In this first "sneak peek" of the Best moments of 2021, we want to remember the victories that made us cheer with #orgoglioPolitecnico.
"What a year for our ALUMNI!" - comments the President Enrico Zio - "A year that I can dare to say "normal", given the exceptional nature of our community of Alumni. The committment, professionalism, ethics and dedication of the Architects, Designers and Engineers of Politecnico di Milano, combined with the quality of their skills, "naturally" lead to these great results. So, let's continue to surprise the world with our "normal" work: I am the President of this community, and I am proud of it.
As of right now, the year is not over yet and the list could get longer. Surely, then, we will have lost someone along the way: in that case, let us know and we will correct it. What is certain is that these postcards from the podiums of the world, signed by Alumni and students of the Polytechnic, are a testimony of the strength of this community in the most varied fields.
A fantastic year for Italian sport, and also for Polimi sport, which contributed 7 Olympic medals to the many victories achieved.
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Manfredi Rizzaa Materials Engineering and Nanotechnology alumnus, brought home a silver in the K1 200 metres at the Tokyo Olympics
Alberto Amodeoan Automation Engineering student, silver medal in the 400m freestyle at the Paralympics
Simone Barlaama Mechanical Engineering student, gold in the 50m freestyle, silver in the 4×100 freestyle relay, silver in the 100m butterfly and bronze in the 4×100 mixed relay at the Paralympics
Giulia Ghirettia Biomedical Engineering student, silver in the 100m breaststroke at the Paralympics
The men’s track pursuit team won the gold medal and set a new world record (3:42:032) in a race that was tight to the very last second. This achievement was also thanks in part to Politecnico di Milano and the Wind Tunnel.
“To prepare for the Tokyo Olympics, the men and women's track pursuit quartets came to the Wind Tunnel to optimise their performance from an aerodynamic point of view, checking materials and position on the saddle,” commented Prof. Marco Belloli, Wind Tunnel scientific director.
Luna Rossa dominated the Prada’s Cup, beating the British crew 7-1 and earning a place in the America’s Cup for the first time in 21 years. The Italian team included four Politecnico di Milano alumni:
Alessandro Franceschetti, Head of Structural Engineering, Alumnus Polimi Ingegneria dei Materiali
Fabrizio Marabini, Performance, Alumnus Polimi Ingegneria Aeronautica
Stefano Baruffaldi, Drone – Electronics, Alumnus Polimi Disegno Industriale
Andrea Romani, Base Operations Manager, Alumnus Polimi Architettura
Unlucky in the final, the Italian team paid tribute to their opponents: “We showed the whole world that we can do it,” commented helmsman Francesco Bruni. “This is not the end of Luna Rossa’s story in the America’s Cup, we'll try again with more experience”.
Great result for the boys and girls on the Polimi Motorcycle Factory team in the 6th Moto Student competition: after three years of hard work with Nyx, the #electric prototype, they won first place as Best Industrial Project, first place in the acceleration test and the highest speed in the championship, reaching 200.0 km/h.
Ilaria Burattina Product Design alumna, and her teammates won the title and set a new Italian club record in the 4×400 relay, with a time of 3'31"16.
Following last year’s victory, the Polimi team also won the second edition of the “Leonardo Drone Contest. An Open Innovation Challenge”, a competition that is one of a kind in Italy, launched by Leonardo to promote the development of Artificial Intelligence applied to unmanned systems.
Indy Autonomous Challenge: oro mancato d’un soffio per il team Polimove, che conquista il terzo posto e il record di velocità: “252 km/h, col motore che andava a 6000 giri: abbiamo fatto il record e ci siamo schiantati 10 secondi dopo”, commenta il prof. Savaresi, capogruppo del progetto. Sulla pista di Indianapolis si sono sfidati 28 team di oltre 500 studenti universitari appartenenti a 39 atenei di 11 Paesi.
Football americano, un altro bellissimo risultato per l’Italia: Alessandro Vergani and Tommaso Finadri; Alumni Ingegneria Aerospaziale, insieme a Riccardo De Mas; Alumnus Ingegneria dei Materiali e delle Nanotecnologie, si sono laureati campioni agli europei battendo in casa la Svezia 41 a 14.
