Mrs. Ornella Dogliotti Vigliani, wife of the late Piergiorgio Vigliani, engineer, decided to support university activities with a donation when she found, in an initiative of the University of Trento, the same vision of engineering of her husband, who passed in July 2017.
It seemed to her that it would have been a great way to keep the memory of her husband alive and to recognize his efforts for environmental protection.
The 75,000 euro donation will benefit Seed - Summer course in Environmental Engineering for Development, a multi-year programme in engineering for young students organized by the Unesco Chair in Engineering for sustainable human development of the University of Trento.
The agreement was signed this morning by Mrs. Ornella Dogliotti Vigliani at Palazzo Sardagna, home to the Rectorate of the University of Trento. Her daughters Speranza and Carlotta, and her grandchildren Sofia Boringhieri (Speranza's daughter) and Orlando Napolitani (Carlotta's son), were also present, united in this decision.
Paolo Collini, Rector of the University of Trento, expressed his gratitude and was satisfied that the donation will benefit the environment and an innovative academic programme.
The meeting provided the occasion to remember Piergiorgio Vigliani, a brilliant engineer from Milan who, starting in the 1960s, introduced important innovations in the area of environmental protection and pollution prevention and remediation.
He graduated from Politecnico in Milan in 1960 and worked in England and in the United States, at Nasa and at the Environment Protection Agency-Epa. His employer, Torno, sent him to Turkey to oversee the construction of an important dam. On his return to Italy, he established Tei (Tecniche eliminazione inquinamenti), the first Italian company specialized in environmental engineering. He understood and defended, at least 20 years ahead of others, the principles of environmental sustainability, the limits of development and the need to harmonize human activities with the protection and safeguard of ecosystems.
Finally, a few words were added from the Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering of the University, with Guido Zolezzi who described the purpose of the Unesco Chair in Engineering for sustainable human development, of which he is the head, and Marco Bezzi, who is responsible for project-based internships in international cooperation settings, and also gave an overview of the programme that will receive the donation (Seed – Summer course in Environmental Engineering for Development).
You can find all the details in the press release