QS World University Rankings 2023: in the general ranking of universities around the world the Politecnico officially enters the top 10% of excellent universities, ranking 139th, and is the first in Italy. The best results concern two very important indicators: the Academic Reputation, where we rank 96th, and theEmployer Reputation, i.e., the employers’ opinion on our Alumni, where we are ranked80th in the world..
The QS University Ranking analysis evaluates almost 2500 among the best universities in the world considering various indicators. As already mentioned, the Politecnico has a high score in Employer Reputation according to an international survey asking 40,000 employers which are the universities from which they prefer to hire talents, and in Academic Reputation, the most important indicator of the analysis regarding the international relevance of the University as a research centre, which measures the reputation of the Politecnico based on the evaluation of over 150,000 academics from around the world.
HIGHLIGHTS
QS World University Rankings 2023 Over 1,300 universities analysed
World | 139th place
Italy | 1st place
Employer Reputation 2023 Which universities companies prefer to hire talent from
World | 80th place
Italy | 1st place
Academic Reputation 2023 Reputation of the Politecnico based on the evaluation of over 130,000 academics from all over the world
World | 96th place
Italy | 1st place
The indicators measuring the Politecnico's attractiveness for professors and researchers (+48 positions earned in 3 years) and international students (+25 positions earned in 3 years) and the strength of collaborations with companies and academies in wide-ranging research projects are also improving. The relationship between the University, the local area, businesses and the international community, fundamental connections of the Politecnico's DNA, plays an important role on these elements.
According to the QS Graduate Employability 2022 ranking that evaluates the ability of universities to prepare students for work , we rank once again first among Italian universities, 9th in Europe and 43rd in the world. The QS Graduate Employability 2022ranking ha analizzato 679 università, classificandole in base a 5 parametri: il numero di partnership aziendali, il numero di incontri organizzati tra aziende e studenti, il dato occupazionale, numero di aziende che indicano l’ateneo in analisi come università da cui reclutano, la percentuale di Alumni e Alumnae con carriere di grande impatto. Ottimi risultati in tutti gli indicatori e, in particolare, spiccano l’indicatore occupazionale e quello delle partnership con le imprese, in cui il Politecnico supera i 95 punti su 100.
QS Graduate employability 2022
679 universities examined It considers 5 metrics: the number of corporate partnerships, the number of meetings organized between companies and students, the employment data, number of companies mentioning a specific university for recruitment, the percentage of Alumni and Alumnae with important careers.
The Rankings by Subject, the ranking of universities by subject area, also supports the growth trend of the Politecnico di Milano.
As far as Engineering, is concerned, our University moved up 11 positions in the last 6 years, and is now ranked 13th in the world (compared to 24th place in 2016). In the areas Architecture and Design it moved up 5 positions: from 15th and 10th in 2016 to 10th and 5th in the last year, respectively. In Europe we rank 7th in Engineering and Technology, 3rd in Art & Design and 5th in Architecture & Built Environment.
In Italy, the Politecnico di Milano is still first in Architecture, Design and almost all Engineering subjects (Computer Science & Information Systems, Chemical Engineering, Civil & Structural Engineering, Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing Engineering).
These results reflect, among the various metrics taken into consideration, the assessment of the Alumni on the skills they acquired in relation to the working context and the consolidation of the relationship with companies, which also includes support for start-ups and business development, with the creation of numerous Joint Research Centers. There is also a strong improvement in academic reputation (an indicator based on the evaluations by over 130,000 academics from all over the world).
QS World University Rankings by Subject
Ranking of the best universities in the world by subject area
Architecture | 10th place in the world / 5th in Europe / 1st in Italy
Design | 5th place in the world / 3rd in Europe / 1st in Italy
Engineering | 13th place in the world / 7th in Europe / 1st in Italy
On the occasion of the celebrations of the Italian World Research Day of 2022, the Italian Embassy in Paris in collaboration with the Alumni Polimi Paris, Alumni Polito Paris and RECIF associations organized an event aimed at highlighting the contribution of Italian researchers, including those operating in French institutions and companies, and Italian research bodies on 'low carbon' energy issues and the potential of bilateral collaborations.
On this day, the great engineering and management challenges related to the efficient integration into the electricity grid of immediately available energy sources were addressed, as well as the scientific perspectives for developing new technologies, long-term 'game changers'.
The research necessary to respond to these challenges is very complex: from mathematical models for the optimal management of energy flows to big data for consumption and production up to the need to fully exploit both the new communication technologies for smart grids and the technologies of innovative transport and storage systems. Furthermore, the intermittent nature of renewables and their lack of physical inertia necessarily imply also having a back-up production capacity that can be adjusted at will, for the "sunless and windless" moments, which is capable of supporting network stability when needed.
Today in many countries this capacity is ensured by fossil fuels, which must be abandoned 'whatever it takes'. The fourth generation nuclear fission could be an intermediate stage, while fusion promises an inexhaustible energy without waste and without operation or proliferation risks, suitable for guaranteeing the stability of the network, but it is questionable how far we are from these two solutions.
These issues were addressed in a round table with some of the major R&D players in the sectors of interest.
Milan Design Week is back again this year to bring the city to life with events and installations, including ideas by Alumni from the Politecnico. Let’s take a closer look!
FLOATING FOREST Darsena, Viale Gabriele D’Annunzio 20 – Milan – from 7 to 12 June, from 10 am to 10 pm
Alumnus Stefano Boeri will create a floating forest right in the centre of Milan, at the Darsena dock. This multisensory floating installation, designed for Timberland, is an independent ecosystem on the Darsena water, with 610 trees and over 30 different species (including Maple, Birch and Apple; shrubs such as the Black Chokeberry, Hydrangea, Oregon Grape and Mock Orange; perennial herbs such as Mexican Feather Grass, Chinese Silver Grass, Windflower, Daylily, Verbena and Pampas Grass), intended to encourage biodiversity by activating the environmental benefits of urban forestation, in connection with the other green spaces in Milan. The objective of the Floating Forest installation is not only to promote new forms of environmental responsibility and new ways of occupying and transforming urban spaces, but also to provide a place of meeting and reconciliation between nature and citizens.
VISIT TO THE GIANFRANCO FERRÉ RESEARCH CENTER Gianfranco Ferré Research Centre - Via Tortona, 37 - Milano 9 June 2022, 3 - 8pm
The Politecnico di Milano opens the Gianfranco Ferré Research Centre to the public. The Centre, located within the premises of the former Gianfranco Ferré Foundationis dedicated to the work of the fashion designer, who graduated from the Politecnico di Milano in 1969. The researchers at the Politecnico di Milano will guide visitors within the spaces designed by architect Franco Raggi and the archive, including sketches, technical drawings, photos, clothes and accessories.
ARCTIC-NORDIC-ALPINE – BY SNØHETTA Atrium of the School of Architecture of the Politecnico di Milano - Via Ampère, 2 - Milano - Opening: 7 June 2022
An exhibition about contemporary architecture in vulnerable landscapes presenting pioneering projects by the internationally renowned architecture and design firm Snøhetta and investigating the impact new creations could have on these extreme geographic climatic environments.
Inaugurated by the lecture “Nature as the Client”, by Kjetil Trædal Thorsendel, co-founder of the Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta.
THE INVENTION OF A LANGUAGE. FRANCO PURINI AND THE THEME OF ORIGIN, 1964-1976 Galleria del Progetto of the School of Architecture of the Politecnico di Milano - Via Ampère, 2 - Milano - Opening: 7 June 2022
A wide selection of plates illustrating projects, sketches and studies appear in the exhibition that identify drawing as the privileged tool for thinking about construction, the city, the landscape, as well as the place from where the ideas of architecture originate.
Inaugurated by the lecture “The invention of a language” by Franco Purini.
PIERLUIGI CERRI: ALLESTIMENTI. IDEE, FORME, INTENZIONI Spazio Mostre Archivi Storici del Politecnico di Milano – via Candiani, 72 – Milano
The exhibition offers a selection of 32 installations by Pierluigi Cerri, studied and redesigned thanks to a meticolous archival work. A graduate from the Politecnico di Milano, Cerri taught here with Umberto Eco “Semiotics of architecture” (Faculty of Architecture, 1969-71) and from 2000 to 2010 held the Laboratory of Interior Architecture at the School of Civil Architecture.
SELF-PORTRAIT WITH NEIGHBOURHOOD: CITTÀ STUDI Piazza Leonardo da Vinci – Milano - 9 June 2022, 11am - 6pm
A participatory action in Piazza Leonardo da Vinci: inhabitants, visitors and onlookers will collaborate in the construction of a collective story that will show, through the recomposition of “fragments”, the identity of the place, present and future.
SITUATED VOCABULARIES. RE-FRAMING PARTICIPATION WITH FRAGILE COMMUNITIES OFF CAMPUS Nolo – Mercato Comunale, Viale Monza 54 – Milano
A 4-day programme (exhibition + hybrid activities) concerning 'Vocabolario di Quartiere', the participatory design project developed at Off Campus Nolo.
DESIGN X DESIGNERS Building B2 - Bovisa Campus - Via Durando 10 – Milano
A large exhibition of projects from the whole Design System of Politecnico di Milano: School of Design, Department of Design and POLI.design. The exhibition highlights multiple design sectors: from industrial product to fashion, from interior and furniture design to communication, without excluding services, brand and strategy, transportation and design engineering.
WE ARE! POLIMI TALENTS Salone Satellite – Fiera Milano – Rho
An exhibition presenting the Politecnico design talents, recognised with prizes and mentions over the past four years, who were called upon to tell their stories through prototypes and projects.
FROM DIGITAL TO DIGITALL Salone del Mobile – Fiera Milano – Rho
The Design System of the Politecnico di Milano presents its didactic and educational offer and its research and service opportunities through an interactive exhibition. The visitors will find, and be able to collaborate with, students and collaborators of the School and of the Department of Design who will be grappling with the realisation and finalisation of a physical object linked to the book in its primitive, analogue form.
Science fantasy aside, state-of-the-art robotics (together with increasing knowledge of the mechanisms that regulate the human body) already offers us technologies of great utility in the healthcare setting : prostheses, exoskeletons and devices for rehabilitation and healthcare, designed by teams who masterfully mix engineering, medicine, design and dialogue with patients (namely those who will use such devices).
Do you remember Hannes, the robotic hand? Developed by INAIL [National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work] and IIT (the Italian Institute of Technology), it restores 90% of the lost functionality for people who have un-dergone arm amputations. Its industrial design was conceived by ddpstudio, founded by three Alumni: Lorenzo De Bartolomeis, Gabriele Diamanti and Filippo Poli. It is precisely the interdisciplinary origin of its design that won Hannes the 2018 ADI Design Index award for innovation: «Due to the quality of your work which consequently represents value for design and for our country”; and, in 2020, the coveted Compasso d’Oro award.
Credits: ddpstudio
According to the reasoning behind the award, “The design is proven to be an essential tool for helping people in difficulty to regain control of their future. Technology and aesthetics help to overcome psychological distress and physical handicap”. And, in the words of Marco Zambelli – who lost his right hand in a workplace accident more than 40 years ago at the age of 16 – this is precisely what Hannes effectively does. He is the “patient zero” for whom Hannes was designed. He told us about the first time he used it: “I got emotional. I realised that I could regain my right hand”
Now Hannes will have a little brother, based on the design conceived at the same ddpstudio.
TWIN, THE EXOSKELETON THAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO WALK AGAIN
Twin, the robot exoskeleton, is a device for the neuromotor rehabilitation of patients with locomotive and balance deficits arising as a result of spinal injuries or strokes. In short, it allows patients with spinal cord injuries to walk inde-pendently. Like Hannes, it has been designed by INAIL, IIT and, for the industrial design, ddpstudio. Again, it owes its recent fame to its design: it is still in the developmental phase but it is already gaining recognition from around the world.
From overseas, the prestigious Good design Award in the Robotics category. The award was given by the Chicago Athenaeum, comprising the Museum of Architecture and Design in the same US city and the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. In its “homeland”, Twin has been included in the 2021ADI Design Index 2021, in the design for people category, it has qualified for the final selection of the 2022 Compasso d’Oro, and will be on display at the ADI Design Museum from mid-June.
Lastly, it received the 2022 IF International Forum Design award, in the Medicine/Health Product category, awarded to the designers who collaborated in the development of the device. TheIF Design Award is considered one of the most prestigious design awards in the world. TWIN was selected from among 11,000 applications submitted by 57 countries and assessed by a panel of 132 members, made up of independent experts from all over the world.
Twin is a wearable autonomous robotic device , that allows people with full or partial spinal injuries to walk again. Its technology is capable of assessing rehabilitative progress and setting the level of assistance at all times; it uses the patient’s residual movement to help them walk, intervening – only if necessary – to support them and help them correctly take steps. When the patient leans forward, Twin moves. To stop, the user moves slightly in the opposite direction, bringing their torso back to an upright position. The “cruising” speed is around 2 or 2.5 km/h, more or less half that of a healthy subject.
Credits: ddpstudio
It is conceived to be used in combination with a wheelchair, at least for now. It makes it possible to move easily from the sitting position to the standing position, can be disassembled and is easy to put on in a few minutes, while remain-ing seated. It is height-adjustable and can support users weighing up to 110 kg.
It is made up of a rigid structure that keeps the patient in an upright position and has 4 motors, two on the hips and two on the knees. The pelvis is a carbon fibre shell containing Twin’s brain and heart – or its control system and batter-ies. Its range allows for up to 4 hours of continuous walking.
It is the fruit of a shared design process which involved a multidisciplinary team of patients, clinicians, researchers, engineers and designers in all phases of its development.
“It is a very long process, which started in 2014 and is still not complete”, says Gabriele Diamanti. “And it is a design-centric project, that is, it’s based on patient needs: in fact, in the initial phase we participated in various focus groups with paraplegic patients and visited their care centres. From there, the mechanical concept was born and then, piece by piece, the technology was implemented.
Various prototypes were created over the years, each being tested with patients to detect problems and opportunities in terms of its implementation. There is still a long road ahead before Twin is completely finalised: “The award-winning prototype has already been surpassed”, adds De Bartolomeis. “For us it is strange, because what seemed novel to eve-ryone else, actually has now newer form and functionality. Since it is a research project, the team is working on a platform that will, over the next three years, give life to solutions with various applications and functions (obviously these cannot be published yet)”.
WOULD YOU GO FOR A WALK, TO THE SUPERMARKET OR TO THE BAR WEARING AN EXOSKELETON?
Once finalised, Twin will undergo clinical trials, certification and then be released to the public. And, once again, it will encounter human beings: how will it be received?
“Working on this project for years and speaking with many people, patients and doctors, we have realised that the response cannot be taken for granted”, says Diamanti."Patients can have preconceptions, which may be either too positive or too negative, in relation to the idea of using an exoskeleton, and this influences test results to a great ex-tent. There are patients who reject it, because they ask themselves: do I need to wear that thing? I can go much faster with my chair that you “bipeds”. Because when it is born, technology is still behind nature. Other patients have a lot of faith in it, because it unlocks the possibility of interacting, looking at people in the eyes at the same height. It is partly down to habit and partly down to attitudes towards innovation. Another major issue is prejudice at the social level: wheelchairs themselves are now considered normal, but 50 years ago everyone would stare at a person going down the street in a wheelchair. Innovation is not only technological, but also cultural. When everyone stares at you while you do your shopping with a robotic exoskeleton, there may be a certain degree of embarrassment. Those who suf-fered their injuries a long time ago also have a different approach to those who have just been injured. And it also de-pends on the type and location of the injury; depending on which vertebrae are involved, it changes the degree of con-trol that one has over their body”.
Diamanti concludes:
“In such a varied and technical working team, the education that we have received at the Politecnico makes us feel at home”.
Il mondo cambia e con esso cambiano anche le persone che lo fanno funzionare. Se è vero che i corsi “storici” del Politecnico di Milano continuano a offrire gli strumenti per affrontare la crescente complessità della nostra epoca (come testimoniano i dati occupazionali che rappresentano gli Alumni tra i più apprezzati professionisti in tutto il mondo), è altrettanto vero che, dal confronto con il mondo delle aziende, della tecnologia e dell’innovazione e con le nuove generazioni di studenti, stanno emergendo nuove idee e nuove esigenze. L’Ateneo si chiede (anche) di cosa si occuperanno gli Alumni di domani, del prossimo decennio, nel corso della loro carriera, e come potranno continuare a dare un contributo significativo nella gestione delle grandi sfide che ci attendono. Questo porta sia all’aggiornamento dei corsi tradizionali, sia alla nascita di nuovi corsi di laurea: due partiranno nel prossimo semestre.
LA PRIMA LAUREA IN ITALIA IN INGEGNERIA DEL SUPERCALCOLO…
… o, più correttamente, in High Performance Computing Engineering. Sarà il primo corso di laurea magistrale in Italia dedicato al calcolo ad alte prestazioni e alle sue molteplici applicazioni, dalla sostenibilità energetica alla climatologia, dalla genomica alla medicina e alla farmacologia, dalla chimica alla finanza, dalla biomeccanica computazionale all’aerospazio.
“La capacità di elaborare una grande quantità di dati ci permette infatti di definire nuovi scenari, di eseguire simulazioni, di sviluppare nuovi modelli, come accade, per esempio, in campo medico. Sono tanti i settori in cui l’HPC può fare la differenza. Servono quindi nuove competenze e nuove professionalità”,
commenta il Rettore.
Caratterizzato per la forte interdisciplinarietà, il corso formerà ingegneri dalla solida preparazione nelle principali tecnologie e architetture informatiche per il supercalcolo, nel quantum computing e nella modellazione matematico-statistica di problemi complessi. L’insegnamento sarà in lingua inglese.
MANAGER ORIENTATI AGLI OBIETTIVI DI SVILUPPO SOSTENIBILE
Altro caso unico nel panorama della formazione universitaria in Europa, il nuovo Master of Science in Trasformative Sustainability nasce dalla collaborazione tra Politecnico di Milano e Università Bocconi. L’obiettivo è formare professionisti in gradi di guidare le imprese da una prospettiva fortemente integrata, innovativa e multidisciplinare sulla sostenibilità.
“La tecnologia è il fattore abilitante delle grandi trasformazioni in atto, come nel caso della sostenibilità in tutte le sue accezioni”, commenta il Rettore. “Impatta in modo decisivo sui processi di business e orienta imprese ed enti pubblici verso piani di sviluppo complessi di cui gli obiettivi di sviluppo sostenibile sono elementi fondativi. Da qui la necessità di combinare le competenze tecniche e formative dei nostri due atenei su tematiche chiave per la crescita economica e sociale”.
Science fantasy aside, state-of-the-art robotics (together with increasing knowledge of the mechanisms that regulate the human body) already offers us technologies of great utility in the healthcare setting : prostheses, exoskeletons and devices for rehabilitation and healthcare, designed by teams who masterfully mix engineering, medicine, design and dialogue with patients (namely those who will use such devices).
Do you remember Hannes, the robotic hand? Developed by INAIL [National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work] and IIT (the Italian Institute of Technology), it restores 90% of the lost functionality for people who have un-dergone arm amputations. Its industrial design was conceived by ddpstudio, founded by three Alumni: Lorenzo De Bartolomeis, Gabriele Diamanti and Filippo Poli. It is precisely the interdisciplinary origin of its design that won Hannes the 2018 ADI Design Index award for innovation: «Due to the quality of your work which consequently represents value for design and for our country”; and, in 2020, the coveted Compasso d’Oro award.
Credits: ddpstudio
According to the reasoning behind the award, “The design is proven to be an essential tool for helping people in difficulty to regain control of their future. Technology and aesthetics help to overcome psychological distress and physical handicap”. And, in the words of Marco Zambelli – who lost his right hand in a workplace accident more than 40 years ago at the age of 16 – this is precisely what Hannes effectively does. He is the “patient zero” for whom Hannes was designed. He told us about the first time he used it: “I got emotional. I realised that I could regain my right hand”
Now Hannes will have a little brother, based on the design conceived at the same ddpstudio.
TWIN, THE EXOSKELETON THAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO WALK AGAIN
Twin, the robot exoskeleton, is a device for the neuromotor rehabilitation of patients with locomotive and balance deficits arising as a result of spinal injuries or strokes. In short, it allows patients with spinal cord injuries to walk inde-pendently. Like Hannes, it has been designed by INAIL, IIT and, for the industrial design, ddpstudio. Again, it owes its recent fame to its design: it is still in the developmental phase but it is already gaining recognition from around the world.
From overseas, the prestigious Good design Award in the Robotics category. The award was given by the Chicago Athenaeum, comprising the Museum of Architecture and Design in the same US city and the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. In its “homeland”, Twin has been included in the 2021ADI Design Index 2021, in the design for people category, it has qualified for the final selection of the 2022 Compasso d’Oro, and will be on display at the ADI Design Museum from mid-June.
Lastly, it received the 2022 IF International Forum Design award, in the Medicine/Health Product category, awarded to the designers who collaborated in the development of the device. TheIF Design Award is considered one of the most prestigious design awards in the world. TWIN was selected from among 11,000 applications submitted by 57 countries and assessed by a panel of 132 members, made up of independent experts from all over the world.
Twin is a wearable autonomous robotic device , that allows people with full or partial spinal injuries to walk again. Its technology is capable of assessing rehabilitative progress and setting the level of assistance at all times; it uses the patient’s residual movement to help them walk, intervening – only if necessary – to support them and help them correctly take steps. When the patient leans forward, Twin moves. To stop, the user moves slightly in the opposite direction, bringing their torso back to an upright position. The “cruising” speed is around 2 or 2.5 km/h, more or less half that of a healthy subject.
Credits: ddpstudio
It is conceived to be used in combination with a wheelchair, at least for now. It makes it possible to move easily from the sitting position to the standing position, can be disassembled and is easy to put on in a few minutes, while remain-ing seated. It is height-adjustable and can support users weighing up to 110 kg.
It is made up of a rigid structure that keeps the patient in an upright position and has 4 motors, two on the hips and two on the knees. The pelvis is a carbon fibre shell containing Twin’s brain and heart – or its control system and batter-ies. Its range allows for up to 4 hours of continuous walking.
It is the fruit of a shared design process which involved a multidisciplinary team of patients, clinicians, researchers, engineers and designers in all phases of its development.
“It is a very long process, which started in 2014 and is still not complete”, says Gabriele Diamanti. “And it is a design-centric project, that is, it’s based on patient needs: in fact, in the initial phase we participated in various focus groups with paraplegic patients and visited their care centres. From there, the mechanical concept was born and then, piece by piece, the technology was implemented.
Various prototypes were created over the years, each being tested with patients to detect problems and opportunities in terms of its implementation. There is still a long road ahead before Twin is completely finalised: “The award-winning prototype has already been surpassed”, adds De Bartolomeis. “For us it is strange, because what seemed novel to eve-ryone else, actually has now newer form and functionality. Since it is a research project, the team is working on a platform that will, over the next three years, give life to solutions with various applications and functions (obviously these cannot be published yet)”.
WOULD YOU GO FOR A WALK, TO THE SUPERMARKET OR TO THE BAR WEARING AN EXOSKELETON?
Once finalised, Twin will undergo clinical trials, certification and then be released to the public. And, once again, it will encounter human beings: how will it be received?
“Working on this project for years and speaking with many people, patients and doctors, we have realised that the response cannot be taken for granted”, says Diamanti."Patients can have preconceptions, which may be either too positive or too negative, in relation to the idea of using an exoskeleton, and this influences test results to a great ex-tent. There are patients who reject it, because they ask themselves: do I need to wear that thing? I can go much faster with my chair that you “bipeds”. Because when it is born, technology is still behind nature. Other patients have a lot of faith in it, because it unlocks the possibility of interacting, looking at people in the eyes at the same height. It is partly down to habit and partly down to attitudes towards innovation. Another major issue is prejudice at the social level: wheelchairs themselves are now considered normal, but 50 years ago everyone would stare at a person going down the street in a wheelchair. Innovation is not only technological, but also cultural. When everyone stares at you while you do your shopping with a robotic exoskeleton, there may be a certain degree of embarrassment. Those who suf-fered their injuries a long time ago also have a different approach to those who have just been injured. And it also de-pends on the type and location of the injury; depending on which vertebrae are involved, it changes the degree of con-trol that one has over their body”.
Diamanti concludes:
“In such a varied and technical working team, the education that we have received at the Politecnico makes us feel at home”.
The Shell Eco-Marathon è un campionato automobilistico storico nato nel 1985, organizzato ogni anno da Shell. I team, composti da studenti, possono correre in due categorie, quante sono le tipologie di veicoli ammesse: UrbanConcept – veicoli simili alle automobili tradizionali, che, in teoria, potrebbero anche essere omologate per il trasporto urbano – e Prototype – prototipi di veicoli leggeri ultra-efficienti. I veicoli possono essere alimentati in qualsiasi modo: combustione interna (benzina, diesel, etanolo), batterie elettriche o celle a combustione di idrogeno.
L’importante non è arrivare prima degli altri (anche se un po’ conta anche quello), ma percorrere la maggiore distanza possibile con l’equivalente di 1 kWh o 1 litro di carburante. L’ingegno sta appunto nel costruire il veicolo che consumi meno di tutti gli altri e, dove ci vuole ingegno, ecco che arrivano gli ingegneri.
http://sem.mecc.polimi.it/
Abbiamo intervistato Emma Patuzzo, studentessa di Mobility Engineering all’ultimo anno e secondo pilota della squadra Team Mecc-e del Politecnico di Milano, che si trova in questo momento nei Paesi Bassi per la prima tappa della Shell Eco-marathon 2022. Dal 31 maggio al 3 giugno infatti si corre al TT Circuit Assen, dove farà il suo debutto la nuova macchina del Team, Asteria, per conquistare il titolo di Urban Concept più efficiente dal punto di vista energetico.
“Vince il veicolo che compie un numero prestabilito di giri alla massima velocità ottimizzando meglio i consumi, che vengono calcolati tramite telemetria”, ci spiega Patuzzo. Alla domanda “quanto prevedete di consumare?”, risponde: “Sono dati che non possiamo ancora rivelare. Ne saprete di più dopo i test e le prove libere ufficiali.
Emma Patuzzo con Apollo
È dal 2019 che il campionato non si teneva dal vivo, quindi c’è grande aspettativa. Quale clima vi aspettate ai box?, chiediamo a Patuzzo. “I primi giorni clima c’è un rilassato, si punta a cercare la prestazione migliore della macchina. Quando però il gioco si fa serio e cominciamo a vedere il podio che si avvicina, c’è una certa agitazione. Nel 2019 il Poli aveva corso a Brookland Circuit, UK, con il predecessore di Asteria, Leto, che fece il quarto posto. Il clima era molto teso”. Chi sono quelli da battere? “Noi puntiamo al podio e nel 2019 ci siamo andati veramente molto vicini. In questo momento, la Francia è il nostro rivale principale”. Com’è stare lì dentro? “Caldo. Caldissimo. È molto emozionante, è qualcosa che abbiamo costruito noi dall’inizio alla fine. Chiaramente ci hanno aiutati gli sponsor: il principale è Mako Shark, che ci aiuta con la laminazione e la costruzione dello chassis”. Patuzzo è all’ultimo anno, le chiediamo quali siano i suoi piani per il futuro. “In questo momento sono in lista per un team di Formula 1, sto finendo i colloqui. Altrimenti ho altre prospettive sul campo della guida autonoma, che è anche l’argomento della mia tesi”.
I membri del team al lavoro su Asteria
Nel 2010 il Poli ha fatto il record mondiale di efficienza nella categoria Prototype sul circuito Rockingham Motor Speedway, UK. Il prototipo Apollo, alimentato a energia solare, ha percorso 796 km/kWh. Il record rimane ad oggi imbattuto.
Amedeo Felisa, Alumnus Mechanical Engineering 1970, starting from May 2022 is the new CEO of Aston Martin,an appointment that comes after 26 years of career in leadership roles at Ferrari - including 8 years as CEO - where he also became the engineering and product-development force behind every new model.
Speaking of the new role taken on by the Alumnus, Aston Martin Executive Chairman Martin LawrenceStroll ha dichiarato a Reuters that
“Nobody knows how to make ultra-luxury performance cars better than Amedeo,”
and that he has been appointed to lead the British brand to ensure that the company focuses “on the bigger picture.”
Mr. Felisa will guide Aston Martin towards the launch its first 100% electric model in 2025 and to convert all production to electric by 2030. The whole production chain is expected to become carbon neutral by 2039.
During the next few years, researchers at Politecnico di Milano will deal with “burning” issues such as global warming, energy transition, ethical application of decision algorithms and many other themes that will have a big impact on society and all our lives.
This is the case of 17 young researchers who have recently arriveD at our University departments thanks to a “Marie Curie Postdoctoral FellowshipS”: a European scholarship for young scientists dealing with crucial themes on an international level. Each young researcher will be looked after by a supervisor, that is a professor or researcher expert in the subject, who will help the MSCA grantee to develop the research project and enhance their training.
Let’s find out what they will be dealing with:
HOW TO SAVE ENERGY?
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Wietse M. Boon
Usando tecniche di deep-learning, Wietse M. Boon vuole sviluppare nuovi e più efficienti modelli per descrivere e prevedere il comportamento del flusso nel sottosuolo per capire come stoccare energia da fonti rinnovabili in modo sicuro. Boon è uno dei ricercatori che si sono appoggiati alla MSCA Master Class del Politecnico, un percorso che affianca i migliori post-doc da tutto il mondo che vogliono candidarsi a un grant Marie Curie e scelgono il nostro Ateneo come host institution: “La masterclass mi ha insegnato come allineare la mia proposta con gli obiettivi principali della MSCA Individual Fellowship e mi ha dato preziosi consigli”.
COOLER CITIES
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Nicola Colaninno, 43 years
MultiCAST: Multiscale Thermal-related Urban Climate Analysis and Simulation Tool
2022-2025
Funding: € 251,002.56
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN STUDIES (DASTU)
Colaninno will deal with the phenomenon known as Urban Heat Island and will develop a decision-making support system for climate planning and design with the aim of making cities livable during the summer months. The system will be tested in three urban areas in Los Angeles, Amsterdam and Milan.
ULTRAFAST PARTICLES AND PROCESSES
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Maurizio Reduzzi, 33 years
HETRUSQ: HETeRoaromatic biomolecules Ultrafast Spectroscopy in liQuids
Genco studies polaritons, particles that can be exploited to obtain coherent light sources (laser) with innovative and low threshold materials that require very little energy: “The potential for the world of telecommunications and computing, for example, is very promising both in terms of speed and environmental impact.” Find out more
CAN AN ALGORITHM BE “FAIR”?
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“The way in which data is looked at gives different results. And not only in terms of scientific considerations but also on a moral level. Our ideas, our values dictate how we read data to extract a judgment about the fairness of the algorithm.” Find out more
RENEWABLE ENERGIES AND INTERMITTENCE ISSUES
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Mark A. Bajada, 30 years old
SSEFR: Single-Site Electrocatalytic Flow Reactor for C-C Coupling
2021-2023
Funding: € 171,473.28
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY, MATERIAL AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING “GIULIO NATTA” (DCMC)
Keywords: catalysis; flow chemistry; green chemistry
Bajada aims to identify and create new materials able to convert energy from renewable sources into chemical energy to solve the intermittence issues associated with renewable energy. Find out more
SLEEP CRISIS
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Diletta De Cristofaro, 34 years old
SCRAPS: writing the Sleep CRisis: 24/7 cAPitalism and neoliberal Subjectivity
2021-2024
Funding: € 257,209.92
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN STUDIES (DASTU)
Supervisor: Simona Chiodo
Keywords: sleep crisis; mhealth; philosophy of technology
SCRAPS will study the phenomenon that doctors and psychologists throughout the world call the “sleep crisis.” De Cristofaro will analyze works of fiction, nonfiction and digital culture to investigate the impact of lead times on health and the relationship between individual health and neoliberal ideologies. Find out more
EXTRACTING PRECIOUS METALS FROM COMETS
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Mirko Trisolini, 32 years old
CRADLE: Collecting Asteroid-Orbiting Samples: enabling a safer, sustainable, and autonomous exploration of asteroids
2021-2023
Funding: € 229,704.64
DEPARTMENT OF AEROSPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (DAER)
Keywords: asteroid exploration; asteroid dust particle dynamics; dust in-orbit collection
Trisolini will work to develop an innovative and autonomous system to extract rare and precious materials which may be found inside asteroids and comets. “I chose Politecnico di Milano as my host institution for the technical experience and background of the research group and the long-standing international collaborations they have access to.” Find out more
PREVENTING THE RISKS OF SOIL EXPLOITATION
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Michele Botti, 30 years old
PDGeoFF: Polyhedral Discretisation Methods for Geomechanical Simulation of Faults and Fractures in Poroelastic Media
Thanks to numerical simulations it is possible to predict the effects of soil exploitation. The PDGeoFF project aims to develop a mathematical and numerical framework to prevent the risks linked to various human geological activities such as the production of geothermal energy and the collection and storage of CO2.
CLIMATE CHANGE RESISTANT AGRICULTURE
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Sandra Ricart, 37 anni
MODFaBe: Modelling individual farmer behaviours in Coupled Human Natural Systems under changing climate and society
2020-2022
Funding: € 171,473.28
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS, INFORMATION AND BIOENGINEERING (DEIB)
Supervisor: Andrea Castelletti
Keywords: Farmers; Climate change; Modelling; Behaviour; Muzza system
Increasing temperatures, diminishing rainfall, flooding and drought are threatening agricultural productivity. Ricart creates models that describe the behavior of farmers and aims to understand how these models can make farming sustainable, flexible and adaptable to changes in climate.
NANO-ANTENNAS FOR SECOND HARMONIC GENERATION
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Thorsten Feichtner, 40 anni
PoSHGOAT: Potential-dependent Second-Harmonic Generation in Optical Antennas measured Time-resolved
2020-2021
Finanziamento 137.604,96
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS (DFIS)
Supervisor: Paolo Biagioni
Keywords: Optical antenna; Plasmonics; Second harmonic generation
Second harmonic generation is an optical process with promising applications in spectroscopy, ultrafast optical switching and optical processing of information. Feichtner is studying how to maximize generation by constructing electric contact nano-antennas with ultra-thin points and ultra-small clearances as well as developing numerical models to optimize the geometries of nano-particles.
BIOGAS AT THE CENTER OF ENERGY TRANSITION
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Imteyaz Alam, 37 anni
Biogas2Syngas: Rational Design for Coke-resistant Dry Reforming Catalyst using Combined Theory and Operando Raman Experiments
Biogas is an important energy source that plays a central role in the energy revolution. The Biogas2Syngas project researches and develops technology and models to exploit this resource and deals with some of its main challenges, such as improving the life-cycle and performance of catalyzers.
LOOKING AT MOLECULES FROM VERY CLOSE UP
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Ghosh is developing a new-generation spectroscopic technique which is highly sensitive to the three-dimensional structure of bio-molecules, to observe their movement in real time while their structure changes during a biological process. Among the various applications, in the field of structural chemistry, this technique will create tools which can be used in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and DNA photodamage.
OBTAINING HYDROCARBONS FROM METHANOL
Torstein Fjermestad, 41 anni
EMPaTHY: use of multiscale modElling to Minimize coke ProducTion during the methanol-to- HYdrocarbon process
2019-2021
Funding: € 171,473.28
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DENG)
Supervisor: Matteo Maestri
Keywords: Multiscale modelling; Computational fluid dynamics; Molecular dynamics; Density functional theory calculations
Methanol can replace fossil fuels as a source of valid hydrocarbons, offering a pathway towards more sustainable fuels and chemical products. This process has been known since the 1970s but has only been employed on an industrial level during the last decade and it has yet to overcome a number of technical challenges which Fjermestad will deal with thanks to the EMPaTHY project.
AN ORGAN-ON-CHIP MODEL FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS
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Paola Occhetta, 34 years old
uKNEEversal: a miniaturized 3D in vitro model of human joint to gain new knowledge on Osteoarthritis pathophysiology
2019-2021
Funding: € 171,473.28
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS, INFORMATION AND BIOENGINEERING (DEIB)
Supervisor: Marco Rasponi
Keywords: Organs-on-Chip; Osteoarthritis; In vitro models
Occhetta will use organ-on-chip technology to create the model of a joint affected by osteoarthritis which will recreate the complexity of this disease. It will also be used to study the mechanisms that affect the joint and the response to medication.
AUTONOMOUS SPACE GUIDANCE
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Gabriella Gaias, 41 anni
ReMoVE: Rendezvous Modelling Visiting and Enhancing
2019-2021
Funding: € 168,277.20
DEPARTMENT OF AEROSPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (DAER)
Supervisor: Marco Lovera
Keywords: Active debris removal; Multi-satellite mission; Spacecraft guidance navigation and control
Gaias is developing a technological solution to remove large faulty satellites polluting strategic orbits around the Earth. The biggest challenge is the development of a space navigation and guidance control system which is autonomous, robust and advanced. Gaias will be collaborating with D-Orbit, a leader in the sector and founded by the Alumnus, Luca Rossettini.
GHOSTS IN THE OPERATING ROOM
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Antonio Forte, 36 anni
ALPHA-STEM: Advanced Laboratory Phantoms for Soft Tissues in Engineering and Medicine
2018-2021
Finanziamento 244.269,00
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS, INFORMATION AND BIOENGINEERING (DEIB)
Until today, training surgeons has presented a number of limitations. A potential solution is the use of artificial synthetic models, also known as “Phantoms”: reproductions of human parts and organs which allow surgeons to practice positioning anatomical structures and hand coordination. Forte aims to improve these supports with reliable tactile feedback and deformation models of real tissues.
From 2014 to now
Overall, 24 MSCA researchers have chosen Politecnico di Milano as their “host institution.” . They have received about 4 and a half million Euros in funding from the European Commission and their work has generated scientific papers, new lines of research and consolidated important international scientific collaborations. The researchers below have completed their MSCA projects, some have continued their research in our laboratories, among these is Edoardo Albisetti, from the department of Physics, who has recently won an ERC grant. Others have moved to other universities throughout the world, taking a piece of Politecnico di Milano DNA with them.
Courtesy of Servizio Ricerca Politecnico di Milano
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