The story of Elda Sala, a working student awarded a scholarship

Elda Sala, a student at the Politecnico di Milano, is the winner of the second edition of the scholarship worth Euro 5000 dedicated to the memory of Mario Buzzella. 

"My study programme is the Master's in Materials Engineering and Nanotechnology - Sala tells us -.  I did my thesis at the CNST (Centre for Nano Science and Technology, belonging to the Italian Institute of Technology) and I dealt with organic semiconductors. The scholarship was assigned to me based on a ranking drawn up taking into account some factors: average grades, number of credits obtained compared to the time elapsed since enrolment and economic situation, all with the obligation to be in a LM programme." 

The award ceremony was held in the last days of June in the meeting room of Coim, the chemical multinational of which Buzzella was the founder, in the presence of his family and the leaders of the Rotary Club of Crema. 

Beatrice Buzzella, Mario's daughter, explains what prompted the family and the company to set up the scholarship for students of the master's degree programme in Materials and Nanotechnology Engineering of the Politecnico di Milano: 

"It has enormous significance for our family because it rewards a path crowned with success, the result of skill, commitment and sacrifice, in the field of research and development". 

This scholarship is in fact one of the many examples of iniziative di supporto agli studenti che il nostro Ateneo mette a disposizione grazie al prezioso contributo di donatori privati – tra i quali moltissimi Alumni – e aziende. 

THE POLITECNICO AND THE FUTURE 

Returning to Elda, when we ask her about the Politecnico she has no doubts about the most important lessons she has learned during the years of study: 

“Perseverance and adaptability, but I also learned the importance of organizing my time efficiently. I have always been a working student and it was not automatic to learn to manage many parallel commitments; the Bachelor’s was a training ground, in this sense. With a little determination, the difficulties are overcome and transformed into educational experiences." 

And what does the future hold? 

"In my plans there is a PhD project at the same facility where I did the thesis work, so for now I plan to stay in academic research. After that I would like to go to work in the Research and Development sector, possibly still in the field of semiconductors and electronics. In general, I like being in the laboratory and I would like to continue.".