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Francesca P. moved to Milan from Genoa and studies Engineering of Computing Systems, as do her classmates Beatrice and Anna, from Modena, and Raffaella, from Palmanova. Giulia C., who studies Automation Engineering, and Giulia D. and Chiara, , who study Mechanical Engineering, come from Rome., vengono da Roma.  Susan, an automation engineer, comes from the Province of Mantua.  Sara e Lucrezia, both from the Province of Bergamo, have chosen Aerospace Engineering, as has Francesca S., who is from Bologna. Virginia, who is from Vimercate, is also studying Automation Engineering.  Ludovica, from Lecce, has enrolled on the Mechanical Engineering programme. Susan, from Bologna, is studying Electronic Engineering and Federica, from Novara, Electrical Engineering.  

These are the 15 female students who have been awarded scholarships this year as part of Girls@Polimithe Politecnico di Milano project that has been created to support girls who decide to pursue studies in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). They stood out among almost 200 applicants: female secondary school students who have decided to enrol on engineering programmes with low levels of female representation. The winners will each receive a scholarship worth €8,000 per year. The 2022-2023 edition of Girls@Polimi has been ahahafhgbfghfdjgfjgfjgjd finanziata da 9 aziende companies (the Autostrade per l’Italia Group, Bain & Company Italy, Banco BPM, Eurofins Foundation, Fastweb, Intesa Sanpaolo, Leonardo, the Nestlé Group in Italy and NHOA) and by donations from Politecnico di Milan Alumni.

A CULTURAL CHANGE THAT SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED

“Unfortunately, , only a few girls choose to embark on studies in the field of technology, and fewer still decide to pursue a career in technical industries,” remarks Donatella Sciuto, Vice Rector at the Politecnico di MilanoTechnical professions such as engineering are considered to be a natural habitat for men and a conquest for women, argues Sciuto in the book Alumnae – Ingegnere e TecnologieAlumnae – Ingegnere e Tecnologie (“Alumnae - Engineers and Technologies”). Often, embarking on an engineering career requires girls to be extra motivated due to assumed prejudices and models imposed by society. Only 1 student in 5 at the Politecnico di Milano is a woman; this percentage falls drastically in Aerospace, Automation, Electrical, Electronic, Computing Systems, Mechanical and Industrial Production Engineering courses in particular.

“I found myself attending the Electronic Engineering course many years ago,” continues Sciuto, “when the number of girls was much lower that it is today. And I have never regretted it. I am proud of having learnt that engineering is a way of thinking about not only technical problems, but everyday problems of all kinds: how to analyse them in the right way, without ever beginning to panic. I think it is important to encourage girls to follow their passion and, if they are passionate about technology, to motivate them to go in that direction.”

Girls@Polimi is also a message to companiesa way to promote the need for cultural change. “We at the Politecnico are in contact with many businesses. The most innovative of those ask for the opportunity to employ women: they realise that having mixed working groups that welcome diversity improves the work itself, bringing creativity and innovation in particular, because different minds thinking together generally bring non-standard, non-conformist solutions, which are different to those that have come before.”

WHY STUDY ENGINEERING?

The 15 girls have clear ideas: they have chosen these STEM subjects because of their personal interests and because, in a pragmatic sense, they offer them the greatest chance of choosing a rewarding profession. And they have chosen Milan for the atmosphere here: “I decided to move to the Politecnico because it is an international school that offers many opportunities, like double degrees, both in Italy and overseas,” remarks Beatrice. When choosing a university, it is extremely important to have a desire to have a genuine, positive impact on the world and society: like Sara, who wants to contribute to space exploration and, she explains, loves the way in which space discoveries have an effect on Earth; and Ludovica, who writes: “I have always been fascinated by how mathematics and physics constantly intertwine with our everyday life, even if we often do not notice. I am convinced that Mechanical Engineering will give me many career opportunities and that I will be able to choose my preferred path.” Virginia, who has chosen Automation Engineering because because she is fascinated by robotics and artificial intelligence, adds that her mother is also an engineer: “She tells me that colleagues who do the same job earn higher salaries than her. I hope that this will change, but her story provides reassurance and gives hope: it proves that even when working in a male-dominated industry, it is not necessary to choose between a career and the possibility of having a family.”

 “Technology,” concludes Sciuto, “is a way of continuing to dream of being able to do something that helps to build a fairer society. But, in order to do that, we need to stop believing in fate, or rather that it is not possible. We need to drive the change and that is what we have been committed to doing at the Politecnico di Milano for many years now.” Indeed, Girls@Polimi is one of the university’s strategic initiatives to reduce inequality, building a culture of study and work that respects all gender identities, different abilities, cultures and backgrounds. There are not only scholarships, but also a series of cultural transformation projects that begins in the university’s corridors and lecture halls, which is capable of supporting students during their study journey, with training and placement opportunities aimed at helping them to fulfil their professional potential.

Three out of three for the Politecnico: the university team, comprising the Alumni Gabriele Roggi, Salvatore Meraglia, Mattia Giurato, and professors Marco Lovera and Matteo Matteucci, has triumphed again at the third edition of the “Leonardo Drone Contest, An Open Innovation Challenge”, a competition organised by Leonardo. The team from the Politecnico competed with autonomous navigation, trajectory planning, collision avoidance and landing systems for the drone ROG-3, which was developed together with the spin off ANT-X. 

The competition, the third and last edition of this cycle, involved teams from six Italian universities which competed over three rounds. The six drones flew completely autonomously in a competition area featuring buildings, take-off and landing pads and the presence of known and unknown objects.  

Notably, the third edition added a new element of complexity, introducing “skyscrapers” to the competition area in positions that were not known to the teams, with the aim of testing the “collision detection and avoidance” capabilities of the drones, which were also tasked with pursuing an intruder and inspecting the walls of the buildings. 

The first cycle of the Leonardo Drone Contest has now come to an end: next year a new three-year programme will begin with the addition of other universities. The same formula will be used but the bar will be raised further yet and the challenge will become even more difficult with an interesting interaction between flying drones and land-based robots. 

DRONES IN THE FUTURE

In future, drones like these may reach industrial production, with applications in many fields, as Franco Ongaro, Alumnus e Chief Technology and Innovation Officer di Leonardo, remarked onRai:

“Even today, smart assistants are used in operations carried out by surgeons, in transport, security, and the cyber security of smart cities, so they have the ability to monitor traffic, utilities, electricity and intelligently manage a city on the basis of data.” 

Discover more: Artificial Intelligence: first place for Politecnico at Leonardo Drone Contest 

In all of the world’s top universities, the idea of exploiting data and its analysis (data analytics) to try to grasp complex phenomena even within one’s own community is increasingly developing with the aim to put measures in place in the attempt to improve the process.  

At the Politecnico a research group coordinated by Anna Maria Paganoni, professor of statistics and rector’s delegate for data analyticsis dealing with that. One of the group’s activities regards learning analytics, namely the analysis of data concerning students’ academic careers:

"One of the main objectives we have been focusing on in recent years is understanding what factors influence the likelihood of a student dropping out of their undergraduate degree: social variables, gender, ISEE level, background, as well as, very importantly, the number of credits acquired in the first semester".

This information helps to identify students at risk of dropping out within the first year and develop measures to combat this phenomenon.  

"I, for example, have a third-year module with 200-plus students" Paganoni comments, explaining that, with these numbers, it is impossible to identify in time which students need to be encouraged before they drop out.‘Analytics compensate for the teacher’s inability to act on a student-by-student basis: those who find themselves in difficulty now receive an ad hoc communication informing them of the possibility of tutoring.  Peer tutorings the most popular, where more mature students take charge of their younger peers. Then, students can take tutoring courses on core subjects (e.g. chemistry, physics, analysis, statistics...) independently of the degree programme they're enrolled in. What is important to pass on is not only the domain, but also the studying method. It serves both to develop and to overcome the mentality with which one studies at high school. We succeeded in gauging that this type of intervention increases the number of credits that the student acquires, and consequently decreases the estimated likelihood of dropping out’.    

Obviously a dropout quota is inevitable, and Poli Alumni often tell of how they feel like “survivors” after having repeated Analysis II or Construction Science a large number of times. The idea of making it on one’s own strength is deeply rooted in the community. Today, as in the past, Poli professors do not "make concessions" on teaching, as is shown by the preparation of our graduates. But, with the aim of keeping the best talents, the data analytics group works to ensure that even students who have some difficulties at the beginning can have a chance to prove themselves.

“Talent is not necessarily found in the most obvious places: someone who had some initial difficulties may still turn out to be an excellent student or an excellent researcher.  Talent is something that embraces the person as a whole , a global attitude that cannot always be measured by a simple mark". 

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Credits home/header: Photo by Maximalfocus on Unsplash

12 October, Politecnico di Milano – Daniele Rocchi, direttore della scuola di dottorato e delegato del rettore per i rapporti con le imprese, apre la seconda edizione del JRP Annual Meeting, l’incontro annuale che dà conto dei risultati raggiunti grazie agli accordi siglati dal Politecnico di Milano e dalle aziende partner dell’Ateneo.  

Rocchi spoke to an audience made up of the decision makers of Italian industry, illustrating in detail "what companies can do together with the Politecnico": research, innovation, training, placement. The speech particularly focused on the first 3, expressed in the 190 framework agreements between the Poli and companies active in 2022. "There is great value here", he said, referring to the network of research partnerships involving the Politecnico, "a network whose potential has yet to be explored". Rocchi’s is an invitation towards collaboration and sharing:

"We are living in times of great transformation in which innovation and technological development will play a very important role and will have a strong impact on society and on all of our lives. Certain challenges can only be faced together, trying to anticipate the lines for development in order to prepare ourselves adequately in terms of innovation, research and human capital". 

I JRP, JOINT RESEARCH PLATFORM

Of the 190 businesses that work with the Poli, 67 of them have signed special agreements to establish joint research centres. How do they work? "Normally," Rocchi explains, "the companies come to the university with a technological problem. Our departments find the solution and it all ends there.  

If instead the company is open to dialogue, we try to propose sharing a long-term project. La formula dei JRP aiuta a systematise the strategic objectives of the companies with those of the Politecnico: training of specialised personnel, basic research as well as industrial research and innovative projects that have short-term application, with a considerable economic impact for the companies.  Ad oggi, gli accordi JRP generano un portfolio di circa 200 milioni di euro , which fund research groups on topics of interest for both the Politecnico and its partners.  

ADDRESSING THE COUNTRY’S CHALLENGES FROM A SUPPLY CHAIN PERSPECTIVE 

The ‘hottest’ topics for the partner companies include the energy transition, mobility and smart manufacturing technologies, high performance computing and telecommunications, the New Space era and cyber security. The agreements provide for investments in infrastructure (such as laboratories and equipment), comprehensive research and training. In the last three years, for example, 170 patents have been filed in co-ownership with partner companies and master’s degrees and training courses have been launched at the Poli for R&D personnel to transfer new skills and ideas to the companies.  

"But above all," Rocchi highlights, "having this active and effective network for many years means that we are ready to seize the opportunities offered by the PNNRWhen the Ministry of University and Research started announcing calls for funds linked to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), it found here a network of stakeholders ready and organised to make the best use of resources, accustomed to supply chain collaboration, with objectives already shared and already in line with those established by the European Commission".  

A NETWORK OF PARTNERSHIPS THAT HELPS US SEIZE OPPORTUNITIES 

One example is the enhancement of the PhD programme, a strong element of technology transfer in which the Politecnico believes strongly. For several years now, the university has been experimenting with co-financing PhDs in industry to carry out high-level applied research and create human resources that match the areas important to companies that want to innovate.  

"Over the last 5 years, we have increasingly invested in young researchers, bringing in around 500 new PhD students to the university each year. Our established practices and strategic projects of research with our partners have enabled us to access PNRR funds to take on 211 additional researchers".   

Mission 4 of the PNRR aims to boost the development of a knowledge-intensive, competitive and resilient economystarting by identifying the critical issues in our education, training and research system. The industrial vocation of the Politecnico, which has always enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with the Italian industrial sector, has been instrumental in accessing and implementing successfully these resources. Read about it in MAP 11, coming out in December.  

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In the 2020-2022 three-year period, the Politecnico has received received more than 10 million euros in donations from individuals and companies. “We’ve hit the target which we set at the beginning of the three years, as community of donors”, commented professor Enrico Zio, President of the Alumni Politecnico di Milano and also delegate of the rector for individual fundraising. “The Association is a community dedicated to the development of the Politecnico, which it supports financially with both donations form its individual members and the involvement of their professional organisations in fundraising projects”.

Read more in Map 10: An overview of your donations

THE PROJECTS YOU CAN SUPPORT IN THE 2022-2023 ACADEMIC YEAR INNOVATIVE TEACHING

P92, THE FLYING CLASSROOM: it is a basic Tecnam P92 Echo ultralight aircraft with a Rotax 912 UL engine, operated by the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DAER) for over ten years and then grounded following a mechanical failure. In collaboration with Aero Club Milano, the Politecnico has decided to restore it to flying condition which involves some important repair work. help support them:

NECST CAMP: The years spent at university are a crucial moment in everyone’s development, not only professional but also personal. In this context, the aim of NECSTCamp is to help students recognise their own abilities, including through sport. To support this project:

FORMULA 1 FOR STUDENTSStudying does not only take place in the classroom, but also in the garage, with a soldering iron in one hand and an algorithm (metaphorically) in the other. The DynamiΣ PRC team is made up of students who design race cars for the Formula SAE championship, one of the biggest competitions for open-wheel cars, which has more than 15 global events and in which students from more than 600 universities worldwide take part. If you would like to support the team:

TWO WHEELS AND A BEATING HEART IN THE ENGINE: Polimi Motorcycle Factory is a sports team at the Politecnico di Milano created in 2015 in order to take part in the international MotoStudent competition, which is held every two years at the international MotorLand Aragón circuit in Spain. The teams are tasked with designing, building, managing and racing an endothermic or electric motorbike. If you would like to support the team: click here

Discover more:

10 million thanks from the students and researchers at the Politecnico di Milano

10 million thanks from the students and researchers at the Politecnico di Milano: scholarships