The Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Trento celebrated its tenth anniversary with a full day of events at the Fabio Ferrari Science and Technology Campus. This morning’s guests included Giulio Bonazzi of Aquafil, who talked about the circular economy, Paola Dalmasso of SWX Stellantis, who gave a speech on artificial intelligence and autonomous drive technologies, and Fabio Coppo, rugby player and motivational speaker, who switched the topic on soft skills in the world of work. In the afternoon, students were invited to face to face meetings with companies
The Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Trento celebrated today its tenth anniversary with the Industrial Engineering Day, a full day of events organized at the Fabio Ferrari Science and Technology Campus. The department was established in 2012 to create an environment that would be able to generate and transfer knowledge that could be useful to industry and society.
The first results were achieved quickly, as the Italian Ministry of Education and Research included the department in the “Departments of excellence 2018-2022”.
In the past three years, the department participated in thirty European research projects worth 2.3 million euro, and in three research projects of national interest worth another 450,000 euro.
In terms of programmes of study, the department offers an undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering and graduate programmes in Materials Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering, and Management and Industrial Systems Engineering, and has almost 800 students.
It also contributed significantly to innovation and technology transfer, with 296 contracts with industry partners signed between 2019 and 2021 worth about 4.5 million euro. The intense research work has led to the creation of five start-ups: RoboSense and Dolomiti Robotics in industrial automation, Rocitoo on mobility, BioTools in the biomedical sector and K4Sint in the field of powder metallurgy.
“This year the Industrial Engineering Day takes place on a very special day, as we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the department. We have made some changes to the event this time to give students a wider perspective on the world of work and the industrial sector. That is why, in addition to meetings with partner companies, we also give students the opportunity to discuss with them about current topics such as sustainability, energy, production. And, with the special guest speakers we have invited, we are able to focus on the circularity of the economy, the digitization of processes and works of art, the valorization of human resources. Topics that are shaping the future of Industrial Engineering and, therefore, of our department too”, said the director Alessandro Pegoretti.
“I am happy to visit this place, that has been like home to me for many years”, commented Rector Flavio Deflorian. “I am pleased to see so many students attending, and delighted to see so many young women, in a sector that used to have a significant gender imbalance. In my opinion, the industrial world is changing and we must give younger generations the sense of this change. The history of industrial engineering has not been written yet: it is up to you to do it. The department celebrates today ten years of activity. Its establishment was a challenge for the University. Now we must look to the future to understand the huge changes that are occurring at the international level”.
Roberto Busato, director general of Confindustria Trento, added: “The digital and green transitions call for professionals who are capable of managing new technologies along the entire production process. Missing this goal could be fatal for the competitiveness or our region. Unfortunately, Italy is among the European countries with the lowest graduation rates, with the least graduates in stem subjects, and Trentino is fourth from the bottom in Italy. Investments are necessary so that the productive ecosystem can take advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital transition. Initiatives such as the Industrial Engineering Day are a first step towards a new culture and a new approach”.
After the opening addresses, the Industrial Engineering Day continued with the plenary session. Giulio Bonazzi, president and CEO of Aquafil, spoke about the circular economy applied to industrial processes; Paola Dalmasso, product engineering manager at SWX, a branch of Stellantis, expert in autonomous driving technology, talked about sustainable, connected, smart mobility; Fabio Coppo former rugby player and motivational speaker, focused on the values of sport that can be applied to the world of work.
The morning event ended with discussion tables on industry 4.0 and 5.0, sustainability, staff well-being, local and international production, security, energy, research and development, and soft skills.
Students participated in face-to-face meetings with companies in the afternoon. Overall, 23 companies participated in today’s event at the Fabio Ferrari Science and Technology Campus, together with almost 200 registered students.
The full programme of the event can be found on https://sites.google.com/unitn.it/ied2022/programma