Ruggero Vigliaturo is the winner of the single Italian selection of Falling Walls 2015, which was hosted by the University of Trento for second consecutive year. His project was selected today, between the eleven admitted, by a technical jury during the initiative held at the Kessler room at the Department of Sociology and Social Research. Vigliaturo will be able to present his research project in Berlin on November 8 (on the eve of the 26th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall) in front of an international audience, together with the other 99 finalists coming from the other Countries participating to the competition. At the Italian selection, eight of the eleven eligibles were present.
Ruggero Vigliaturo, PhD in Natural Science of the University of Torino, has convinced the jury with the project “Bacterial Nanoindustrial production”: a research aimed at demonstrating how through bio-mineralogy it is possible to produce industrial nanotechnologies, useful to strengthen microsurgery and production of micro devices.
This is an opportunity for brilliant young minds, which has attracted 22 enrolment registrations from Italy and abroad. To participate the candidates must be not over 35 years of age, to be a student currently pursuing a 5-year degree or a master of science, PhD, post-doc in any educational field, moreover young professionals, scientists and entrepreneurs are also admitted.
“Great mind, 3 minutes, 1 day” (this is the initiative motto): to present the project to the jury, the candidates has 3 minutes available. To select the project was the jury, made up of representatives of the academia, entrepreneurs and researchers, among them Nicola Pugno (previous speaker at Falling Walls of Berlino and representative of the initiative for the University of Trento, Federico Della Croce (director of the Department of Control and Computer Engineering), Marco Sardina (Director R&D and Open Innovation of Zambon SpA), Sara Spilimbergo (professor at the University of Padova) and Anna Tampieri (Research manager at CNR-ISTEC).
Falling Walls: the initiative
Inspired by the changes brought by the fall of the Berlin wall, the first Falling Walls Lab was held in Berlin in 2011 and, following its success, the Falling Walls Foundation, in collaboration with A.T. Kearney (an internationally established consulting firm) and Festo (an international leader in automation), decided to re-propose the same format the following year, at a worldwide level. This year as usual, the contest foresees a first phase during which the participating Countries select the best ideas at the local level, and a second phase, which is held as is already the practice, November 8 in Berlin, where the 100 finalists, coming from all over the world, are compared. Between the ideas presented during the final, the most innovative idea will be chosen.
There are not educational constrains: the proposed innovations can target agriculture as much as economy, medicine, engineering, human sciences, in order to favour dialogue between different areas of human knowledge. The winner of the final will have the opportunity to intervene the day after, November 9, anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, at the Falling Walls Conference, a convention organised every year by the foundation, taking inspiration by this historical event which changed the world. The conference gathers innovators coming from 75 Countries and about twenty scientists among the most influential of our times, that will explain their avant-guard research by answering at the question “ which will be the next walls to fall?”. By BBC, it is here «the most brilliant brains of our planet» meet. The goal of the Falling Walls Conference is to connect the world of science with the innovation industry, with politics, with the media and culture. Another aim is to identify new trends, the opportunities and solutions for global challenges, to make research more understandable to the vast majority and finally to open the dialogue between two generations of innovators: young and senior.
The travel and lodging costs to the final of the Trento candidate will be covered by the University of Trento in collaboration with Falling Walls Lab Foundation, A.T. Kearney (Founding Partner) e Festo (Global Partner).
Further information: www.unitn.it/fallingwalls-trento