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Data analytics that are good for students
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".
You can find this and many other news items in the next issue of MAP. support the project.
Credits home/header: Photo by Maximalfocus on Unsplash
UN-BIASED project kicks off
JRP – Joint Research Platform: nei lab del Poli con le aziende più innovative d’Italia
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.
You can explore this topic further in the next issue of MAP. Become a member to receive it.
10 million thanks from the students and researchers at the Politecnico di Milano: innovative teaching
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
SOS-Water project begins
The Poli flies high: the Pyxis rocket built by students is the best in Europe
The students from Skyward Experimental Rocketry – the Politecnico di Milano association created with the aim of delivering and building sounding rockets – took home a historic victory: in October 2022, they triumphed in the international “European Rocketry Challenge – EuRoC 2022”, the most important European university rocket launch competition, organized by the Portuguese Space Agency.
The team from the Politecnico had already finished second last year with the Lynx, but this year the Pyxis carried them to the top of the podium, winning two technical awards.
Two and a half metres tall, 15 cm in diameter and featuring a lightweight carbon fiber and glass structure, the Pyxis experimental sounding rocket shot to a winning altitude of 3034 metres thanks “to the implementation of a very advanced antenna system and a different sounding rocket recovery”, said Nikita Litovchenko, Head of the Department of Skyward Experimental Rocketry in an interview with Ilgiornale.it.
The technology used allowed – as stated by the jury's motivation – enabled the team to excel "across the board in all aspects of the competition, honouring an exceptional and well-balanced overall effort without diminishing any of the aspects of the competition, whether it be technical documentation, project implementation, teamwork, or flight performance, thus demonstrating a truly remarkable effort and result.”
Lamberto Duò, Rector's Delegate for Teaching and Orientation and reference person for international competitions, states:
“International competitions are challenges that allow students to apply the knowledge acquired during their academic career directly in the field. They are a unique opportunity to develop the ability to design in a group, to practice problem solving and to interact with colleagues from other departments but also from other universities. I am delighted that all the passion shown in recent years has allowed Skyward students to achieve this very important result at international level.”
We will talk about Skyward in the next issue of MAP, the Politecnico di Milano Alumni Magazine. Become a member to receive it.
10 million thanks from the students and researchers at the Politecnico di Milano: scholarships
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 SCHOLARSHIPS
By making a free donationfree donation you will help one or more students, chosen based on need and merit criteria, taking into account exam results achieved in the first semester of the academic year; or you will contribute towards a maintenance grant for a PhD student. There is also the chance to enter into the Circle of Donors: the Politecnico di Milano’s special programme dedicated to the best Laurea Magistrale (Master of Science) students. With 2,000 euros a year donors can directly finance scholarships combined with personal mentoring support. Selected students receive 10,000 euros a year for the two years of their Laurea Magistrale (Master of Science) programme.
If you want to become part of the Circle of Donors: write to sostieni@polimi.it
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: innovative teaching
37 Politecnico di Milano Alumni against the “brain drain”
Thursday 20 October 2022 - the Politecnico di Milano hosted the Circle of Donors, a group of alumni donors that, since 2016, has been committed to supporting the best students at the university financially and through mentoring pathways.
“The Circle was created to answer a question: what can be done to be make us more attractive to our best students? Those that receive offers of opportunities and prestigious scholarships from the best universities in the world? What be done to stop them leaving? To keep this wealth of talent in Italy and at the Politecnico di Milano?”
Thus the meeting was opened by professor Enrico Zio, the President of Alumni Politecnico di Milano and Rector’s Delegate for Alumni and Individual Fundraising: two positions that combine effectively with the Circle.
Indeed, around the table there is an elite group of very high-profile alumni; alumni that volunteer as mentors to track the development of some of the best students at the Politecnico. No less important is the support of a financial nature: each Circle student has received (or is receiving, in the case of the latest arrivals) a scholarship of 20,000 euros which is disbursed over the course of the two years of the Laurea Magistrale (equivalent to Master of Science); a subsidy capable of competing with those offered by the best international universities.
CIRCLE PROJECT: THE FIGURES
7 years since the launch of the of the programme, the Circle has collected almost 400,000 euros courtesy of 37 alumni donors who have supported 20 students. Some of these young people have graduated and are already young professionals, both in business and the world of research, and all have had great success in industries that have a significant impact on the future of innovation and society: renewable energies, automation, autonomous vehicles and energy transition.
“Had it not been for the Circle scholarship, I would not have been able to study at the Politecnico,” remarked Daniele, who, after a degree in electrical electronic engineering, works as a designer for a Korean company that develops memory chips in Italy. “But, aside from the financial side of things, I realised the true value of the Circle when I began to have doubts and questions about my future and what I was going to do once I graduated. The Circle mentors have so much experience and through them I found not the answers to my questions, as I thought, but new questions and a guide to finding the answers myself.”
Giulia, meanwhile, studied energy engineering: her dream is to work with renewable energies and to have an impact on the world in which she lives. “After my Laurea (equivalent to Bachelor of Science), I was sure I would leave Italy to do my Magistrale (equivalent to Master of Science) abroad. The Circle convinced me to stay in Italy and at the Politecnico: as they had chosen me for a prestigious scholarship and were asking me to stay, I told myself that perhaps they had seen something that I had not, that perhaps it was worth reconsidering.” Giulia went abroad all the same, rightly, on an Erasmus placement. Today, her career means she travels a lot and is building an international profile, but she says, “I have decided that Italy is where I want to live and contribute to the growth of the country.”
“There is a very close relationship between students and Alumni; Alumni that dedicate time and effort to their university with great generosity. Their support represents one of the pillars of the Politecnico di Milano,”
observed rector Ferruccio Resta, reflecting on the words of Giulia and Daniele. “Their messages give us pause for thought. On one side there is the “diritto allo studio” (right to study), on the other there is the topic of mobility. I wish to point out that from 2017 to 2021, the budget for the “diritto allo studio” grew by 50%. Today it amounts to over 24,000,000 euros, supporting almost 5,000 students. In terms of student mobility, which should be encouraged in every possible way, as we have done by entering into agreements with universities across the world, the Circle project is part of a journey of development that has seen our country become a destination and not just a launch pad. It is an element of attraction in the face of the brain drain of young talent.”
The Circle project is the tip of the iceberg of a close partnership between the Politecnico di Milano and its community of alumni, which, in the last three years, has helped to collect more than 10,000,0000 euros in donations to support the university’s projects: approximately 500,000 euros have funded almost 500 scholarships and doctorates; approximately 1,800,000 euros have contributed to the modernisation of the Politecnico’s laboratories, equipment, infrastructure and campuses; approximately 550,000 euros have funded innovative teaching projects; and more than 2,200,000 euros have been devoted to social impact research. The Alumni project has been funded thanks to almost 300,000 euros in donations.
Find out more: https://alumni.polimi.it/en/2022/10/18/10-milioni-di-volte-grazie-dagli-studenti-e-dai-ricercatori-del-politecnico-di-milano/
Eni Award 2022: 2 winning projects by Politecnico Alumni
On 3 October, the Eni Award 2022, ceremony was held at the Quirinale, attended by President Sergio Mattarella. The winners include Sinergy Flow, created by three Alumni and researchers, and Ricehouse, a startup by Alumna and architect Tiziana Monterisi, which received the the ‘Eni Joule for Entrepreneurship’ special mention..
The history of the Eni Award – as illustrated on the website – spans five continents and the careers of dozens of researchers and scientists. Since being established in 2007 as a business award, it has grown to become an internationally recognised accolade for research and technological innovation in energy. Year on year, the winning works involve significant breakthroughs that enable radical innovation in energy efficiency, renewables, decarbonisation and environmental protection.
Specifically, the ‘Eni Joule for Entrepreneurship’ award won by our Alumni rewards the growth of sustainable businesses through the “Human Knowledge” e “Energizer”schemes, which are devoted, respectively, to training a new generation of entrepreneurs and startup acceleration
“Imprese sostenibili; imprese che “camminano” nel presente ma capaci, fin d’ora, di disegnare le mappe, le strade del futuro.”
RICEHOUSE E SINERGY FLOW: DI COSA SI TRATTA?
Sinergy Flow is an early-stage startup (TRL 4) based in Milan which proposes an innovative battery for medium- and large-scale stationary energy storage (we’ve already talked about it here). The flow battery uses sulphur-rich waste from the petrochemical industry, with low installation cost and high performance. The team is made up of 3 young engineers who developed the project at the Politecnico di Milano and was represented by Alessandra Accogli (CEO and co-founder), who spoke to La Repubblica:
"Sinergy Flow started with my PhD project: the idea for a device, a battery, able to store energy for a long time, which can be combined with renewable sources, easily met the market needs. [...] The large-scale adoption of our device will have a positive impact on well-being, ensuring a better quality of air, and therefore, of life."
Ricehouse is a much more mature startup (TRL 9), based in Milan, which transforms byproducts from rice processing into natural materials for green building and bio-architecture. Today it is a benefit corporation and boasts around 15 employees (aged between 24 and 44) and is represented by Tiziana Monterisi (CEO and co-founder).
"I am an ecological native - stated Monterisi at the MPW (Most Powerful Women) International Convention by Fortune Italia (we’ve already talked about it here), "and I have always sought sustainability in the world of construction. Thanks to our creativity, but above all professional expertise and courage, I have managed to make an impact in this poorly innovative and very traditional industry. It takes a lot of passion, but above all a lot of courage and perseverance."
Interview with Fabio Violante, CEO of Arduino
We've had turbulent years (to say the least). Far from being disoriented, the Alumni of the Poli ride the waves of this complexity: planning where they can, preparing for sudden changes of scenario and betting (but with full knowledge of the facts!) on the next trend. And on technology: from deep tech to IoT, from manufacturing 4.0 to full automation, from the evolution of services to the revolution in telecommunications... "WHAT NOW?" is a series of interviews with Alumni in top positions in business, culture and technology, who ask themselves: what should we expect now?
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According to a news item from the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering at the Politecnico di Milano, Fabio Violante is a computer engineering Alumnus ‘with a passion for hardware’. He serves as CEO at Arduino, an open-source rapid prototype platform used every day by millions of designers, architects and companies to quickly and easily bring smart objects and digital devices to life. And it is from hardware and open source that he begins to tell his vision of the future: ‘a new generation is entering the labour market. Girls and boys interested in the impact that their work has on the world’.
Impact, we ask Violante, in terms of how everyone’s job contributes to sustainability goals?‘Being mindful of impact means being aware that your own job is a piece of someone else’s work, particularly now that we rely on open source technologies. So there is the somewhat hedonistic personal taste of knowing that I’m building a piece of software which can be used by thousands of other engineers to solve a certain issue. On a higher level, the young people we see are interested in understanding how these technologies can help us confront the challenges facing our planet, like energy consumption: they’re enthusiastic when they can say they have worked on a system which allows a company to reduce their water or energy consumption by 40% and cut greenhouse gas emissions’.
THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON THE PANETTONE YOU WILL EAT AT CHRISTMAS (AND ON THOSE WHO BAKE IT)
Let’s go back to the collective, to a global point of view. In which direction are these new generations pushing technological innovation? When we ask about technology, Violante always brings us back down to earth:
"the main theme is not technology in itself, but the problem it helps to solve. . If you ask me what will be the next technological revolution I don’t think of a product or an algorithm, I think of daily problems, both for people and for companies, that technology could help to solve. I think of my automatic irrigation system, or of a device for feeding fish in an aquarium, of an employee in a pasta factory that always has hands covered in pasta dough and every time he has to start up a machine he has to first wash his hands to push a button; this, as well as slowing down his work, distracts him and puts him more at risk of having an accident. Or of the doctor who has to set up a treatment on a machine.
What if they could give the machine voice command despite the very noisy environment of the factory or the hospital? It is in this common use of technology that we must look. We are almost there, it’s an easy layer to implement, but lots of companies are not ready yet. Then obviously the development of artificial intelligence takes us much further. Today robots are still “semi-stupid and semi-smart””. They operate a tap but they don’t know it’s a tap, instead in a couple of years they will know it and will decide autonomously which interventions to make.
Today, in many cases, they are still blind and perform programmed repetitive tasks; in the future this will no longer be the case: in a few years' time machine vision and audio, motion control and machine learning will increase the capabilities of machines triggering a substantial and hopefully positive change in our daily lives’.
A BOLT IS NO LONGER ONLY A BOLT
You said that companies are not ready: why?
"Not all companies understand that there is an opportunity to access technological transformations which can lead to new business models. The next step therefore is to democratise access to technology: to allow professionals without a specific training in artificial intelligence to access it, for example.
Our responsibility as engineers is to make these technologies more accessible, to lower the barriers.
The consequence of this democratisation of technology is that there are more technicians working on the same problem: people who may know little about artificial intelligence, but are experts on that problem. I’ll give you an example: an Arduino team works for a company that makes bolts, which are perhaps the least high-tech thing imaginable. Yet, bolts end up in very high-tech objects, such as space rockets and race cars. By working with the people who make bolts, we were able to figure out how to equip them with sensors that detect various parameters, such as vibration or temperature, and that can trigger alarms or make decisions. In short, they can solve problems, from the everyday ones like a leaky tap, to the space problems of a satellite".
We will explore these topics in depth at the 11th Alumni Politecnico di Milano Convention. Register for the in-person event.