi).

[7] The municipality includes the village of Le Motty, which is the administrative and religious center of the municipality, the rural village of Renges, and the hamlets of Bassenges, Villars, Epenex and Dorigny.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per pale Azure and Gules, a bend Or overall.

[11] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks French (7,825 or 76.5%), with Italian being second most common (667 or 6.5%) and German being third (467 or 4.6%).

[10] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Écublens is; 1,168 children or 10.7% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 1,235 teenagers or 11.3% are between 10 and 19.

[11] The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][15] The Archives of Modern Construction at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), the Cantonal and University Library of Lausanne and University of Lausanne manuscripts department and the Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.

[11] There were 5,381 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.8% of the workforce.

The number of jobs in the primary sector was 14, of which 13 were in agriculture and 1 was in forestry or lumber production.

In the tertiary sector; 984 or 12.7% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 173 or 2.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 248 or 3.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 180 or 2.3% were in the information industry, 226 or 2.9% were the insurance or financial industry, 944 or 12.2% were technical professionals or scientists, 4,100 or 53.1% were in education and 391 or 5.1% were in health care.

[11] The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and its Swiss Tech Convention Center are located in Écublens.

From the 2000 census[update], 4,308 or 42.1% were Roman Catholic, while 2,946 or 28.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

In the Vaud cantonal school system, two years of non-obligatory pre-school are provided by the political districts.

The canton's primary school program requires students to attend for four years.

During his exile in Switzerland, Lenin stayed briefly in Écublens several times.