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Giorgio Locatelli wins an IPMA Global Research Award 2023
Giorgio Locatelli, professor of the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, has won an IPMA Global Research Award 2023.
The IPMA Awards recognise project managers who give their best to achieve the desired outcomes for stakeholders, organisations or society, dealing with ever-increasing complexity and volatility. The judges evaluated the applications based on the following criteria: research problem, research processes, research results, and research people.
The ten-year research work of Professor Locatelli finds a compendium in the project “The successful planning and delivery of Megaprojects: a short and long term perspective”.
Megaprojects are projects characterised by large investment commitment (often above 1 billion USD), vast complexity (especially in organisational terms), and long-lasting impact on the economy, the environment, and society.
Locatelli’s research was aimed at rigorously identifying the megaproject characteristics shaping project management success indicators (respecting time, budget, scope - phase 1) and long-term project success indicators (sustainability, value creation for stakeholders etc. - phase 2).
Phase 1 developed and applied an innovative benchmarking methodology combining qualitative and quantitative analysis to collect, select, and investigate good and bad practices and learn from a portfolio of megaprojects. The methodology has been applied to large transportation infrastructure, power plants, and nuclear reactor decommissioning.
Phase 2 leveraged a wider range of theories and approaches. For instance, a social identity perspective to investigate the impact of megaproject environmental responsibility on organisational citizenship behaviours for the environment, a micro foundation perspective to study people’s experience in megaproject; quantitative statistical methods as a structural modelling approach to study Firm and project innovation outcome measures in infrastructure megaprojects.
MSCA Master Class: Young researchers at Politecnico - 1st episode
Scientific and technological research at Politecnico di Milano has different financing sources: as a public University a lot of the financing comes from the Ministry of Education; external financing is still gaining importance in the last few years, that is support coming from institutions or companies, weighting for around 147 million euros per year (one-third of the total budget for research).
Among the institutions most involved in research funding is the European Commission. Since 2014, through the Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programs, the Politecnico has received around 262 million euros from the Commission, which were used to fund 580 research projects.
Most are collaborative projects between different research centers. A portion of the funding is instead dedicated to researchers who proved their excellence: among these, the Politecnico has welcomed 54 ERC e 46 Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship. These are grants that are granted to individual researchers for particularly promising projects, which concern frontier scientific fields or emerging technologies with great potential for innovation and collective interest.
ERCs are intended for established researchers, already at the top of their scientific fields (if you are interested in finding out more about the ERC projects that carry out frontier scientific research at the Politecnico di Milano we talked about it on MAP here). The Marie Curie grants, on the other hand, are intended for the "second generation"of researchers and are designed to encourage young researchers who deal with these crucial issues.
Young researchers applying for a “Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship” (MSCA-PF) can submit a project proposal in collaboration with a European academic and non-academic research centers and under the supervision of a scientific director who is part of it.
The best universities attract the best candidates, also thanks to the support of the supervisors: “older” scientists, with experience in the specific field, able to guide the winners in the various steps of the research project, which usually lasts 2 or 3 years.
MSCA MASTER CLASS
In order to support youn reaserchers, Politecnico has launched a talent development program to support young people and make them more competitive in the acquisition of European grants and in general on the international research scene. One of the actions envisaged in the strategic plan is the MSCA Master Class, a training course designed for potential MSCA Postdocs, who can obtain support from the University and expert supervisors during the writing the proposal and submitting it in response to the call from the European Commission.
Only the best candidates are admitted to the Master Class, which maximizes their chances of success and at the same time encourages them to rely on the Politecnico di Milano.
Since 2014 46 MSCA researchers have chosen the Politecnico to develop their research activities. We'll learn more about them in the next episode!
Fili Pari: a new patent for the start-up that creates clothes from marble
“It's time for us to dress the way we want to live. Our idea of fashion is light years away from the disposable model. On the contrary, the entire life cycle of our products is designed to improve the well-being of the planet and its people. Using the by-products of the marble industry, we make stone wearable and, above all, we transform waste into a wonderful opportunity”.
This is how Alice Zantedeschi, Alumna in Design for the Fashion Industry, spoke to the newspaper Quotidiano Nazionale about her sustainable fashion, which she launched together with Alumna Francesca Pievani, her former classmate and now partner in Fili Pari, an innovative sustainable start-up born as an idea in the halls of the Politecnico which then became real, thanks also to the Polihub incubation process (we talked about here).
Their product, patented in 2014, is called MARM\MORE, and it is the first fabric in the world made with powder recovered from marble waste. Its properties enable it to be used to create waterproof, breathable and windproof clothes, combining technical performance with aesthetic appeal.
FILI PARI: A NEW PATENT AFTER MARM\MORE
After a last round of investment in 2022, in which Politecnico di Milano joined Fili Pari as a partner, a few weeks ago, the two alumnae received another patent on a new project that has had support from the European Union: the creation of a low-environmental-impact dye, which uses stone powder to dye the yarn directly, saving considerable quantities of water.
How it works
While the traditional method requires at least 150 litres of water to dye a kilo of yarn, the process patented by Fili Pari in partnership with Dyeberg (a historic company in the Bergamo area that deals with fabric dyeing) requires only one.
“When the innovation of a start-up meets the production skills of a manufacturing company, the sharing of know-how generates a drive towards change» explain Pievani and Zantedeschi, along with Chiara Greco from Dyeberg. «The end result is an innovative, industrialised and scalable product, which demonstrates the best of what this country has to offer».
Kramer Prize 2022 awarded to prof. Stefano Consonni
The Istituto Lombardo Accademia di Scienze e Lettere has awarded Prof. Stefano Consonni of the Department of Energy at the Politecnico di Milano the prestigious ‘Kramer Award 2022’ for his significant practical findings based on the principles of the circular economy.
Having graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano in 1983, Consonni received his PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University in 1992. Since 1990 he has taught various courses in the field of Machines and Energy Systems.
“I am honoured to receive this award, which recognises thirty years of research and commitment to waste valorisation and carbon capture. Thanks to the Istituto Lombardo and the Kramer Foundation, I will continue with even greater enjoyment to follow these two crucial paths in the difficult journey towards sustainability!”
He said.
After initial studies on gas turbines, cogeneration and gasification, Prof. Consonni has pursued research and consultancy work on energy production from biomasses and waste, carbon capture, analysis and simulation of energy systems and the environmental impact of energy production.
Since 2005, he has been president of LEAP (Energy and Environment Laboratory Piacenza), a non-profit research centre operating in the energy-environmental sector, founded and still supported by the Politecnico di Milano.
He has been the promoter and scientific co-ordinator of numerous national and international collaborative projects, including the Horizon CLEANKER and HERCULES projects for pilot experiments with carbon capture, use and storage. Since 2011 he has been the director of MatER (Matter and Energy from Waste), a study centre promoted by the Politecnico di Milano and supported by the major Italian companies in the sector, which intends to act as an authoritative point of reference for scientific research and the identification of technical solutions in the field of waste reclamation.
Who are the 7 young Alumni of the Politecnico in the Forbes ranking of young innovators
The Forbes Italia ranking of young innovators under 30 is enriched with new talents from the Politecnico di Milano. For the sixth consecutive year the magazine selected 100 innovators belonging to 20 categories. 7 brilliant minds who have developed cutting-edge ideas and projects that can positively impact the country's economy.
Let's get to know them better!
LEONARDO BERTELLI – 26 years old - science
Leonardo Bertelli, Automation Engineering Alumnus, is a robotics engineer working as a consultant in Leonardo, where he is developing a robotic arm for the Mars Sample Return Campaign.
CAMILLA CECILIA CONTI – 28 years old - manufacturing & industry
Camilla Cecilia Conti, Power Engineering Alumna, leads the executive department of Adaptronics, which produces adaptive mechatronic devices for sustainable logistics.
Learn more in our news: The 'Electronic Fingertip' invented by two Alumni from the Politecnico
RACHELE DIDERO – 26 years old - consumer technology
Didero is a designer of the Politecnico di Milano and co-founder of Cap_able, an Italian high-tech fashion start-up that has patented clothes that do not allow facial recognition by surveillance systems.
We also discussed about it here: Biometric data, be careful when showing your face online
ALESSANDRO FANNI - 29 years old - science
Fanni, a Computer Engineering Alumnus, established CShark Solutions, a company specialized in the design of integrated systems for IoT and satellite communication.
LISA IANNELLO – 26 years old - healthcare
Lisa Iannello is an Integrated Product Design Alumna and co-founder of This-Unique, a start-up providing a subscription service for the delivery of boxes of compostable sanitary pads made up of 100% organic cotton, which degrade in six months (compared to 500 years for conventional ones).
FRANCESCA MADONINI – 27 years old - science category
Francesca Madonini, during her Ph.D. in Electronics, developed a single-photon sensitive camera for quantum applications, based on an innovative sensing system that was filed as a national and international patent, which then took her to MIT in Boston, where she continued her research for six months. Today she works at Empatica, an Italian medical technology company.
GUIDO PUTIGNANO – 20 years old - science
Guido Putignano, who holds a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering, is a researcher and bioengineer with the mission of using artificial intelligence tools to engineer stem cells in oncology.
QS Ranking: Politecnico di Milano is Among the Top 20 Universities in the World
Politecnico di Milano is among the top 20 universities in the world in Design, Architecture and Engineering, according to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023, the global ranking of the best universities by subject area.
In Design and Architecture, the Politecnico confirms its position among the top 10 universities in the world, in 8th and 10th place respectively. In terms of Engineering, the Politecnico is among the top 20 in the world, in 18th place, in a highly competitive international environment where it is difficult to remain stable in the top positions. In this way, the University, confirming the trend of the last 10 years, reaffirms that it is a university capable of promoting scientific and technological research and innovation, contributing to sustainable and inclusive development.
In comparison with 2022, the Politecnico has significantly progressed up the ranking in: Computer Science (+16); Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing (+6), Engineering - Electrical & Electronic (+1) Mathematics (+25), Material Sciences (+20), Environmental Sciences (+21), Physics & Astronomy (+29).
This result was possible mainly due to the Politecnico's excellent reputation (Academic and Employer Reputation), corroborating the positive opinions of employers and other national and international universities. In particular, the Academic Reputation index is the most relevant in the ranking (it makes up 40% of the final evaluation) and is based on the evaluations of more than 150,000 academics from all over the world. Also noteworthy was the result of the new index introduced this year by QS: IRN, which measures the level of international research collaboration.
Le classifiche mondiali sono strumenti che hanno assunto un valore importante nell’orientare i talenti, a livello globale, verso percorsi formativi di qualità e contesti ricettivi. Il tema dell’attrattività è uno dei punti chiave del Piano Strategico del Politecnico di Milano per il prossimo triennio. Per questo l’Ateneo, già forte di un buon posizionamento, lavorerà per dare maggiori opportunità di studio e di ricerca per i giovani, con particolare attenzione alle pari opportunità. Strumenti chiave verso un approccio inclusivo anche in prospettiva internazionale.
In Italy, Politecnico di Milano is confirmed as the absolute frontrunner in Architecture and Design and in almost all engineering subjects (Computer Science and Information Systems; Chemical Engineering; Civil and Structural Engineering; Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering).
To compile the 2023 rankings, QS considered 1597 universities in 161 countries.
ARTCAST4D: immersive technology meets art
To combine art and immersive technology to allow people to interact with culture and liberate creativity. This is the objective of Artcast4D, a three-year project financed by the Horizon Europe programme which sees the Politecnico di Milano and 10 partners from 7 European countries collaborate with artists, cultural organisations, creative businesses, museums, cities and local authorities to develop new immersive experiences in public spaces.
Immersive technologies contribute to improving the breadth, depth and intensity of artistic performances and the experiences of visitors to public spaces and artistic and cultural institutions. However, currently such technologies are neither easily available nor accessible to everyone. Artcast4D hopes to develop an open source solution based on tried and tested real-time 2D/3d AAASeed software.
The project will contribute to developing the cultural and creative industries’ potential, and encourage the containment of design and development costs, making it possible to create non-invasive, immersive and interactive user experiences, integrating online impact assessment and measurement techniques from the outset.
Artcast4D technology will be experimented with in 4 pilot projects in Issy-les-Moulineaux (France), Hounslow (United Kingdom), Valencia and Athens, each focusing on different issues and experiences which will involve creatives and industry partners, together with civil society.
For further information The website of Artcast4D Society @polimi
Aerospace: research by the Politecnico di Milano protagonist of the launch of the NASA DART impactor
Divert the trajectory of an asteroid on a collision course with the Earth, by means of a controlled impact at full speed with a space probe. This was the challenge of the DART mission (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) by NASA, successfully completed on 26 September 2022, in which Politecnico was directly involved as part of the scientific team (read the news here).
The first scientific results on the DART Mission have been published in the authoritative journal Nature in three different articles, co-authored by the researcher Fabio Ferrari from the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology at the Politecnico di Milano.
“DART is a historic moment for space exploration: it is not only the first planetary defence test, but it is also the first time we visit a binary asteroid (a system where two asteroids orbit around a common centre of gravity) and where we have the opportunity to observe how an asteroid can react to an external stress,” explains Fabio Ferrari, co-author of the scientific studies on DART. This has allowed us – and will allow us again in the coming months – to study the structure and evolutionary history of these celestial bodies, so close to us but still barely known. The Politecnico di Milano is part of the scientific team of the DART mission and has contributed to studying the evolutionary dynamics of the Didymos binary system. These include the motion and stability of the binary system, as well as the internal structure of the two asteroids Didymos and Dimorphos. The Politecnico has also played a decisive role in the characterization of the motion of the fragments ejected following the impact, and their morphology observed through orbital and Earth-based telescopes ".
The article describes the successful test of kinetic impact technology on the asteroid Dimorphos. The DART mission was the first to test this technology at full scale, demonstrating that it is an effective technique for planetary defence against possible asteroid threats.
The study describes the observations made using the Hubble Space Telescope on the material ejected by the impact of DART with the asteroid Dimorphos. The observations showed a complex morphology of the ejecta, conditioned by the gravitational interaction between the asteroid and the dust under the influence of solar radiation pressure.
L’articolo – di cui è coautrice anche la professoressa di Meccanica del Volo del Politecnico Michèle Lavagna – contiene la dimostrazione dell’efficacia dell’impatto cinetico di un satellite nell’evitare una potenziale collisione con la Terra. Nell’articolo viene quantificato l’effetto di deflessione prodotto dall’impatto ad alta velocità sull’orbita del sistema binario Didymos, mostrando come l’espulsione dei frammenti generati a seguito dell’impatto abbia contribuito ad aumentare l’efficienza dello scambio di energia tra la sonda e l’asteroide.
“It is the first time that an attempt has been made to divert a celestial body from its natural orbital path in a perceptible and significant way and to measure its effectiveness,” adds Michele Lavagna. And it is above all the first time that the impact has been witnessed by an extremely small satellite, LICIACube, the first European probe to travel in deep space. It played a fundamental role in acquiring images during and after the DART impact: images that helped us to understand the composition and structure of Dimorphos and the dynamics of the binary asteroid system, having recorded the sequence of formation of the fragments post impact and their expansion into the surrounding space in the minutes following the collision by DART. The Politecnico di Milano, together with the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF), contributed to the design and guidance of this small scientific satellite and is actively involved in the scientific analysis of the images acquired to reconstruct the evolution of the motion of the fragments generated ”.
Things you probably didn't know: Politecnico di Milano in numbers
15/03/2023
1863: a date that doesn’t mean much to most people, but which our community is particularly familiar with. It is actually engraved on the façade of the rectorate, the famous building in Piazza Leonardo da Vinci which, as the historical seat of our University, has seen many students and professors pass back and forth to attend lessons, exams and graduation sessions.
160 years have (almost) passed since that legendary date of 1863: what better way to 'celebrate' this anniversary (actually falling on 29 November) than to see where we started from and where we are now, after all these years?
We want to show you using words and numbers: let's get started!
STUDENTS
The first rector, Francesco Brioschi, immediately became famous for his severity and for the strict rigidity with which he led the University, which was then called 'Regio Istituto Tecnico Superiore' and had just about thirty students, all engineers and all men.
The first female students would only appear over 20 years later: the first woman enrolled at the university was Tatiana Wedenison in 1888, but the first woman to graduate, Gaetanina Calvi, a civil engineer, only did so in 1913; a few years later, in 1918, the first female Italian electrical engineer, Maria Artini, graduated with a degree in Industrial Engineering.
In 1928 the first women to graduate in Architecture were Carla Maria Bassi and Elvira Morassi. In the years that followed, women maintained a constant, albeit numerically small presence at Politecnico di Milano: by the mid-1940s, about 100 out of around 9,500 graduates were women.
Nell’anno accademico 2021/2022 invece la popolazione studentesca iscritta al Politecnico è nell’ordine delle migliaia: si contano 47.170 studenti iscritti (a.a. 2021/2022, aggiornamento: febbraio 2022), di cui
- 7,231 Architecture students
- 4.294 Design students
- 35,645 Engineering students
Of these, about one third are women (36.8% in 2021 for master's degrees compared to 31.8% for bachelor's degrees). There is then a substantial gap between the numbers of female engineering students compared to those studying Architecture and Design:
"the data of the engineering enrolments at POLIMI - as the 2022 Gender Report states - is in line with the national average, which accounts for 27.2% of female students in the Engineering and Technology sector in 2021 (a figure practically unchanged compared to that of the previous year, 27.1%). Architecture and Design courses witness a predominantly female student population in both the Bachelor's and the Master's degrees. Furthermore, in all areas the proportion of female students increases in the transition from Bachelor's degree to Master's degree".
Overcoming stereotypes: what is Politecnico di Milano doing to encourage young girls to study engineering?
THE COURSES
Initially limited to three-year courses and to the two paths of Civil or Industrial Engineering, on the initiative of Camillo Boito and through co-operation with the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, the School for Architects was added to the Institute in 1865 and in 1875 it was completed with the two-year Preparatory School.
Today Politecnico di Milano stands out as an excellence among universities within Italy and globally: in the QS 2023 ranking of June 2022, the University was ranked 1st in Italy and 139th in the world, featuring in the top 10% of excellent universities. The employment statistics of our graduates are also very positive: 98% of master graduates are already working one year after graduating, with almost total employment among engineering graduates (99%), but also among architecture and design graduates (97% and 94%, respectively) and 99% find a job 5 years after graduation (2022 data).
THE SEATS OF POLITECNICO DI MILANO
The first seat was located in the Collegio Elvetico in via Senato in Milan; two years later, in 1865, it moved to Palazzo della Canonica in Piazza Cavour. In the following decades, the expansion of the University (which came to occupy 10,000 square meters) led the State, the Municipality and the Milan Chamber of Commerce to decide that the Politecnico should be moved away from the centre and merge in a single location: the chosen site was the peripheral area of the Cascine Doppie - 'in Lambrate's expanse of lawn', as described by Alumnus Carlo Emilio Gadda. The seat, which would later become the historic headquarters in Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, was officially inaugurated in 1927.
But Politecnico di Milano soon became more than 'mere' Piazza Leonardo. In the following years the seat for the Architecture faculty was built, which was then expanded in the 1980s into via Ampère, with a building designed by Vittoriano Viganò and the construction of buildings for the Departments of Mathematics and Mechanics, which then became known by the names 'Nave' and 'Trifoglio' (ie 'ship' and 'clover').
In 1987 the University began to spread into other areas forming "Politecnico Rete", which led to the opening of the regional campuses of Como (1987, active until 2018) and Lecco (1989) and of the campuses of Cremona (1991), Mantua (1994) and Piacenza (1997), with the aim of establishing a more direct relationship with students and interacting with communities and with local manufacturing.
Furthermore, in the Milano Bovisa area, where some disused warehouses and old gasometres were, a university campus was built starting in 1989 with the new Faculties of Civil Architecture, Design and Industrial Engineering and a series of laboratories among the most advanced and innovative in Europe: the Wind Tunnel, for the development of research in the fluid dynamics field; the Transport Safety Laboratory, with its spectacular crash tests; the Design Laboratories.
In 2021, the new Architecture campus designed by Renzo Piano in the via Bonardi area was inaugurated in Milan Leonardo, which led to an increase in open spaces and studying areas available to students and an improvement in environmental quality through the creation of large green spaces.
RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
Over the years, the University has distinguished itself as a point of reference in national and international research.
Politecnico di Milano has the highest number of Horizon Europe projects in Italy and the seventh-highest in Europe.
- 281 EU-funded projects (FP7) (2007-2013)
- Since 2021 it has achieved the outstanding result of being awarded 126 projects, 17 of which are ERC, with a total value of over 64 million euros (read here)
Politecnico di Milano also oversees technology transfer: through the TTO and Polihub, it manages the initial phases/analysis of how research may be utilised, contacts with inventors, the patenting process and the start-up of company spin-offs, to then support the new operations by offering young entrepreneurs and researchers the services they need to start the first phase of their companies.
- spin-off: 105 companies established and accredited from 2000 to today, 82 of which are still operating [updated: 12/31/2022]
- 2,671 patents [updated: 12/31/2021]
- 949 patent families [updated: 12/31/2021]
SOCIAL IMPACT
Let's not forget the high social impact projects developed by the Universityand financed every year by tax donations (find out how to donate here).scopri qui come donare).
Among organisations eligible for the tax donation, the University was the highest benefitting university in 2022, with 985,530 euros donated, and the 6th highest of all research institutions (read here).
The University has invested these funds in high-impact social research projects, supplementing them with a part of co-funding allocated by the departments themselves or by public bodies and sponsors, according to the Politecnico’s vision of sustainable development that promotes the engagement of private and public sectors, civil society, researchers and financial institutions.
The global challenges of the environment, energy, health, urban regeneration, support for vulnerable populations and regions (but the list could go on) affect everyone and raise questions that scientific research is called upon to answer. It is a commitment that Politecnico di Milano has in its very DNA.
Sources:
Agreement with SNAM renewed
Snam e Politecnico di Milano, anche attraverso la propria Fondazione, hanno rinnovato oggi l’accordo di collaborazione su attività congiunte di ricerca dedicate al ruolo del sistema gas per la sicurezza e la transizione energetica del Paese, con un focus specifico sulle potenzialità delle molecole verdi, come idrogeno e biometano, e sull’innovazione.
The framework agreement will focus primarily on the development of studies and projects in multiple areas: from infrastructures security, starting from monitoring and maintenance of assets, to green gases (hydrogen and biomethane) and to technologies for decarbonisation, such as CCS, i.e. Carbon Capture and Storage.
“A key agreement in a context, that of the energy transition, which is central to the needs of companies, fundamental for the development of new skills, open to unexplored potential on the research front. A theme at the centre of every redevelopment policy in the country“.
comments Donatella Sciuto, rector of the Politecnico di Milano.
"Sustainability is one of the priorities of our university, at the forefront of green issues and technologies for decarbonization. The sharing of strategies, goals, and resources with a large leading company in the sector such as Snam traces a clear path of growth“.
The collaboration also includes joint research on innovative models for the development of biomethane, which will accelerate its large-scale production, and energy efficiency measures for the public administration, residential, tertiary, and industrial sectors.
On the hydrogen front, feasibility studies will be carried out on the technologies that can be used in the various phases of the value chain (production, transport, storage and use), in-depth studies on the impact of hydrogen and natural gas mixtures on the existing network, and market analysis on the potential uses of the clean energy carrier in the industrial, residential and mobility sectors.
The agreement also includes research initiatives on digitalization applied to gas infrastructures (radar and optical satellite data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, predictive algorithms and robotic devices for inspections and monitoring), sustainable finance, staff training and talent attraction.
“The agreement with Snam aims to reiterate the need to address the issues of energy transition in a synergistic way with a view to sustainability and innovation“
underlines Andrea Sianesi, President of the Politecnico di Milano Foundation.
“A partnership that aims to strengthen lasting relationships for the realization of cutting-edge research. The collaboration stems from the constant dialogue between business and university, a partnership that is becoming a consolidated practice for the Politecnico di Milano and its Foundation and that shares needs, strategies and visions with the companies involved“.