Author: Alumni Polimi

Milan, three million plants to embrace the city

Posted on | by Alumni Polimi

Forestami is an open project that has the objective of involving as many people and istitution as possible, to make Milano greener, healthier and even more attractive.

The project, despite being delayed by the Pandemic, will be up and running by 2030 and will reduce by 4/5 the emitted Co2, will clean up the air of Milan (absorbing tons of particulate matter) and will cool down the summer temperature of the city of 2-3 degrees.

In July 2021, Forestami has reached the first milestone, having planted 300.000 trees in all of the city of Milan

“Milan has anticipated a national project of urban forestation: woods around cities and clusters of trees within it keep and favour biodiversity, reduce global warming, absorbe particulate matter and reduce Co2.” Said Stefano Boeri, Architect and Alumnus of the Politecnico di Milan, President of the scientific committee of the project ‘Forestami’.

Source https://www.magzine.it/

“Forestami” has anticipated the path that the Government will extend to all the country with the “Climate-Law” says the Minister for Environment Costa in an interview on ‘La Stampa’. The decade between 2020 and 2030 will be crucial to protect the environment: within 2050 there has to be a plan to de-carbonize Italy. We have defined the minimum standards for future cities and we think that Milan is a successful prototype. In order to realise it” he added “i twill be possible for the project to access financing from the Green Deal and the Recovery Plan.”

The project involves not only the city but thw whole metropolitan area: 133 municipalities have agreed to participate (for a total of 3.2 million citizens), as well as cultural and business institutions, such as Fondazione Falk, Parchi Nord e Sud, Fondazione Comunità Milano and the Universities of the City (Studi, Bicocca and Politecnico).

“In this few first months” says Stefano Boeri “we have found 253 new areas for urban forestation (713 acres) of which 167 areas (344 acres)were already made available by the first list of municipalities, regional parks (Agricolo Sud Milano, Parco Nord Milano and Parco Lombardo della Valle Ticino) as well as the parks of the city Agricolo Nord Est and Delle Cave.”

The Mayor of Milan, Sala added “The plan of planting 3 million plants by 2030 in the whole metropolitan area is not an “exercise in style” but a concrete intention of challenging climate change”.

ALUMNAE – Engineers and Technologies

Posted on | by Alumni Polimi

The Alumne of the Politecnico di Milano share their stories in a conversation with future students to encourage them to take on the wonderful experience of the Politecnico di Milano

67 women graduates from 1990 to 2004, 67 ways to be an engineer, with in common the passion and the capabilites for the job. The Alumni community is made of 200.000 professionals (architects, designers and engineers) of all ages and all over the world.

The book "Alumnae" is based on a section of the family of the Politecnico, a way to get to know a part of the whole picture.

Alumni Politecnico di Milano, through the community and various activities and events, offers endless opportunities for contact, professional relationships and feedback between the former students of the University. If you like our activities, you can donate to support them .

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An agreement signed between Baker Huges and Politecnico di Milano for Research and Development

Posted on | by Alumni Polimi

From Additive Manifacturing to advanced Areodynamics, from Digital Twins to Knowledge Management, from Prognostics to Data Science, the agreement forsees a comprehensive cooperation as well as the creation of some executive PHDs.

Baker Hughes, a world-renowed technology company offering energy services in 120 countries and the Politecnico di Milano have signed a 3-year collaboration deal to establish new research contracts. The deal is the coronation of a cooperation that has been going for year between the two institution, which has helped to create many important projects such as the development of the FRAPP probes (fast response aerodynamic pressure probes), the creation of instruments for robodynamic modeling as well as areomechanical modelling and the experimental testing of components for gas and steam turbines.

The new agreement is part of the strategic plan to foster the collaboration with companies to make the Politecnico di Milano the focal point for the newest and most promising research topics, with a special interest in themes revolving around the 'Green Deal' and the transition towards renewable energies. "To strenghten the relationship with companies means to strenghten a virtuos circle to propel research, better our classes and to make our University even more competitive. Baker Huges is the kind of company that is able to benefit from this teamwork and who looks at it as an investment for its development, as well as it is for our University" says Ferruccio Resta, Rector of the Politecnico.

To know more about the agreement: https://www.polimi.it/dettaglio-apertura/article/10/accordo-con-baker-hughes-9018/

This week's number of D - La Repubblica talks about us...

Posted on | by Alumni Polimi

The female engineer students at the Politecnico di Milano are 24% in the undergraduate courses, and 27% in graduate courses, while in PHD courses they are around 28%. We have photographed their presence in the BGender Balance Report; The University is doing a lot of effort in keeping the path towards the gender parity. And is working: in the past 5 years the number of female students in the undergraduate courses has increased by 8%.

A lot still has to be done. D – la Repubblica has dedicated a special number this week to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects. The number is available at this link for the whole community of the Politecnico).

In un interessante viaggio tra i laboratori, le aule e i campus del Politecnico di Milano (la prima università tecnologica in Italia, secondo il Censis), la redazione di D – la Repubblica ha incontrato e intervistato tante docenti, ricercatrici e studentesse del Politecnico di Milano guidate da 4 capofila d’eccezione come Bianca Maria Colosimo, Mariapia Pedeferri, Michèle Lavagna e Donatella Sciuto, che commenta: «Servono modelli in grado di esemplificare i possibili percorsi e carriere».

To this purpose we highlight the book “Alumnae: engineers and technology”, 67 stories from the Politecnico to understand what is like to be a woman engineer.

Credits: ©hanninen

Credits home/header: ©hanninen

Fast Covid-19 Diagnosis

Posted on | by Alumni Polimi

An algorithm will give an indicator of the probability of being infected with the Coronavirus using the physiological data collected by a wearable device. "A race against time and a committment to society, says the Founder of Empatica, Matteo Lai, Alumnus of Architecture.

Founded in 2011 by three Alumni of the Politecnico di Milano Matteo Lai, Maurizio Garbarino and Simone Tognetti, and incubated in Polihub, Empatica is a high-tech company developing wearable device with the original mission of monitoring epyleptic crises in order to provide assistance. Since then the company, situated in the US has grown and in 2018 the smartwatch Embrace has been the first to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the insitution in the US responsible for medical and food-related products.

The smartwatches of Empatica are used in a medical and neurological context with the object of monitoring physiological signals in pathological or stress-related situation, thanks to the integration of design and artificial intelligence. Since a few years the team of Empatica studies, among other things a method to early diagnose deases of the breathing apparatus. Since the Covid emergency the researchers have developed an algorithm that is able to collect the data through a device (the sensors monitor the heart beat, the temperature, the breathing pattern and the electrodermal activity and to identify the risk of being infected before developing symptoms.

The method has been chosen by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) and will be used to find clusters of the deasease. The CEO of Empatica, Matteo Lai, said: “Is a priviledge to fight the desease with the american army. The department has the best track record in the world in promoting technology. It is a race against time as it is a responsibility to our health and our economy."

Source: www.economyup.it

See the video of Matteo Lai speaking at the Convention 2019

We spoke about Empatica in the 4th number of the Magazine Alumni Politecnico di Milano

Credits header/home: https://www.winkco.news/sante/mesure/embrace-objet-connecte-epilepsie/

Second wave: the number of hospitalized people has surpassed the one of the first wave

Posted on | by Alumni Polimi

"These days are key to slow down the pandemic trajectory in Italy" says Professor Davide Manca of the Politecnico di Milano to RaiNews. But there are some good news..

The models forsee a slowdown in the next few days (while we are writing is the 26th of november). The region is slightly preceding the rest of the country, deaths are increasing at the maximum speed.

"We are reaching the most dramatic increase period, afterwards the daily increase is going to slow down. Professor Davide Manca of the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering "Giulio Natta" of the Politecnico di Milano has been publishing since February a daily report on the data on the hospitalised, ICUs and deaths due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Watch the interview on RaiNews

Read more about it in the december edition of the MAP

Credits home: RaiNews

Virkil, the antiviral textile created by an Alumnus of the Politecnico di Milano

Posted on | by Alumni Polimi

Innovazione at Italtex S.p.A., a textile “politecnica” company near Como with a 70-year history, that has launched Virkill, a textile that has the power to eliminate the Covid-19 virus.

To give the announcement the official press release of the company, founded in 1946 by Sandro Pedretti and now in the hands of the son Alessandro (graduated in Management Engingeerign at the Politecnico di Milano) which has collaborated with Ambrofibre for the materials research.

Credits: https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/nel-boom-tessuti-antivirus-innovazione-e-made-italy-ADHEIf1

Alessandro Pedretti, interviewed by FashionNetwork: “We have decided to do our part in the fight against the pandemic. Copper is a natural material very efficient against viruses and bacteria. We are the first at the national and European level to incorporate it in textiles. The applications of this product are numerous and not only in the fashion world, but also in the medical and health sector where fabric is usually a veichle of transmission of the virus.

How does it work?

Meshed with copper nanoparticles the fabric realized by Italtex S.p.a. together with Ambrofibre is able to eliminate Covid-19. The antiviral properties of Virkill is long lasting as it is not a superficial integration of the material, that could be removed through washing, but instead thorugh nanoparticles the anti-bacteria activity is long lasting and more stable.

The textile has been certified specifically against Covid-19 with great results: the test has find a Mv index (anti-viral activity) equivalent to 3.25, that is corresponding to a 99,9% de-activation of the virus since the first check.

“Tests are not yet completed” continues Pedretti “we are verifying the anti-bacterial activity, anti-fungi activity and other parameters and we are studying on how to color the fabric without touching the properties of the textile”.

It is important to note that making everyday objects or textiles with copper does not make it impossible for the spread of the infection but they can be of great assistance in hospital contexts and in very crowded spaces.

Copper's power

As explained on the official Virkill website, ancient greeks were the first to find out about the hygenic properties of copper thousands of years ago. Since then copper has been used as a biocide by Celtics, Hindus, American colonizers and people of Japan, as well as inhabitants of Africa and Asia to treat skin deseases.

Soluble copper composts have many uses, such as biocides in paints, in the nautical sector to reduce friction by avoiding accumulations of bernacles and a microbiotic biofilm, in water pumping to avoid the production of the legionella bacteria and in the agricultural sector to avoid the formation of algae, fungi.

Copper has proven to be successful in inactivating a vast number of virus such as the virus of bronchitis, poliovirus, Herples simplex and HIV-1.

The international Community of Alumni

Posted on | by Alumni Polimi

The community Alumni of the Politecnico di Milano is an extraordinary set of people coming from all over the world. As our university is becoming more international with each passing year, we were particularly interested in getting to know better our International Alumni.

We went through our archives and found many interesting facts: did you know that from 1947 to 2019 there were 12.668 international graduates from 142 different nationalities?

Interested in knowing more? Explore the key findings of our research and read all about it in our International Alumni Brochure.

The 2020-2022 Strategic Plan - Politecnico di Milano

Posted on | by Alumni Polimi

The Rector of the Politecnico di Milano, Ferruccio Resta, presented the Strategic Plan for the next three years during an event at the headquarters of Il Sole 24 Ore. This is more than an internal administrative fulfillment but a public fulfillment that the University takes on for Italy.

The Piano Strategico 2020-2022 si fonda su due principali pilastri: la tecnologia e l’Europa.

LEGGI IL DOCUMENTO STRATEGICO (ITALIANO)

LEGGI IL DOCUMENTO STRATEGICO (INGLESE)

“The first Italian technical university and one of the symbols of Milan, by defining its strategic plan for the next three-year period, the Politecnico has clearly outlined its mission. That of a leading university in Europe, able to face the challenges of innovation to deal with the great themes of tomorrow’s society”. The lack of environmental intervention and the consequences of the pandemic are underlined in the document and mean that today we have to urgently deal with the big question of sustainability and the sciences of life. “More than in the past, in this context, technology is an indispensable tool needed to relaunch and channel geographically and socially balanced economic development”.

WATCH THE VIDEO ON IL SOLE 24 ORE WEBSITE

Politecnico and Europe: “the only possible route: by encouraging a continuous and useful exchange of people and knowledge we will be able to reinforce shared values and a sense of belonging. This is the only way we can take on the necessary dimension to face great social challenges, which cross national borders.

Milan must be a vital node in the European network. If Milan focuses attention on themes such as health, the environment, mobility and solidarity for weaker citizens, it could become a pole of attraction for social, technological and economic development on a global level”.

Read the article in Sole 24

Unconventional Digital Talks – an interview with Eugenio Spagnolini (Digital – Disney)

Posted on | by Alumni Polimi

“Unconventional Digital Talks” is a series of interviews with our Alumni with an "unconventional" role with respect to their academic degree.

Live on our social channels, we show to the community the possible evolution of professional paths interconnecting different sectors.

In our first meeting of this series of Talks the Alumnus Lorenzo Petrangeli interviews the Alumnus Eugenio Spagnolini, graduated in Chemical Engineer and e Digital Senior Manager at Walt Disney.

NTT Data and Politecnico

Posted on | by Alumni Polimi

NTT DATA and Politecnico di Milano and POLI.design Milan have signed a collaboration agreement for research and training projects dealing with SmartMobility, Cybersecurity, Blockchain, Internet of Humans, DataAnalytics, Diversity and Inclusion, UniversalDesign, Design for Social Benefit, Product and Service Design with the aim of launching cultural transformation enabled by the synergetic use of more advanced technological and design tools to place man and his equality values at the center.

Members of the round table include Walter Ruffinoni – CEO of NTT DATA Italy and EMEA, Ferruccio Resta – Rector of Politecnico di Milano and Matteo Ingaramo – CEO of POLI.design.
Other committee members include Francesco Zurlo, Assistant Director – POLI.design, Mara Tanelli, Full Professor at the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering – Politecnico di Milano and Pietro Scarpino – Head of IoT, VR & AI.NTT DATA, Politecnico di Milano and POLI.design.

The collaboration specifically provides for the funding of research activities and projects that deal with various areas of primary importance to plan and create “transparent” technological solutions that have an impact on individual daily life: Smart Mobility, Cybersecurity, Blockchain, Internet of Humans, Data Analytics, Diversity and Inclusion, Universal Design, Design for Social Benefit, Product and Service Design.

The activities will mainly see the involvement of the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, the Department of Design, the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, but they could subsequently be extended to involve the entire university.

There will also be an internal training program, managed by the Department of Design, for NTT DATA employees and stakeholders, regarding the themes of Human Centered Design, Service Design and Design Management, to improve the design of the services offered by the company. This program has been made possible thanks to the expertise of POLI.design, a design hub of world excellence, active in the world of professional training for over twenty years.

The agreement will also allow NTT DATA to contribute towards the training of a select group of students from Politecnico di Milano about specific subjects.

The company also undertakes to financially support the development of the university’s human resources, both in terms of faculty (financing an upgrade to full professor in Automatics), as well as in terms of Doctoral School (setting up a scholarship for the design doctorate).

Finally, the partnership also includes a recruitment and employer branding plan with dedicated activities carried out in collaboration with the Politecnico di Milano Career Service.

Credits home: martignani.com