The attoseconds one is among the most relevant scientific stories of the last 100 years - one of those stories where something seems impossible... until it is done. It is also one of those stories that perfectly tell how a scientific discovery is the result of collective efforts by a community of scientists working together, for decades, even at a distance (and they did it even when it was not mainstream).
And it is a story that culminates (but does not end) in 2023 with the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Physics to three scientists: Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L'Huillier, 'for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter'. Following this assignment, other scientists have emerged who have strongly contributed to the recent discoveries - and in particular one that concerns us very closely.
At the Department of Physics of Politecnico di Milano, Mauro Nisoli is Professor of Physics of Matter and Director of the Attosecond Research Centre laboratory. He is a pioneer of attosecond physics and the work of his research group is behind the experiments that led to the generation and characterisation of 'extremely short' light pulses, lasting a billionth of a billionth of a second, used to study the motion of electrons within atoms and molecules.
We asked him to tell us this story: here is how it went.
A GROUP OF PHYSICISTS WANT TO 'SEE' HOW ELECTRONS MOVE WITHIN MATTER AFTER INTERACTION WITH LIGHT
The story of this Nobel Prize - and of attoseconds - begins in the 1980s, when some scientists set out to look at what happens inside molecules - and atoms - when hit by a short, high-energy light pulse. But there’s a problem: electrons move faster than our instruments can pick up at the time. While the motion of atoms takes place on the femtosecond time scale (one femtosecond is equal to one millionth of a billionth of a second, namely 10-15 seconds), electrons move much faster, on the attosecond time scale, namely 10-18 seconds. Therefore, if we want to be able to follow (and measure) the motion of electrons, we must use laser pulses with durations of less than a femtosecond.
💡WHAT IS AN ATTOSECOND?💡
It is a unit of time and represents the time scale suitable for tracking the motion of electrons in atoms and molecules. One attosecond is equal to one millionth of a millionth of a millionth of a second. No comparisons exist that allow us to understand how small this unit of time is: we sometimes read that the number of attoseconds in a second is comparable to the number of seconds that have elapsed from the beginning of the Universe, 13.8 billion years ago, to today.
The point is... you cannot produce light pulses lasting shorter than one optical cycle, which is determined by the wavelength of light. Typically, a femtosecond laser produces pulses in the visible or near-infrared region. In order to generate attosecond pulses, the wavelength of light must first be shortened. In the 1980s this seemed an impossible feat. But still...
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Politecnico is at the top of the world rankings of universities also thanks to the frontier scientific research it carries out in its laboratories. The protagonists of this Italian record are the approximately 3,500 scientists and researchers of Politecnico. Among the hottest topics are obviously those related to the systemic transformation towards climate neutrality; and then, the world of digital, space exploration, life sciences, the movements embraced by the New European Bauhaus, the new frontiers in the study of matter... In particular, young researchers inject new life into the research system and grow innovative scientific strands. Politecnico invests in activities aimed precisely at encouraging young scientists of excellence to join in. Among many, this year we welcome twelve new young researchers who are among the best of their generation. They are here at Politecnico di Milano thanks to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) fellowship programme. Let us introduce them... in alphabetical order.
ANDREA LILIANA PACHECO TOBO aims to pioneer the development of photonics-based spectroscopy and thermometry methods for clinical solutions, to distinguish tissue undergoing coagulative necrosis and/or hyperthermia from normal healthy tissue during tumour removal by thermal ablation. To achieve this goal, she tells us, " 1(1) I will study endogenous concentrations of optical biomarkers useful for differentiating ablation margins; (2) I will develop a tissue phantom to recreate the thermal gradients and optical properties of the main tissue ablation zones; (3) I will conduct observational studies to collect data in-situ from animals undergoing cancer treatment with laser ablation; and (4) I will develop data acquisition and processing algorithms for detecting the ablation margin based on the results of spectrometric and thermometric measurements acquired with both phantoms and animal studies”. The technology to be developed can minimise the destruction of healthy tissue surrounding the lesions while obtaining a complete section of the tumour.
Politecnico is at the top of the world rankings of universities also thanks to the frontier scientific research it carries out in its laboratories. The protagonists of this Italian record are the approximately 3,500 scientists and researchers of Politecnico. Among the hottest topics are obviously those related to the systemic transformation towards climate neutrality; and then, the world of digital, space exploration, life sciences, the movements embraced by the New European Bauhaus, the new frontiers in the study of matter... In particular, young researchers inject new life into the research system and grow innovative scientific strands. Politecnico invests in activities aimed precisely at encouraging young scientists of excellence to join in. Among many, this year we welcome twelve new young researchers who are among the best of their generation. They are here at Politecnico di Milano thanks to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) fellowship programme. Let us introduce them... in alphabetical order.
FEDERICA SEBASTIANI studies the relation between the structure and function of biocolloids and biomimetic systems. In recent years, she has been working on drug delivery, a process that enables medicines to reach areas of the body affected by a disease. "The formulation of nanocarriers (i.e., nanometric particles that carry drugs) has attracted increasing attention in recent decades. In particular, the possibility of combining therapeutic and imaging capabilities in a single nanoplatform (theranostics) has been widely explored to advance therapeutic approaches and promote the transition from conventional medicine to personalised medicine”. Sebastiani will study lipid nanocarriers for gene delivery. drug delivery, il processo che consente alle medicine di raggiungere zone del corpo colpite da patologie. “La formulazione di nanocarrier (cioè particelle nanometriche che trasportano i farmaci) ha attirato una crescente attenzione negli ultimi decenni. In particolare, la possibilità di combinare funzionalità terapeutiche e di imaging in un’unica nanopiattaforma (teranostica) è stata ampiamente esplorata per far progredire gli approcci terapeutici e promuovere la transizione dalla medicina convenzionale alla medicina personalizzata”. Sebastiani studierà nanocarrier lipidici per la consegna genica.
Politecnico di Milano was established on 29 November 1863 and this year celebrates its 160th anniversary, a milestone that marks a path of innovation, education and research in which the University has made significant contributions to the technological, social and economic development of Italy.
Today, on the occasion of this anniversary, Politecnico continues to look forward, establishing itself as a reference point for innovation, and in this historical moment, innovation means Artificial Intelligence.
160 years of history have taught us that true innovation is based on an awareness of the past and a vision of the future.o
Rector of Politecnico di Milano Donatella Sciuto says.
Today, more than ever, we are called upon to design the future, to lead the change and to respond to the global challenges ahead. Politecnico di Milano has been involved in the study of AI for over 50 years. Our University has established itself as a major centre for Artificial Intelligence, with a transversal and pervasive approach within all areas of research and innovation. Artificial Intelligence represents a paradigm shift, and as a University we have a responsibility to educate new generations in the conscious use of knowledge.
In addition to Rector Donatella Sciuto, the opening ceremony of the 161st Academic Year was also attended by Veronica Marrocu, President of the Student Board at Politecnico di Milano; Mariarosaria Taddeo, Professor in Digital Ethics and Defence Technologies at Oxford University; Roberto Viola, Director General for Digital Policies at the European Commission; Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan; Attilio Fontana, President of the Lombardy Region; Iliana Ivanova, Commissioner for Innovation Research Culture Education and Youth at the European Commission.
We often read stories of brain drain, brilliant minds leaving their countries to seek their fortune abroad. The story of Arsène Héma, co-founder of the digital fabrication laboratory InViis Lab, is that of a man who left his country without ever really leaving it, as his idea was of studying abroad to then go back to Africa to put into practice the knowledge acquired. After specialising with a master's degree in telecommunications at Politecnico in 2009 and going back to Burkina Faso in 2010, Héma admits that his initial idea “was to work as a teacher, not to become an entrepreneur”. When he arrived at Paoli, he realised that the two things did not exclude each other, and so he decided to open the company 'InViis Lab' in Burkina Faso in collaboration with Hubert N'Do who manages the commercial aspects of the enterprise. This FabLab (a digital fabrication lab) provides students and entrepreneurs with state-of-the-art technological equipment to improve their skills and bring their innovative ideas to life, accompanying them in the development of fundable prototypes and sustainable business models.
The beginnings at Politecnico
Héma was born and raised in Côte d'Ivoire, but his parents are from Burkina Faso. After studying electronics, he became interested in research and development (in 2004 I developed a telephone for my thesis, he tells us): "A Spanish friend told me about Politecnico di Milano: I applied for a scholarship through Fondazione Rui and in September 2005 I arrived in Milan”, he explains. After overcoming the trauma of 'cold weather'(in Côte d'Ivoire temperature was 35 degrees, when I arrived in Milan it was 17! I had never felt such a cold climate, he smiles), his Italian adventure began: “I had to learn Italian from scratch, and I was enrolled in a master's programme in telecommunications: the level was high, and most of the other students had already attended Politecnico for their first-level degree”, he says. "Moreover, the scholarship did not cover everything, so I had to work and learn not to procrastinate".
The meeting with Decina and the return to Africa
A decisive meeting is the one with professor Maurizio Decina: "He made me realise that I could be a teacher and an entrepreneur, just like him”, Héma says. Thus, at the end of his studies at Politecnico, Héma went back to Africa: “My parents had decided to go back to Burkina Faso, I went the idea of just visiting them, but in the end, I never left: there I got to know an environment which, although close to Côte d'Ivoire, is very different'. Building on his experience in Milan, Héma worked in support of other entrepreneurs, then in the biomedical field as head of operations, and finally as professor of telecommunications service development technology at the University in Burkina Faso (a position he still holds).
The contact with Fondazione Aurora
As is often the case, it is a mutual friend - Cleophas Adrien Dioma - that allows Marta Sachy, director of the Aurora ETS Foundation (an organization that works to strengthen entrepreneurial initiatives in Africa), and Arsène Héma to get to know each other. "The foundation was following a water access project in the west of Burkina Faso, specifically in the village where my parents are from," Héma explains. "They were looking for someone to support them in accompanying the drilling venture that was also started thanks to the support of the Aurora Foundation, dealing in particular with relations with local authorities. And that's how I met Marta."
"Arséne's work is really important because she acts as a bridge, including a cultural one, between Aurora Foundation, the enterprise and African institutions," Sachy says.
The birth of InViis Lab
When Héma told Sachy about InViis Lab, Fondazione Aurora decided to collaborate. The Foundation has already presented InViis Lab twice in Italy, the first time at the Stock Exchange in Milan, the second time in Rome as part of the Italy-Africa Business Week. "The name InViis Lab comes from the Latin in viis - meaning in the street, around people - but also from the vernacular Latin beyond the finish line, beyond the wait”, Héma explains.
"Our goal at InViis is not to invent new things: we want to take inspiration from things that already exist and improve on them, avoiding making the same mistakes”, Héma emphasises. For the time being, the company specialises in three areas: electronics, the Internet of Things (which includes smartphones and smart home appliances) and telecommunications.
Solving real problems
"We want to develop projects that respond to the real needs of the local reality in Burkina Faso, such as agriculture and fish farming: our idea is to find technological but real solutions to make life easier for workers and help them earn more money”, Héma explains.
In addition to helping those who have an idea to develop, InViis will also offer recognised training, issuing certificates that are also valid outside Burkina Faso. “Our biggest dream is for InViis Lab to become a benchmark for research and development of innovations”, Héma says.
Who can participate and when it opens
Who can use the services of InViis Lab? “There is no minimum age or education level to propose an idea: if your idea is good, we listen to you”, Héma replies. "There will be a scientific committee that will do an initial screening, and then we will offer different levels of membership dedicated to university students, individuals or companies”.
InViis Lab targets three main customer groups:
the membership programme is designed for autonomous innovators and allows for direct use of the lab's equipment, including 3D printers, PCs, CNC milling machines and laser engravers, welding stations, oscilloscopes and multimeters, and Arduino learning kits;
students and employees of private companies and public offices will be able to receive professional training courses and workshops to develop digital and entrepreneurial skills, including through partnerships with universities and research centers;
building on their ICT and business expertise, Arsène’s team will also offer research and development, optimisation, prototyping and validation services on behalf of companies and start-ups with innovative ideas.
InViis Lab started its first projects in August 2023, most notably the programming and installation of a set of LED panels for a banking institution in Ouagadougou, thanks in part to the support of three trainees from local engineering universities. "If all goes well, we expect to move to production and commercialization of these and other projects already after a year of testing: they would solve very important problems in Burkina Faso, while also saving the government a lot of money," Héma explains.
How can we help?
Is it possible to contribute to the success of this project? "Certainly, by sharing this article and spreading the word about InViis Lab's activities with your networks of contacts you can help us establish new opportunities for international collaborations and partnerships, thus contributing to the company's growth," Héma replies. "We also invite those who would like to support InViis Lab to get in touch with us by contributing to the investments we are making to further equip the lab, especially with tools that offer more mobility to be able to test solutions in the field."
"Every day at Polimi we work to do things that have a positive impact, to improve the world we live in and the way we live. That's our true and only mission: and that's what drives us to study, teach, work, do, with great passion."
This is how Enrico Zio, president Alumni Politecnico di Milano, opens the discussion, kicking off a moment of insight and discussion between senior university officials and the Alumni community.
683 Alumni attended the live event, crowding the Politecnico di Milano lecture hall-more than 200 followed and commented on the online discussion. Making an impact, it turns out, is by no means a triviality. Especially when the rudder is pointed firmly in the direction of sustainable growth:
"it means first taking care of people and their environment."
comments Rector Donatella Sciuto, in her first year in this position on the Alumni stage. From a need for sustainability, she explains, "important challenges arise to which research must respond. Technologies in materials, architecture and design are directed at creating a sustainable environment for the future, the one we will leave to young people."
The next generations are at the center of the discourse: it is with this perspective on the future that Sciuto invites us to consider "the other side of the coin" of development, for example, the great energy impact of machine learning technologies, just to name one, and introduces at all levels of academic discourse, from research, to teaching, to the relationship with the territory, an ethical dimension that leads us to think about our impact in the world.
Politecnico is at the top of the world rankings of universities also thanks to the frontier scientific research it carries out in its laboratories. The protagonists of this Italian record are the approximately 3,500 scientists and researchers of Politecnico. Among the hottest topics are obviously those related to the systemic transformation towards climate neutrality; and then, the world of digital, space exploration, life sciences, the movements embraced by the New European Bauhaus, the new frontiers in the study of matter... In particular, young researchers inject new life into the research system and grow innovative scientific strands. Politecnico invests in activities aimed precisely at encouraging young scientists of excellence to join in. Among many, this year we welcome twelve new young researchers who are among the best of their generation. They are here at Politecnico di Milano thanks to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) fellowship programme. Let us introduce them... in alphabetical order.
CARMINE GIORDANO works on simulating the dynamics of the solar system. "Thousands of spacecraft will permeate the solar system within a few years. However, there is no autopilot in space and everything still needs to be controlled from the ground. At the same time, there is enormous interest in smaller bodies, such as asteroids or comets, both for exploration reasons (they can give us valuable information about the origin of the solar system and life on Earth) and for economic reasons (they are made of rare materials useful in terrestrial applications). My project builds on these two problems and aims to develop autonomous guidance and control algorithms for CubeSats in the vicinity of smaller bodies, using low-power, high-performance computing boards."
Politecnico is at the top of the world rankings of universities also thanks to the frontier scientific research it carries out in its laboratories. The protagonists of this Italian record are the approximately 3,500 scientists and researchers of Politecnico. Among the hottest topics are obviously those related to the systemic transformation towards climate neutrality; and then, the world of digital, space exploration, life sciences, the movements embraced by the New European Bauhaus, the new frontiers in the study of matter... In particular, young researchers inject new life into the research system and grow innovative scientific strands. Politecnico invests in activities aimed precisely at encouraging young scientists of excellence to join in. Among many, this year we welcome twelve new young researchers who are among the best of their generation. They are here at Politecnico di Milano thanks to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) fellowship programme. Let us introduce them... in alphabetical order.
Caterina Brighi
CATERINA BRIGHI tells us: "Aggressive brain tumours have an extremely poor prognosis. The relapse is caused by particular biological properties of certain brain regions, which make them resistant to current treatments. Tumour hypoxia (low oxygenation) is the main cause of resistance to radiotherapy in brain tumours and is linked to poor patient prognosis. Effectively counteracting tumour hypoxia requires the selective administration of higher doses of radiation while limiting its toxicity, which is difficult to do with conventional radiotherapy treatments. With my project, I aim to improve radiation treatment for aggressive brain tumours by combining quantitative MRI/PET imaging, to characterise regions of tumour hypoxia in a non invasive way, and carbon ion radiotherapy, to deliver higher doses of radiation to those regions while sparing surrounding healthy tissue. This strategy will provide a more effective distribution of the radiation dose, thus offering the opportunity to improve survival outcomes and quality of life for patients”.
Politecnico is at the top of the world rankings of universities also thanks to the frontier scientific research it carries out in its laboratories. The protagonists of this Italian record are the approximately 3,500 scientists and researchers of Politecnico. Among the hottest topics are obviously those related to the systemic transformation towards climate neutrality; and then, the world of digital, space exploration, life sciences, the movements embraced by the New European Bauhaus, the new frontiers in the study of matter... In particular, young researchers inject new life into the research system and grow innovative scientific strands. Politecnico invests in activities aimed precisely at encouraging young scientists of excellence to join in. Among many, this year we welcome twelve new young researchers who are among the best of their generation. They are here at Politecnico di Milano thanks to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) fellowship programme. Let us introduce them... in alphabetical order.
ALESSANDRA BONFANTI deals with the mechanics of soft materials, with a focus on biological materials, both animal and plant. Her field is Mechanobiology, which focuses on the response of biological components - from the sub-cellular to the tissue scale - to mechanical signals for the regulation of biological processes - such as development, physiology and disease. One example is epithelial tissues subjected to mechanical strain during physiological processes: alveoli swell during respiration, epithelial cells in blood vessels are subjected to strain due to blood flow, the intestines contract and relax during digestion. When these tissues break down, a pathological condition is developed. Through the combination of advanced experimental instrumentation, such as the Organ-on-Chip, and new micromechanical models, Bonfanti aims to improve understanding of how tissues function and how they can and do break down, with a foreseeable impact on personalised care and the development of new treatments.
"It is with emotion that today I speak to the students of that which many years ago was my department, where I entered with rather confused ideas". It is 14 March 1997 and we are at Politecnico di Milano, in the Theories and Techniques of Architectural Design classroom. The designer Gianfranco Ferré is speaking. "In these twenty-five years, each of my creations has at least a smidgen - and often much more than that - of what I learnt at Politecnico di Milano. In 2007, Ferré returned to Poli to speak to Fashion Design programme students: "Designing a garment always starts from a two-dimensional phase - that of the idea fixed on the sheet of paper, in the form of a drawing - but already implies a confrontation with the three-dimensionality of the human body. This is the prerequisite for a garment is that it has to fulfil its function as an object of use, i.e., as a product calibrated to the reality of living”. Among the students that day was Federica Vacca, now a professor and researcher at Poli and deputy director of the Gianfranco Ferré Research Center:“I remember those words very well”, Vacca says. “ It was his last lesson, a few days before he left us”.
The history of the Center began in 2021, following the donation to Politecnico by the Ferré family of the archive and headquarters of the Gianfranco Ferré Foundation in Via Tortona in Milan. The space was designed by architect Franco Raggi, also an Alumnus, fellow student and friend of Ferré. It contains, among other things, 22,000 original designs, 15,000 photos of fashion shows and 12,000 advertisement photos, as well as 3,500 garments and accessories. This heritage is a starting point in the hands of Poli: for example, the Department of Design, - specifically, the Density Design Lab, which deals mainly with Big Data and data visualisation, Federica Vacca explains, - is working on the reconstruction of the archive platform. The Department of Mathematics is developing mathematical models “to decode the forms of garments and the processes that, through the construction of theorems, illustrate how a basic geometry can be developed into volume”. An example of this is a haute couture piece from the autumn-winter 1987 collection dominating the scene in one of the rooms, worn by a mannequin. It was chosen as the archetype for some research in collaboration with the Department of Mechanics because, as Vacca says, “it encapsulates so many of Ferré's design principles. An architectural volume generated by geometric composition”. Together with the Department of Mechanics, virtualisation work is underway, starting with a reverse engineering process to study and rework the garment itself and arrive at the creation of its digital twin.
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