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Alumna Grazia Vittadini is the new CTO of Rolls-Royce

Posted on 20 October 2021 | by admin

Grazia Vittadini, Alumna Ingegneria Aeronautica 1998, is the new Chief Technical Officer chosen by Rolls-Royce .

After almost 20 years of career in Airbus, from 2 November Vittadini will join the British group that produces engines for aircraft, ships and turbines for energy production , and then definitively assumes the role of CTO at the end of the first quarter of 2022.

Last year in the book “ Alumnae. Engineer and Technologies " told us:

“Today we face a great environmental challenge, this is also a field in which my work can have a positive impact . One of the most important objectives of my work, in fact, is to arrive at solutions for zero impact flight, lowering fuel consumption as much as possible".

A JOURNEY TOWARDS ZERO EMISSION WITH ROLLS-ROYCE

The Italian technology expert switches to Rolls-Royce at the strong will of its CEO, Warren East , as reported by an article in Sole24Ore .

“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Grazia Vittadini. He brings with him his broad expertise in emerging and disruptive technologies that will help us on our journey to net zero emissions and further expand digital innovation. He also has many years of experience working with our core technologies and has a deep understanding of the safety-critical systems that are at the heart of our product portfolio ”.

Warren East vittadini — Credits: thisismoney.co.uk

The choice of the Alumna is thanks to the long experience that in Airbus has seen her leading innovative projects to apply new sustainable technologies to fly with "zero emissions" , such as electrification and hydrogen propulsion , but also digitalization, artificial intelligence, autonomous driving and the use of advanced materials, creating a diversified and high-performance technological organization .

Vittadini's goal within the British company will therefore be to guide Rolls-Royce's research and development towards the creation of less polluting engines, an extremely important step, as Alumna herself pointed out:

"I appreciate the opportunity to join the Rolls-Royce family and continue its drive to connect, nurture and protect society. The commitment to ensuring that all new products are compatible with net-zero operations by 2030 is bold and I look forward to making it, together with the exceptional Rolls-Royce teams around the world."

Girls@Polimi: with a voluntary donation (you choose the amount!) you can contribute alongside other donors to the creation of scholarships that support one or more female students enrolling on the first year of the Laurea Magistrale (Equivalent to Master of Science) programmes in Engineering, which currently have low female representation. Give now

Credits home: www.wsj.com/
Credits header: www.flightglobal.com/

Expo Dubai 2020: learn more about the initiatives of Politecnico

Posted on 15 October 2021 | by admin

With the inauguration of October 1, 2021, Politecnico di Milano became part of Expo Dubai 2020 as a partner of the Italian Pavilion at the universal exhibition. In this capacity, it will organize important events that will touch on various topics: aerospace technologies, architecture and design, education for female empowerment.

By involving teachers, alumni and students , the Politecnico thus makes available its skills in the fields of creativity and innovation, thanks to its experience as coordinator of research networks at national level and strong links with the Italian industrial system.

Among the next scheduled appointments, we point out the forum Space4Sustainability of October 18th , where astronauts, innovators and internationally renowned scientific personalities will discuss of the most significant implications of space exploration on sustainability, health and well-being, safety.

Among the experts, there will also be professor Annalisa Dominoni and professor Benedetto Quaquaro, professors of the Space Design course at the Politecnico di Milano, who at 5.00 pm will speak in the panel "Design in Orbit" (click here to watch the event).

Dominoni e Quaquaro sono stati anche ospiti di uno dei nostri Digital Talks, che vi consigliamo di recuperare.

INNOVATION HOUSE: THE "OUTSIDE EXPO" POLITECNICO

Outside the Expo, on THE 1st of October the Innovation House was inaugurated, the "house of Politecnico" stemming from the collaboration between the Lombardy Region and the Milan Polytechnic Foundation (we talked about it here).

Located a few steps from the Dubai Universal Exposition site, Innovation House is the place to be of polytechnic origin, a sort of "Fuori Expo" , in the footsteps of the Fuori Salone, where companies from all over the world are invited to become partners to organize events, business, cultural and convivial meetings, open new connections, generate new business ideas in a context with a target of millions of international visitors.

Here all Alumni and all Alumnae are welcome together with the companies they represent and for who they work: the Innovation House is designed to be a support center for all the realities that share the DNA and principles of Politecnico. An opportunity to create a system and continue to cultivate a unique ecosystem in terms of excellence and innovative capabilities , together with companies and institutions (read here to find out more).

Credits header and home: Massimo Sestini

$leonardo drone contest home\$

Artificial Intelligence: first place for Politecnico at Leonardo Drone Contest

Posted on 13 October 2021 | by admin

Politecnico di Milano, after the victory last year, also won the second edition of the “Leonardo Drone Contest. An Open Innovation Challenge ", a unique competition in Italy, launched by Leonardo to promote the development of Artificial Intelligence applied to the field of unmanned systems . It is part of a three-year experimental project that will close in 2022 and puts the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Uav) under the spotlight , remotely piloted aircraft, to develop new technologies and feed the ecosystem made up of companies, SMEs and universities.

The competition was held in several sessions from 28 to 30 September in Turin, in the headquarters of the Leonardo Aircraft division, where the teams of Politecnico di Milano, Politecnico di Torino, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna competed. Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies of Pisa, University of Rome Tor Vergata and University of Naples Federico II.

The Politecnico team, winner of the second edition of the Leonardo Drone Contest
(Credits: wired.it)

Each team has deployed a drone with the task of collecting, through photos and videos, information to allow the planning of the landing mission. The drones, therefore, with the information received, moved autonomously between buildings and areas with reduced visibility to complete their mission. The Polytechnic team, led by the PhD student Gabriele Roggi, developed the autonomous navigation, trajectory planning, collision avoidance and landing systems for the drone ROG-2 , developed in collaboration with the spin off of the Poly ANT-X .

" The performances of the teams in the race have improved dramatically and we are seeing how all the objectives set at the birth of the" Drone Contest " are progressively becoming reality", commented Laurent Sissmann, Senior Vice President Unmanned Systems at Leonardo . "Thanks to the three-year course of the competition we intend to create a fruitful collaboration to feed the network of companies, SMEs and Universities, as well as wanting to stimulate the entrepreneurial talent of the young participants which will lead to the birth of start-ups in the sector" .

Several newspaper reported on the event, among notable ones: Il Giorno e Wired.

Among the most important university competitions, we also point out the imminent final of the Indy Autonomous Challenge , which we also talked about in issue 9 of MAP, on page 28.

With a donation of € 30,000, you help support a doctoral student for all three years of his or her research path. Scholarships for PhD students are awarded each year in November on the basis of merit criteria. Donate now.

Credits header: www.quadricottero.com
Credits home: wired.it

Women’s Forum G20 - hosted at Politecnico di Milano

Posted on 13 October 2021 | by admin

The Politecnico di Milano on 18 and 19 October 2021 will host the Women's Forum G20 Italy "A She Covery for all", a series of events, conferences and discussions that bring center the female world as the engine of the pandemic recovery (read more about the program).

The G20 Italy Women's Forum was born on the occasion of the first Italian Presidency of the G20 to promote dialogue between public and private international decision-making leaders and develop concrete proposals and solutions under the banner of "She-Covery" .

The recommendations elaborated through the interventions of international speakers and participants will be discussed at the G20 tables where, in addition to gender issues, the main opportunities for relaunching the country will be addressed to make women protagonists of the new global challenges: from inclusive technology, new jobs of the future, ethical and responsible finance to urgent issues such as climate change and access to health.

Women’s Forum G20 Italy — Credits: www.events.womens-forum.com

POLITECNICO TO HOST THE WOMEN'S FORUM

The Politecnico di Milano will be the "home" of the Forum for its Milanese days. Diversity and equal opportunities have long been considered two strategic objectives for the University, as they are indispensable factors for the objectives of excellence in education, research and professional growth of students.

On Monday 18 October Rector Ferruccio Resta will participate in “ Educating in a disrupted world: the Champions who attract girls in STEM” , a panel that aims to deepen the gender gap that exists in the world of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and how to bridge it through school education and beyond.

ferruccio resta women's forum g20 — Credits: www.facebook.com/womensforum

Women's Forum G20 Italy is a project that, as underlined Chiara Corazza , Special Delegate for the G7 and G20 of the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society: "aims at guiding economic and social recovery with strength and determination, promoting new models of public and private leadership that leave no one behind and focus on diversity and She Covery to propose a paradigm shift in which women will be increasingly protagonists, together with men, in the restart of the country ".

By virtue of the fundamental role that the Alumni community plays in spreading the principles of Politecnico around the world, participation in the online Women’s Forum G20 Italy is free for all Alumni and Alumnae.

BOOK HERE YOUR VIRTUAL PARTECIPATION

Credits header: Photo by Maksym Harbar on Unsplash

Politecnico and Save The Duck join forces to award a dissertation on sustainable fashion

Posted on 12 October 2021 | by admin

5.000 euros for the best dissertation of a student of Politecnico di Milano on sustainability in the fashion sector: Save The Duck, the famous brand producing 100% animal free duvets, awards a graduation prize in collaboration with the Sustainable luxury academy of the School of Management of Politecnico, which was assigned to Eleonora Coira , Alumna of Design for the Fashion System 2020 .

Coira, Alumna of twenty-seven years from Como, won the award with a dissertation entitled "Designing circularity - Design strategies for the integration of circular economy models in the fashion system" , which touched on the two central themes of the Save the Duck call:

"I believe that the fact that the announcement for the degree award was expressly focused on the themes of Circular Economy and biomaterials , two topics that I discuss in my thesis and that, in a certain way, also become a cornerstone for promoting positive design approaches and sustainable innovation in fashion " , says Coira.

The prize was awarded by a jury made up of some representatives of the Save the Duck brand and the School of Management of the Politecnico id Milano , including professor Alessandro Brun and doctor Silvia Mazzanti , Product and Sustainability Manager of Save The Duck, who chose Eleonora's thesis among twenty other candidates .

save the duck eleonora coira — Eleonora Coira

A SUSTAINABLE DESIGNER

"Coming from a scientific background but having an artistic nature since childhood, I felt that I had a university path that could allow me to explore my creative side without giving up a scientific-technological approach of innovation. Studying Design at Politecnico taught me to express my point of view and my ideas in a unique and representative way, to persevere and pursue my goals. "

Even after graduation, sustainable design for fashion products remains a central theme for Alumna's work and interests:

"When I grow up - concludes Coira - I would like to work in a role that can bring together my passion for innovation and creative industries with my design and analytical skills, in the pursuit of objectives that can improve the conditions in which we live and consume, with a view to a positive and conscious future".

With a free donation (you choose the amount!) you contribute together with other donors to create scholarships that will be used to accompany many students on their university path. Give now.

GIFT, the Polisocial project to realize "Sport for all"

Posted on 8 October 2021 | by admin

Making sure that sport becomes truly for everyone and a tool for social inclusion for children with motor disabilities: this is the goal pursued by the researchers of the GIFT - EnGIneering For sporT for all project, which recently presented the results of their work over the past 18 months.

GIFT has focused its activities on 19 hemiplegic children attending primary school. The project followed two paths: technological research , which developed innovative orthoses (medical devices used in orthopedics or traumatology in the treatment of certain pathologies) which, by correcting the functional deficit of hemiplegic children, allowed them to approach sports practice trying to cover most of the motor and cognitive disabilities; social research , which then involved families, teachers and sports associations so that these children could really do sports, reducing the distance that exists today between those we call able-bodied and disabled.

The project was a success: the next step will be to generate a concrete impact , which goes beyond the 19 hemiplegic children of the various Lombard schools who have been involved in the experimentation of innovative orthoses.

progetto GIFT — Credits: www.som.polimi.it

A POLISOCIAL PROJECT

Politecnico di Milano has made available € 570,000 - raised through the funds of 5 for mille - to finance projects on the topic of “Sport and Social Inclusion” with the aim of making a concrete contribution to improving the quality of life of citizens, combining scientific research and social commitment. Among these also the GIFT project, which received part of the funds ( € 90,000 ) qualifying as one of the winners of the Polisocial Award 2019 .

"GIFT - declared professor Manuela Galli of the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering of the Politecnico and scientific director of the project - wants to be a gift for all children with functional limitations . The orthoses that are used have indications relating to restraint of the lower limb with support for walking: when it is used in a situation other than walking, such as running, the prescription for use is exited ".

The research project was developed by the Interdepartmental Laboratory E4Sport of Politecnico di Milano and saw the involvement of partners such as the Association La Nostra Famiglia - IRCCS "Eugenio Medea", the Catholic University of Milan, ITOP, BTS, Math & Sport, Edumoto, Yuki Onlus and various sports associations.

"Understanding how sport and sporting activity can generate value for society and for the economic-productive system is today a priority to promote a change of perspective, recognizing that sport and sporting activity do not they are only 'fun', but they are an important investment - and to be protected - for the well-being of society and its competitiveness " explains Emanuele Lettieri , full professor of Accounting, Finance & Control and project manager of the GIFT project.

Credits header: Photo by Anna Earl on Unsplash

Giorgio Panichi: the youngest bachelor graduate of Italy is an Alumnus of Politecnico

Posted on 6 October 2021 | by admin

His name is Giorgio Panichi , he was born in 2001, and on his twentieth birthday he graduated from Politecnico in Physical Engineering, becoming the youngest graduate in Italy.

Growing up in Ascoli Piceno, he attended first year school and graduated from high school in the fourth year, while he was attending the year abroad in the United States. He then moved to Milan very young, completing his degree course in three years, with a thesis entitled «Design and optimization of waveguides in planar and three-dimensional technology» , focused on microchips that they use light instead of current to transmit data, which are functional for the development of quantum computers.

The choice of Physical Engineering at Politecnico was almost obvious, as he himself told in an interview with Open :

"Physics has made me fall in love since I met her in high school. Even as a child I remember watching lessons on YouTube. The Politecnico di Milano not only has a very good history and reputation, but it offered this course in Physical Engineering which brought together some very interesting topics ”.

A FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT POLITECNICO AND THE FUTURE

Giorgio's plans for the future : “I will continue in the master's degree and then with some other Masters. I hope to work in the field of quantum computers ”.

We have asked him to explain to us what are the most important lessons he has learned at the Politecnico both inside and outside the course of study, and he has clear ideas: “I learned to put a lot of effort right away and to compare myself with my classmates to study”. And, as for the advice he is feeling to give to new students now that the semester has just begun, he has no doubts: “Spend a lot of time at Politecnico meet new people and have a lot of new experiences!”.

With a free donation (you choose the amount!) You contribute together with other donors to create scholarships that will be used to accompany many students on their university path Donate now .

Italian successful women: the two Alumnae of the latest Forbes' list

Posted on 4 October 2021 | by admin

Who's who lists are all the rage: whether they are ike it or not, their a way to take a picture of a reality in a simple and immediate way, giving readers the tools to explore the topic. In the last few weeks we have talked about the Forbes list of Italian Under 30s , which counts 11 young innovators of Politecnico, and that of La Repubblica dei IT security guru in Italy , in which 4 Alumni of great international prestige make their appearance.

Today we talk about a new Forbes' list of the Italian women who most had a positive impact in their field in 2021 . Alongside sports and creatives, there are also managers, entrepreneurs and scientists . It is the fourth consecutive year in which Forbes Italia celebrates the 100 successful Italian women ( these are those of 2020: can you find the Alumnae of Politecnico? ).

TWO ALUMNAE IN THE FORBES LIST 2021: PEOPLE'S LEADERS, BEFORE COMPANIES

Emanuela Trentin ( Alumna of managing engineering) is CEO of Siram Veolia , a multinational group with a hundred years of history that operates in the energy resource management sector. In Italy you have almost three thousand workers and closed 2019 with a turnover of 700 million euros. " target= how to save resources and energy. Especially in hospitals ", she headlines La Repubblica Economia in an in-depth study of 2020, to which Trentin declares:" I believe that the success of companies is based on organization. The perfect one, drawn on paper does not exist, it must be adapted to people “.

Of Virginia Magliulo (Alumna ing. Elettronica) speaks Monza Today, which describes her as “ one of the 100 world wonder women ”. Magliulo has an international career behind her (she worked as a construction engineer in London, Paris, Strasbourg and Israel) and rapid growth: she joined ADP in 2015 and became general manager of ADP Italy in 5 months , general manager of the entire southern European area in 2017 and President Global View HCM in 2019. Today he leads over 1,000 people.

Always involved in the fight against wage inequality, in an interview said :" I believe that in Italian companies there is still a good step to take so that they truly become a mirror of society ". Because, argues Magliulo, companies change if people change. This is the message that she passes in her contribution to the Alumni book " TOWARDS 2099 - 87 Tips from the great Alumni of the Politecnico di Milano ”, where he describes the role of young people in bringing companies closer to new consumer trends on a global scale.

By supporting the GIRLS @ POLIMI project you can contribute together with other donors to create scholarships to support girls enrolling in engineering degree courses with low female attendance. Donate now .

Milan "turns" green with a zero-impact project by Alumnus Marzorati

Posted on 1 October 2021 | by admin

An" urban turning point ", as defined by Corriere della Sera , that took place this week: the first agreement was signed in the context of the projects of the international call for Reinventing cities for the 'Terme di San Siro' in the former stables De Montel. “For the first time”, writes the journalist Giacomo Valtolina, "a scheme of agreements between public and private has been developed that includes a series of environmental characteristics (energy consumption, monitoring, compensation systems, reforestation, use of sp environmentally friendly materials) and social (usability of services for the vulnerable) structured ". “It is a new era for the city of the future” explains Gianluca Zanella at the helm of the Vicom project. “Teamwork and ideas - adds Maran - Virtuous competitions work”.

marzorati terme — Credits: www.milano.corriere.it/

A POLITECNICO PROJECT

The terme di San Siro also represent the contribution of one of the great architects and Alumni of the Politecnico di Milano towards a greener and more inclusive future for the city . The spa project is signed by Alumnus Giancarlo Marzorati , founder of the studio Studio Marzorati Architettura (we talked about him in issue 3 of MAP on page 66 ). It provides for the conservation of the historic buildings of the stables, redeveloping the Liberty decorations of the facades, and to use the presence of thermal waters in the subsoil to create the Terme di Milano. A large urban park will also be built.

Giancarlo Marzorati — Credits: www.modulo.net

ZERO EMISSION GOAL

The bulding site will be delivered in 2023 . According to the project, it will be the largest Italian spa complex in a large city, but, above all, the first green spa in Europe, with zero CO2 emissions . The core of energy generation at the San Siro spa and SPA will be represented by renewable sources : 110 m2 of solar thermal panels capable of covering 24% of the needs of domestic hot water, for production of energy equal to 84,914 kWh / year. The latest generation photovoltaic panels will also be installed on all the pitches of the new building with favorable exposure, with a minimum efficiency of 21%, for the production of 72.9 kW peak. This system will be able to produce 76,827 kWh / year of electricity ( source here ) .

IMAGINING CITIES

The company that will develop the project, J + S Srl (in turn led by two Alumni, Andrea Iannone and Federico Pella ), was the winner of Reinventing cities , international tender launched by Milan together with the network of green cities . The goal is to promote the regeneration of abandoned and degraded sites by applying policies and programs aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the damage caused by climate change . Today the C40 network, of which Milan is a part, has about 100 urban centers all over the world : among the major responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, cities are also important innovation hubs that can find solutions to the climate issue.

If you are one of the more than 200,000 former students of the Politecnico di Milano, with a donation you can help support the activities and events created for all former students of the University. Give Now

Credits header: www.marzoratiarchitettura.it
Credits home: www.modulo.net

The 2021 Giorgio Modena medal awarded to professor Metrangolo

Posted on 29 September 2021 | by admin

Professor Pierangelo Metrangolo , of the Giulio Natta Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering of the Politecnico di Milano has been awarded the 2021 Giorgio Modena Medal .

The award ceremony took place during the XXVII National Congress of the Italian Chemical Society. The Medal, established in 2019, is awarded every two years to honour the memory and work of Giorgio Modena, one of the masters and pioneers of research in organic physical chemistry. The Managing Board of the Division of Organic Chemistry awarded the prestigious honour to Professor Metrangolo for:

"originality and methodological rigour of his research on the chemistry of halogenated compounds. Starting from pioneering studies on weak intermolecular interactions based on halogen bonding, his research enabled molecular and supramolecular materials to be fine-tuned resulting in innovative spin-offs and applications in sectors ranging from materials science to biology ".

"This is a great recognition for a scientist working on intermolecular interactions," commented Professor Metrangolo. "And it is an honour that I share with my colleagues in the research group. In particular, with Giuseppe Resnati ((of whom we have spoken on MAP 9, page 40) with whom I had the good fortune to discover something new in chemistry, which will be further studied and researched for decades.”

Metrangolo refers to the halogen bond, discovered by the two scientists of the laboratories of the Department of Chemistry of the Politecnico di Milano in the late 90s, and which represented a real revolution in our understanding of intermolecular bonds. The discovery was then researched further at the Politecnico di Milano also as part of several ERC research projects funded by the European Commission (for example, we have previously mentioned Minires, a new peptide bioelastomer, characterized by exceptional elastomeric properties, in MAP issue 6, on page 31) and developed for industrial application starting in 2017 thanks to Switch2Product (in MAP issue 9, on page 32, we talked about the Innovation Challenge of Politecnico di Milano and how the "technology readiness level" of an invention is developed). .

WHAT IS HALOGEN BONDING?

In 2013, IUPAC defined "halogen bonding" as the the intermolecular interaction involving halogen atoms in a molecule as electron density acceptors. This definition highlighted the similarities of this new intermolecular interaction with commonly known hydrogen bonding, but also the more pronounced directionality of the former. Halogen bonding can now be considered for all intents and purposes as a a new tool for chemists worldwide to design and manufacture new materials and drugs (Figure 1).

Metrangolo said, with a note of irony: "We didn't invent it: nature was already aware of halogen bonding. One of the most significant examples of the use of halogen bonding in nature is the thyroid hormone, thyroxine, , which has 4 iodine atoms in its chemical structure: these interact, via halogen bonding, with biomolecules in our body." The discovery of halogen bonding will help chemists and nanotechnologists design new materials based on this interaction that binds molecules together "as if they were molecular bricks," the researcher explained, "allowing the properties of the material to be modulated: for example, new drugs, from thyroid-supporting drugs to anticancer drugs that bind to the target with halogen bonding, or even for applications in cosmetics and reparative medicine" (Figure 2).

Politecnico awards an honorary degree to Marva Griffin Wilshire

Posted on 27 September 2021 | by admin

"Marva Griffin has demonstrated with her personal history and professional career that she strongly believes in education, study and the possibilities it offers".
These are the reasons listed by Professor Giuseppe Finessi, professor from the Department of Design, during the award ceremony of the honorary degree to Marva Griffin Wilshire.

marva griffin Wilshire — Credits: Politecnico di Milano

The Politecnico di Milano awarded her a master's degree in Product Service System Design - Design for the Product Service System for her contribution to the world of design, having also created the SaloneSatellite.

Since 1998 this event has become the showcase of the Salone del Mobile dedicated to the growth and promotion of designers under 35 and of Universities and Design Schools at national and international level.

“L’attività di Marva Griffin rappresenta in modo emblematico la capacità di comprendere e governare tutte le espressioni e le fasi del design, dall’ideazione allo sviluppo, dalla realizzazione alla diffusione e comunicazione – aggiunge la professoressa Anna Meroni, coordinatrice del Consiglio di corso di studio in Design per il Sistema Prodotto Servizio del Politecnico di Milano -. Un design di cui valorizza contemporaneamente l’aspetto caratterizzante di una cultura, un paese, una generazione e le sue potenzialità industriali e, quindi, le ricadute produttive ed economiche. Sempre alla ricerca di idee, innovazioni, linguaggi e autori capaci di esprimere nuovi orizzonti e visioni, ha fatto e continua fare della loro valorizzazione la sua opera magistrale”.

During the 22 editions, the SaloneSatellite brought to Milan more than 12 thousand emerging talents and 350 schools and universities in the world : "I had only one goal, to help the young people I knew and saw to enter the Milan Furniture Fair . Let their creativity be seen and shown to the world. " said Griffin Wilshire .