ALTA SCUOLA POLITECNICA

Multidisciplinarity and innovation ASP projects Multidisciplinarity and innovation ASP projects 8 Preface

This book marks the completion of the course of studies for the eighth cycle of students of the Alta Scuola Politecnica. Created in 2004, the Alta Scuola Politecnica programme draws on the experience of the Politec- nico di Milano and the Politecnico di Torino, two universities with different histories, conditions and methods, but sharing the desire to offer a highly-innovative course of studies to selected talented students with an interest on multi-disciplinarity. From the outset, this ambitious project aimed to create an axis of learning between Turin and Milan. Today, as we witness the growing economic and social bonds between these two cities – both of which are key to the Italian economy – we are increasingly confident that we made the right decision ten years ago, a decision that during this time has come to fruition and has evolved and improved. The world is witnessing a very fast technological and social development that is leading to the emergence of new paradigms; therefore, technical professionals of the future should not only be specialists in a given discipline, but also capable of building innovative solutions that are most suit- able to be transferred to the products and services of the future. At the same time, when dealing with particularly talented students, we believe that universities should do more than simply issue degrees - they should also prepare these students to become future leaders and meet the specific demands that prospective employers cast on this particular segment of graduates. In this sense, the Alta Scuola Politecnica provides an added value with respect to the traditional academic ap- proach. ASP students are given the opportunity to continuously gain insight from one another, from courses offered by both universities, and from projects at the leading edge of technology proposed by companies. Due to this unique learning experience, they develop the managerial skills and the comprehensive training that employers are increasingly seeking from top graduates in technical disciplines. Students have the opportunity to work in teams, managing complex projects which require multi-disciplinary contributions (as illustrated in this book), and follow residential courses, thereby enjoying a stimulating learning experience. The significant presence of industrial sponsors in the ten ASP cycles gives evidence to the fact that industry appreciates the mix of specialized skills, coming from the Master programs, and interdisciplinary skills, coming from ASP. This important achievement confirms that the path we chose to follow in 2004 is still very timely and promising, and motivates us in continuing and improving this endeavour with the same enthu- siasm shown by our ASP students.

Prof. Giovanni Azzone, Rector, Politecnico di Milano Prof. Marco Gilli, Rector, Politecnico di Torino

5 The alta scuola politecnica

ASP Sponsors

ASP is partially financially supported by ex- ternal institutions which share our vision of educating talented students and promot- ing interdisciplinary innovation. Following a three-year initial financial support from the Italian Ministry of University Education and Research, the main supporters of ASP are currently Compagnia di San Paolo and Fon- dazione Cariplo. Other institutions, both pri- vate and public, have joined in by providing financial support as well as a relation aimed at developing projects and opportunities for the career development of our students. The logo of each of our sponsors is presented below and their valuable support is hereby gratefully acknowledged.

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The Boston Consulting Group is a global management consulting firm and the world’s lead- Along with an ever diversely assorted graduate education offer with 17.738 new degrees or diplo- ing advisor on business strategy. mas granted every year, an excellent post graduate training system makes Piedmont and the prov- Founded in 1963, BCG has 78 offices in 43 countries. ince of Torino a centre of attraction for young talents. We partner with clients in all sectors and regions to identify their highest-value opportuni- Moreover, thanks to the presence of more than 200 research centers, today Piemonte Region ties, address their most critical challenges, and transform their businesses. Our customized investment in R&D accounts for 1,8% of GDP. With 2.255 mln Euro invested, Piedmont is the third approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of companies and markets with close Italian region as for total investment in research, with 76% of private funded research. collaboration at all levels of the client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve Partnership with public and private institutions, network between territories, support to innovation sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and secure lasting and research are main objectives for the Torino Chamber of Commerce which promotes the eco- results. In our client work, we aspire to make a difference, and we succeed because we are nomic development and the local businesses growth. different. We help our clients change the rules of the game, not just play better. The Chamber offers a wide range of services to more than 231,000 companies working in the prov- The BCG difference lies in the power of individuals: challenged by mentors, supported in ince and listed in the public Register of Enterprises: training, technological innovation, collection and teams, motivated by results. We look for outstanding talents and people who have the cu- distribution of information, fostering of business relations at home and abroad, creation of services riosity and drive to find innovative solutions. Our consultants work with clients to define the and financing of projects designed to assist new businesses, promotion and organization of events, problem and determine the best approach. BCG offers to all its employees to grow further access to financing, information and consultancy for companies involved in foreign trade. A particular attention is dedicated to the different levels of education, from professional courses to challenging their mind, partnering with leaders, making a difference and ultimately charting post-university Masters, with a special focus on high education systems and international training, a career that fits them. which represent a significant tool for the attractiveness and worldwide relations, together with the Our goal is therefore to help ASP students better understand the challenges and opportuni- solidity of the industrial fabric, the pro-business mood of the public administration, the quality of life ties of a consulting career. We are highly committed to develop initiatives to meet, interact in a creative, cultural and artistic context. and support ASP students in their growth. This is the reason why the Torino Chamber of Commerce, years ago, decided to cooperate with the ASP, the advanced international Faculty, founded by Politecnico di Torino and Politecnico di Milano, BCG. Grow Further! Shaping Your Future. Together. to enhance links between the two cities. Italian Chambers of Commerce work to build local area networks between research centers and en- terprises, individual enterprises, institutions, territories and cities, as well as technological networks. Torino, Milan and Genoa Chambers of Commerce support the development of North-western macroeconomic region by means of projects. Figures are significant: north-western Italy (Piemonte, Lombardia, Val d’Aosta and Liguria) is one of the European biggest areas, with a population that nearly amounts to 16 million people and 1.583,000 enterprises. It is an integrated territory that can proudly compete with the other European polycentric regions. The North-western region needs economical and infrastructural actions, as the new railway connection between Torino and Milan, but also stronger cultural relations, focusing in particular on art, education and organization of international events, as Milano Expo 2015. In addition Torino Chamber of commerce will host the 9° World Chambers Congress in June 2015. The Congress is the only global event gathering Chambers’ chief executives and businessmen worldwide to exchange best practice, to widen network and develop projects to support SMEs. A new challenge for the Torino Chamber of commerce and for the city itself.

Torino Chamber of Commerce: working with businesses to build the future

www.bcg.com www.to.camcom.it

8 9 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8

The Compagnia di San Paolo, founded in 1563 as a charitable brotherhood, is today one of Founded in 1926, McKinsey & Company is a global leader in management consulting, that the largest private-law foundations in Europe. helps leading corporations to solve their most complex problems in strategy, organization, It pursues aims of public interest and social use, in order to foster the civil, cultural and marketing and operations. McKinsey also helps a diverse range of government institutions and nonprofit organizations with their management challenges. economic development of the community in which it operates. The Compagnia is active in McKinsey is proud to be sponsor of Alta Scuola Politecnica (ASP), a prestigious source of the sectors of Research and higher education, Art, Cultural heritage and activities, Health excellence within the Italian academic landscape. and Welfare policies. We firmly believe that students at Alta Scuola Politecnica have the opportunity to develop In 2013 the Compagnia awarded in its areas of activity 781 grants, amounting to 129.6 mil- a unique mix of skills and experiences that makes them mature and open-minded; fur- lion euros, 33.7% of this amount was awarded in the Research and higher education sector. thermore, this distinctive combination strengthens their talent and directs them towards a The Compagnia pays great attention to advanced research and the development of sci- focused management approach grounded on a “project-based” methodology that entails entific and technological centres of excellence, seen both as catalysts and multipliers of the development of highly valuable finished products and a real bent for meeting deadlines and experiencing team work. research and higher education initiatives. It supports the strengthening of Torino’s university These attitudes, together with their analytical and problem solving capabilities, fit particular- system, especially through the promotion of excellence at the Torino University and Politec- ly well with McKinsey’s culture and values. These are, moreover, the qualities that McKinsey nico. looks for in its consultants and prospect candidates. The commitment of the Compagnia in the field of Education is focused on university and Thanks to these features, all ASP Alumni who had joined McKinsey have proved very suc- postgraduate education, starting from the growth of human capital, internationalization and cessful and have embarked on a career path of excellence and exponential growth. the provision of infrastructures, with special attention to the conditions that assure equal access for students. The Compagnia’s relations with the universities in Piedmont (Università di Torino, Politecnico di Torino, Università del Piemonte orientale “Amedeo Avogadro”) are regulated by strategic agreements covering infrastructures, research and post-graduate education. In this context, the ASP’s focus on excellence and innovation – besides characterizing it as a valuable initiative per se – allows this programme to enhance the global attractiveness of the Universities involved and promote, within the leaders of the future, a specific attention to the interdisciplinary and international dimension of nowadays society. The programme, that is supported by the Compagnia since 2007, also represents an interesting and successful example of cooperation between educational institutions that are based in the north-west- ern region of Italy, such as the Torino and Milano Politecnici.

www.compagniadisanpaolo.it www.mckinsey.it

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Summary

ASP Alumni - Cultivating ASPers’ A tool to evaluate and implement ReCoUAV 124 Communication design professional network 14 strategies at the system-level 74 Innovative High Dependable and Bottega dei Segni Reconfigurable Flight Controller for Haptichem 20 Re-Condo: Rethinking condominium. 80 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Graphic editing A Haptic-Enhanced Framework for Urban scenarios and design proposals for a Simone Castiglioni Chemistry Teaching and Research transformation of the middle-class housing U-Quad: Universal Quadrotor 126 stock in Milan and Turin SMAPS 28 Versatile UAS: overview and preliminary Proof reading Smart products, places and services for Re-Condo: Rethinking condominium. design 130 Trans Edit Group smart cities New concept proposals for condos rethinking 82 Colorado 136 EVENDA: Agenda of Events 30 Community-based policies for natural resource Photos Re-condo web platform: sustainable development We would like to thank all students for their photos. IDEAlize 34 enhancing requalification through communication 86 5 Terre Smart Start 138 GreenSpace 40 Project Coordinator Space and Green Technologies PARLOMA 92 Co-ME: Community Mountain Energy 142 Maria Grazia Comini A Communication System for Deafblind AENEAS - Assessment on the People BBC-I 148 ENvironmental Effects of Activities in Banking Business Customer Space 42 SMART.MAP 100 Internationalization Smart Sensitive City. New Mapping for XXI Spaceship EAC - European Astronaut century citizens Online Tool for SMEs Internationalization Centre & Environmental Advancement Support 150 Centre 46 S.H.O.W. MI - Search for Hidden Opportunities and Wonders in Milan 102 BBC-I: Banking Business Customer WISE-SOS 52 Internationalization 154 Wireless Security Solution for Scuba-diving WA.AG Network: Water-Agricultural smart maps for fertile metropolitan EMIMT 60 territories 106 An evaluative reflection on the E-Government meets integration and effectiveness and added value of the path. Assessment report 158 mining techniques NHEC 112 Copyright © Polipress 2014 - Alta Scuola Politecnica NEA Human Exploration Concept All right reserved. MCDA for cultural heritage 68 No part of this book can be reproduced in any ASTRID: THE NEXT GIANT LEAP 114 form or by any means – electronic or mechanical, Multi-criteria decision analysis for cultural including photocopying, recording – or by any heritage conservation and development information storage and retrivial system, without A Friendly Manned Interface 118 previous Publisher’s authorization. The Publisher Assessing alternatives for single cultural is at disposal to anyone who might have any right goods 70 relative to the contents of this book.

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fessionals alumni, offers a broad calendar of events. All of them - conferences, workshops, parties or outdoor events ASP Alumni - contribute to strengthen the unique community spirit of ASP and foster the professional career of the associates. Cultivating ASPers’ professional network An official website and the social networks (as the Linke- dIn and Facebook groups) are used to rapidly exchange opinions as well as professional opportunities. The Face- book group is the smart and informal way of communica- tion used by the Association. There are actually more than 600 members and the group is open also to the Aspers that have not already completed their ASP experience. All The ASP Alumni Association was founded on June 28, The association is a global network of highly qualified pro- the Association events and activities are sponsored on the 2007, the day of the graduation ceremony of the 1st cycle fessionals who wish to share experiences and growth op- group and each member of the community has the oppor- of the ASP students, with the aim of promoting opportuni- portunities. Indeed, in the first 7 years, the association has tunity to post comments, ideas, photos and articles. ties for personal and professional growth and becoming a grown rapidly and now boasts a community recognized in In the following paragraphs, a brief review of the main re- frame of reference for all future Alumni. the academic and business world, with a network of over cent activities of the Association will be presented in chron- Marco Magnani and Oscar Farinetti guests of Italia 2020 Event ASP Alumni operates with the aim of growing the profes- 900 members located across 20 countries and operating ological order. sional value of the Alumni and their network, acting in line in the most widely recognized international companies and with the common values of competence, innovation, and research organizations. ASPISSIMA 2013 | Conference on sustainability Caneva 2013 | summer leisure event attention to sustainability and social responsibility. The Association, led by the passion of many young pro- The traditional Fall Event has come in 2013 to its 6th edition. The Summer Event 2013 was organized at Caneva World, This year, ASP Alumni dedicated the main event to a par- the famous water-park on the Garda Lake. During a won- ticularly important topic for the Alumni DNA: the global sus- derful sunny day over 40 Alumni enjoyed the amazing water tainability and the limits of growth. On 19th October at Po- attraction of the park, creating a great ASP group atmos- litecnico di Milano, about 200 participants joined the event phere which lasted all the day long up to the aperitivo at the to listen to and discuss with three outstanding speakers: sunset and to the dinner in Lazise. prof. Jorgen Randers (Oslo Business School), prof. Nicola Persico (Kellogg Business School) and Theresa Kessler Italia 2020 | Conference on Italy’s perspec- (Behnisch Architekten Stuttgart). tives out of the crisis On 15th February 2014, the latest ASP Alumni conference Sliding Session 2013 | winter leisure event took place in Milan. The crowded Aula Rogers hosted an Born the previous year as a collaboration between stu- interesting panel discussion on Italy’s situation and per- dents and Alumni, in 2013 the sliding session repeated his spectives out of the crisis. The guests - Marco Magnani success among members. The event took place in Cour- (Harvard Business School), Antonio Calabrò (Fondazione mayeur, one of the most renowned among alpine resorts, Pirelli) and Oscar Farinetti (founder and owner of Eataly)-, hosting over 40 Alumni for a weekend and engaging them starting from problems analysis, underlined the importance Italia 2020 with a number of activities including alpine skiing, cross of innovation with their personal experience, meritocracy country skiing and trekking in the natural reserve of Val Fer- and cultural attitude as main road out of the difficult present ret. The event had the pleasure to host, during the official situation in the firm opinion (well explained in the Magnani’s dinner, the mayor of Courmayeur, Fabrizia Derriard. book “Sette Anni di Vacche Sobrie”, UTET), that Italy can

14 15 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 The alta scuola politecnica

ASPissima 2013 Leisure Events (Sliding Session 2013)

overcome the crisis and come back to a social, cultural, periencing these needs as students some years ago, the continents, they can give a live perspective about their own and economic growth. ASP Alumni has decided to take care of current ASP Stu- function, business segment and country. Along the way, dents. the education team helps Mentors by means of a guideline, Alumni ASP Mentoring The key players are the Mentors, ASP Alumni with several to be used as a reference in their encounters with the Men- building the cooperation bridge years of working experience in all areas, such as research, tees. All participants have agreed with signing a code of 50 Mentors, 50 Mentees, the Education Team of our Alum- marketing, finance, consulting, design, etc. together with ethics which seeks to ensure that Mentors will honor their ni Association and the desire to create a project of excel- the Mentees, selected ASP Students. Mentors and Men- commitment and provide the service free of charge, as a lence! These were the ingredients of the Mentoring Project tees are paired according to their background and the pro- token of gratitude, with the idea that Mentors give back has been launched by Alumni ASP in December 2012. The fessional preferences stated by each Mentee. something they had received. second edition of the Project was launched in December The enrollment starts every year in the first ASP Summer 2013 and is up and running. Moreover, the Education Team School. After that Mentees are entitled to a minimum of five is currently working at the third one. The aim is to build the meetings with their Mentor, both face-to-face or by vide- cooperation bridge between ASP Alumni and Students to oconference to address topics such as the choice of the ASP Alumni in Internet help them enter the job market, because talented students sector or geographical area, how to write a CV and the cov- Website alumni.asp-poli.it deserve promising opportunities. er letter, how to get ready for the job interview and much Mail [email protected] The Project has started with two simple questions: “Have more. From the second meeting onwards the Mentee is Twitter @AlumniASP you completed your time at university without any idea of able to meet additional Mentors who can offer experience LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/groups/Alta-Scuola-Po- the job world? Is it worth getting support from the network in other job fields. litecnica-4297244 of ASP Alumni in the steps towards the first job?” After ex- The network of Mentors is truly global; widespread in five Facebook www.facebook.com/groups/AlumniASP/ Caneva 2013

16 17 Project 1

Haptichem

A Haptic-Enhanced Framework for Chemistry Teaching and Research multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 Haptichem_A Haptic-Enhanced Framework for Chemistry Teaching and Research

PROJECT DESCRIPTION Haptichem Haptic technologies provide physical sensations in the in- A Haptic-Enhanced Framework for teraction with a computing system, by exploiting the human sense of touch and by applying forces, vibrations, or mo- Chemistry Teaching and Research tions to the user’s hands or body. These innovative tech- nologies have received important attention in recent years 1 and they have become a common interaction modality in several fields, from simulations, to gaming, as well as in professional training (e.g. surgeons). However, considering their features, they can provide a useful help in training or education as well. Aim of this project is the design and de- Principal Academic Tutors External Institutions TEAM Members velopment of a framework equipped with a haptic device Pierangelo Metrangolo IIT – Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Gianluca Brero for the tactile exploration of molecules and the understand- Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Chemistry METID - Metodi e Tecnologie Innovative Mathematical Modelling in Engineering, ing of intermolecular interactions. Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio per la Didattica Politecnico di Torino The project started from a 3D virtual environment for mo- Natta” Teoresi srl Rosa Virginia Espinoza lecular exploration interacting with a single charge associ- Sara Comai Garnier Petroleum Engineering, ated with the haptic device. The tool is able to reproduce Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Electronics EXTERNAL TUTORs Politecnico di Torino the behavior of the electrostatic interaction and Information Guglielmo Lanzani Elisa Magnanelli between an electric charge and a molecule that can be IIT – Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia - Center Energy and nuclear Engineering, Politecnico chosen from a set of molecules of different nature and Academic Tutors for Nano Science and Technology (CNST- di Torino [team controller] complexity stored in a repository. The user can explore the Giuseppe Resnati IIT@PoliMI) Giacomo Mazzoletti space around the 3D geometrical model of the selected Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Chemistry Biomedical Engineering, Politecnico di molecule and feel the electrostatic forces involved in the Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Enzo Bergamini Milano [communication coordinator] interaction, i.e., attraction/repulsion forces or stability con- Natta” Teoresi srl Alessandro Maria Rizzi ditions. The system is also enriched with auxiliary graphical Giancarlo Terraneo Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Milano cues that help the exploration and the comprehension of Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Chemistry Gabriele Cristini the felt force. Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio METID – Metodi e Tecnologie Innovative per Natta” la Didattica The main extensions proposed within this project aimed to: Davide Mazza ■■ Explore and identify scenarios for the introduction of the Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Electronics framework into didactic and research activities; and Information ■■ Identify and extend the tool with a set of features to make Fulvio Corno it usable; Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Control and ■■ Extend the functionalities of the tool with the interaction Computer Engineering between two different molecules. In particular, for this last point, the scientific issues met dur- lation of the inter-molecular interaction with real-time con- ing the design and development of the project were several strains, the acquisition and definition of models for haptic and not trivial. From a scientific and technical point of view, data, and the identification of optimal visualization strate- they included the identification of the models for the simu- gies to guarantee a realistic interaction reproduction.

20 21 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 Haptichem_A Haptic-Enhanced Framework for Chemistry Teaching and Research

Haptichem A Haptic-Enhanced Framework for Chemistry Teaching and Research

1. Results of the experimental 2. Results of the experimental 3. The software graphics: Van der Waals fill 4. The software graphics: Ball & TASKS & SKILLS ABSTRACT test session: Have the haptic tool test session: Have the representation of molecules. Stick representation of molecules. improved student spatial abilities? haptic tool improved student Gianluca Brero contributed with Currently, the approach in life science tual use of this technology in chemistry molecular knowledge? mathematical competencies to the re- teaching makes a wide use of visual education results really limited. search and selection of strategies for representations, especially when mol- Given these premises, the goal of Understanding the problem context. The preliminary analysis high- able to meet the requirements of the implementing the dynamical interac- ecules are involved. Indeed, due to their HaptiChem project is to extend the Being haptics a novel technology for lighted the fact that the spread of the scenario chosen for the introduction of tion between molecules; size they represent an abstract knowl- features of the existing tool[1], which all the members of the team, the first haptic technology in chemistry has the renovated haptic device. We have Rosa Garnier Espinoza carried out edge that sometimes can be difficult for currently enables the user to explore phase of the analysis of the problem stopped. Therefore, the choice of the performed this since, as stated in [4], preliminary researches on the state of students to grasp. Visual perception is the surface of molecules with a charged involved members of the group famil- field for the application is crucial to users have a central role in the inno- art on the topics related to chemistry; usually superior if compared to touch: probe, in order to make it exploitable in iarizing with the haptic device itself, guaranty the success of the project. vation process and they can actively she handled the creation and adminis- first of all it is rapid, while touch involves a didactical context. In particular, the and performing an accurate analy- The field research included a variety of contribute in the development of new tration of the project’s webpage, man- sensory exploration over time and challenge is to highlight the strengths sis of the state of the art, in order to activities, in order to select the most technologies. aging also social networks’ contacts; space. However, visual representation and the weaknesses of the current deeply understand what its features promising context: HaptiChem was Elisa Magnanelli was involved in does not provide an immediate mean device under a didactic point of view, are, and what an haptic device can first presented [2] at the ICCECRICE Exploring the opportunities the analysis of the possible scenarios to improve comprehension of how mol- to individuate a proper educational add in an innovative way to a chemis- 2012 international conference in Rome The preliminary activities were the for the application of the tool; as the ecules interact between each other. At framework for the introduction of the try educational context. The first stage and advertised during the “Notte dei starting point for the delineation of the team controller, she ensured the con- this aim haptic technologies enable us- tool, and to elaborate a suitable strategy of familiarization with the tool was fun- Ricercatori” in Milan, in order to col- solution. Thanks to them, it was pos- sistency and completeness of reports ers to apply and feel forces, that other- for the spread and diffusion of the new damental for the next step. In fact, one lect important feedbacks and impres- sible to identify different fields of ap- and documents to be submitted, and wise would not be possible to experi- HaptiChem. The path to the final solution of the hardest challenge to be faced sions by researchers and professors plication of the haptic device. All sce- managed finances; ence. Haptics can be extremely useful followed different stages, starting from regarded the individuation of a proper on possible applications of the tool narios were analysed and compared, Giacomo Mazzoletti investigated in several education contexts, where the building of a theoretical basis and framework for the diffusion of the hap- in the chemistry context, as well as and the final decision was made mathematical models on computa- forces play a fundamental role, like in the from the analysis of the requirements, tic device. Concerning the state of the to stimulate the interest in the haptic considering different criteria. Among tional chemistry; he hold a speech to case of molecular interactions. Didactic and continuing with the development of art analysis, due to the complexity of technology among a public of non- these criteria, innovation played a very present the project at the international texts describe them in an abstract way, a tool with renovated features, to finally the problem, different areas of investi- experts. In this stage, it was really im- fundamental role, since according to conference ICCE ECRICE in Rome; whereas in the research field they are conclude with the creation of a on line gations had been recognized and ad- portant the direct interactions with all the preliminary analysis, an important Alessandro Rizzi exploited his com- typically described as huge sequences platform to encourage the diffusion of dressed: the mathematical methods categories of people, that were able to part of the challenge consists in over- petences in computer science for the of data, which is awkward to be in- the device, and at the same time take used in the reproduction of chemical personally use the haptic device, and coming the current disinterest in the extension of the haptic device, work- terpreted even by experts of the field. advantages of feedbacks provided by interactions, the various typologies therefore, helped in the understanding haptic technology applied in chemis- ing on the technical implementation of Nevertheless, the spreading of haptics users to continuously improve the tool. of haptic devices, and the different of what set of features was the most try. The selected application sees the the software. in this context has stopped, and the ac- application of haptics in a chemistry suitable for an extension of the tool use of the haptic device as a teaching

22 23 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 Haptichem_A Haptic-Enhanced Framework for Chemistry Teaching and Research

5. Screenshot of HaptiChem 6. Screenshot of HaptiChem on- 7. Screenshot of HaptiChem on- 8. Facebook webpage. 9. Intermolecular 10. Forceline 11. Molecular representations: 12. Molecular representation: 13. Charge-Molecule on-line platform: team line platform: downloading of the line platform: main page. interaction. representation. Ball & Stick, Van der Waals, resizing. interactions: positive charge description. application. Logarithmic scale. and negative charge. tool in basic chemistry courses at the context of a basic chemistry course, get in touch with our project without have also inserted papers about soft- ecule, from which a force rises. The a wide range of molecule-molecule university, where it is believed to also but also because the level of complex- the necessity of the haptic equipment, ware architecture and surveys about whole force the molecule is subject to interactions that includes most of the represent a strong motivational factor ity of the simulated phenomena is ad- which represents a great expense and didactic experiments that have been will be the sum of these local forces. molecules studied in high school. in rising the interest of students in the equate. Once defined the goal, three a big barrier for HaptiChem diffusion. carried out. A section for introducing In order to assign a charge to each Haptic application in chemistry con- learning process. main mathematical options were taken Together with the software, there is the our academic tutors and us has been atom two different approaches, that of texts is now ready to express all its A subsequent step consisted in the into consideration to model the inter- possibility to download the user guide finally included. Mulliken[3] and that of Lowdin[3], have potentialities. delineation of the features most need- action: of the application, which is intended to For achieving better visibility, both Fa- been chosen. This methods computes ed in the selected context. In order ■■ Multipole expansion of the electro- be constantly updated in order to keep cebook and Twitter profiles have been local atomic charges directly from the to further investigate the matter, an static potential; pace with possible improvements. created and linked to our website. quantum wave function. The use of ei- experimental session with students ■■ Classical methods for potential cal- In the same website section, a well- Concerning the software extension, it ther approach can be set by the user in Electronic Engineering attending a culations; organized molecule database can be was fundamental to select a compu- interface. course of Chemistry at PoliMi was es- ■■ Use of structural factors. downloaded. Thank to this option, the tationally fast approach able to render In a second model implemented the tablished. The main purpose of the ac- molecular basis for haptic experiences force perceptions simultaneous to total force acting on the haptic-device tivity was to evaluate the effectiveness Generating a solution can be regularly augmented accord- cursor movements but still not too is not the sum of all the forces as be- BIBLIOGRAPHY of the device for the molecule explora- In order to overcome the difficulties ing to users’ main interests. In order rough in order to produce outcomes fore, but is the highest one. Moreo- [1] D. Mazza, A Haptic-Enhanced tion in a teaching context, as well as to that are currently present in the spread to collect such interests, we created a coherent with theory. In the model ver, the repulsion effect between the Framework for the Teaching of define a possible way of extension of of the haptic technology, the elabora- section named “Contact Us” and fo- implemented the moving molecule is atomic nuclei has been added. This Chemistry, EDULEARN10 Proceed- the tool that properly fits the case. Dif- tion of a strategy to renovate the inter- rum for grouping general feedbacks. considered as an aggregated of con- extension let the user to experience ings, pp. 1249-1256, 2010. ferent alternatives were individuated: est in the application converged on Through these, it will be also possible centrated charges, each one located the equilibrium points in intermolecular [2] E. Bergamini, S. Comai, A Haptic- simulation of molecule-molecule inter- the realization of a web platform. The to identify eventual software bugs or in the position occupied by the center interactions. Enhanced Framework for Chemis- action, interactions between proteins, on line platform aims to several objec- general improvements that need to of respective constituent atom. The Considering real time simulation as try, La Chimica nella Scuola XXXIV and problems of molecular docking. tives. First, it is meant to encourage be made. In order to inform the users distance between the charges is con- performances not worst then 1000 – 3, 2012. The extension to the reproduction of the spread of the software: in fact, it al- about the new prospects the software stant in time since the vibrational ef- frames per second, we estimated that [3] P. Hunt, Molecular Orbitals and Pop- molecular interactions was considered lows registered users to download the offers them, a collection of articles fects between the atomic nuclei have the moving molecule size should not ulation Analysis, 2008 to be the most appropriate to the case, application for the molecular represen- regarding our project is presented in been neglected. Each charge estab- exceed 264 atoms. This result is pretty [4] Eric Von Hippel, Democratizing In- not only because it better fits the in the tation. In this way, potential users can website home page. Among those, we lishes an interaction with the fixed mol- comfortable since it allows to explore novation, 2005

24 25 Project 2

SMAPS

Smart products, places and services for smart cities multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 SMAPS_Smart products, places and services for smart cities

SMAPS PROJECT DESCRIPTION The SMAPS project is based on the idea that the smart Smart products, places and development of cities should be connected to the design of services for smart cities the interaction between their traditional physical structure and the new digital informational infrastructure. This inter- action can be primarily built through the introduction of new 2 “smart” service ideas and solutions for the emerging needs of citizens, whose design is the main goal of the project.

While ubiquitous computing is strengthening the idea that Principal Academic Tutor Team A Members Team b Members the access to public services will just require digital solu- Alessandro Deserti Anna Antonova Ludovica Cappelletti tions, such as platforms or e-gates, the SMAPS project Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Industrial Interior Design, Politecnico di Milano Architecture, Politecnico di Milano aims at exploring the relation between the immaterial nature Design, Arts, Communication and Fashion Carlo Andrea Biraghi Francesca Ditroilo of services and their material substrate, combining the de- Architecture, Politecnico di Milano [team Product Design for Innovation, sign of the services together with that of their touch-points. Academic Tutors controller] Politecnico di Milano The physical transformation of cities is seen as a result of Claudio Germak Alberto De Antoni Giorgio Doro the introduction of new services, in a continuum where the Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Architecture Management Engineering, Politecnico di Management Engineering, Politecnico tangible and the intangible layers influence each other in a and Design Milano di Milano [team controller and project dynamic way. Albertomaria Franzoni communication coordinator] Francesca Rizzo Civil Engineering, Politecnico di Milano Maria Glionna The experimental part of SMAPS is connected to the EU Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Industrial Anna Prokudina Architecture Construction City, research project My Neighbourhood, where a people-cen- of the My Neighbourhood research, the development of the Design, Arts, Communication and Fashion Architecture, Politecnico di Milano Politecnico di Torino tred approach to the development of smart services for new service ideas and solutions is carried on in the per- Valentina Sardo Timur Kadyrov urban areas is being experimented. This project involves spective of upscaling. The service ideas are thus rooted External Institution Architecture, Politecnico di Milano Urban Planning and Policy Design, 4 major European municipalities, as arenas for the experi- in a local context, adopting participatory design methods JCDecaux Alessandro Spagnuolo Politecnico di Milano mentation of new participatory practices for the develop- and tools, but include the seeds for their potential adoption, Studio Fantoni & Partners Electrical Engineering, Politecnico di Torino Benedetta Omarchi ment of urban services. Within this frame, the traditional adaptation and diffusion at a larger scale. Architecture, Politecnico di Milano technology-driven approach to smart cities is integrated EXTERNAL TUTOR Laura Tomasino with the new idea of “Human Smart City”: a livable place At the same time, the SMAPS project aims at integrating Marco Fantoni Building management, Politecnico di Milano characterized by services and infrastructures responding the traditional top-down perspective of the municipalities, Studio Fantoni & Partners to the needs of individuals and social groups more than by with the bottom-up perspective bound to the involvement the sheer presence of advanced technologies. This new of citizens. This new integrated approach gives the oppor- approach requires the introduction of a systemic perspec- tunity of interacting and dialoguing with citizens without tive, where the role of society and individuals is recognized loosing contact with the real problems (bottom-up trajec- as integrated with that of technology. tory), while at the same time defining priorities and build- ing solutions around meaningful long-term visions beyond The area of Quarto Oggiaro in Milano, one of the 4 experi- the acknowledgement of local needs (top-down approach), mentation arenas, is the place where the students’ teams thus experimenting new ways of managing urban policies were asked to conduct their experimentation. In the frame and governance.

28 29 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 SMAPS_Smart products, places and services for smart cities

ABSTRACT New problems, emerging needs of EVENDA: citizens and new technologies to try to project 2A Agenda of Events give intelligent solutions to the critical is- sues of this moment of crisis: the prob- lem that has occurred is very broad and without a definitive way to explore and has required a blue sky analysis on the concept of smart cities and a contextual analysis that has focused on the most 1. The logo of the project 2. First table acknowledgment 3. First table discussion 4. First table mapping the Task & Skills critical points of a contemporary city. conclusions Anna Antonova Anna Prokudina The problem of the vulnerable suburbs Dealt with the blue sky analysis and in Dealt with the blue sky analysis and has emerged as critical and urgent and the project phase worked on the phys- in the project phase worked on the then, becoming aware of the existence boost social participation. service. We follow two paths: thanks are Milan, Aalborg, Lisbon and Bir- ical interface of the service, designing physical interface of the service, stud- of a European project , My Neighbour- The innovative nature of Evenda con- to a blue sky analysis we go deep in mingham. According to the decision totems and their functioning ied the environment to define the best hood, that deals with the possibility to sists in answering to local needs exploring the concepts of smart city, of the municipality of Milan the project Carlo Andrea Biraghi collocation for touch points design a smart service able to enhance searching for a wider dimension. The while, also, participating to the Bolo- settled in Quarto Oggiaro, a stressed Coordinated the group and took part Valentina Sardo the quality of life in suburban areas, our website is structured as an agenda gna Smart City Exhibition in October dormitory urban area in the northern to contextual analysis, focusing di- Took part to contextual analysis, fo- attention focused on the area of Quarto to show the scheduling of the events 2012, which allowed us to have a bet- part of the city, that present problem rectly on Quarto Oggiaro, participated cusing directly on Quarto Oggiaro, Oggiaro, selected context for the city of around your position, customizable ter idea on the state of the art in this of segregation, social degradation and actively to discussing tables with mu- participated actively to discussing Milan. according to each user’s preferences, field, and through a contextual re- a bad “name”, as well demonstrated nicipality and associations to define tables with municipality and associa- After an analysis of the problems and filled in by the activities provided by search, we had a concrete approach by the contextual analysis made at the the guidelines of the project. He par- tions, developed the website structure opportunities of the area, we decided registered associations. This service is with the most critical parts of the beginning of our work. ticipates to the Aalborg workshop. and layout and designed the logo. She to work on the social cohesion and the thought to become a global service of contemporary city, analysing prob- The district is constricted by railways Alberto De Antoni participates to the Bologna Smart City lack of sense of belonging and partici- local events based on geolocalization. lems and new needs of those who live and highways on all its sides and Studied the business model of JCDe- Exhibition. pation in the life of the neighbourhood. The physical part, is tought to be ap- these spaces. The question of the pe- present spaces with lack of care and caux (partner) and deepened the as- Alessandro Spagnuolo We found out a great number of asso- plied to specific context that require ripheral degraded areas appears to be physical degradation, which lead to pects related to scalability, feasibility Dealt with the blue sky analysis, made ciations and active people working for it, as Quarto Oggiaro. It consists in a a pressing issue and difficult but im- general perception of insecurity and and economical sustainability of the a research on the state of the art of the community creating events and op- certain number of touch points with portant to resolve. Working on these discomfort. There is an high residen- service websites in the field of event manage- portunities for interaction which actu- two different possible layouts studied topics, we approached the european tial density and a big percentage of Alberto Franzoni ment, deepen the constructive proc- ally can’t succeed because of a lack of according to their positioning, dividing project “My neighbourhood” for a elderly people and immigrants; many Took part to the contextual analysis, ess of totems communication among them and with between totem for places of transit and community of interests: focusing on activities and shops result closed, the deepened the aspects related to scal- the citizens. for gathering points. the creation of interpersonal social in- spaces are abandoned and this situa- ability and defined the guidelines of the The Evenda service was born from teraction to make people live in a more tion reflects a lack of job opportunities project these osservations, as an “Agenda of Understanding the problem active way in a healthier and happier inside the area. Events”, a set of tools even for citizens The analysis try to better clarify the environment. The solution will be sus- This frame has been confirmed in the and associations based both on physi- problem and the roads that could be tainable even from the economical, round tables in May and June with cal and digital components to optimize followed to give answers to the new environmental and social point of view. municipality and citizens, to discuss the management of free time and to demands of citizens, creating a smart The pilot cities for My neighbourhood about chances to ensure a better fu-

30 31 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 SMAPS_Smart products, places and services for smart cities

5. 4th table audience grows 6. Survey on communication channels 7. Training in Aalborg for My 8. Team-work in a first 9. Mock-up of the 10. Functioning 11. Functioning 12. Totem outside 13. Gathering 14. Mock-up of the Evenda app Neighbourhood project phase of the project web site of the rapid of the calendar the station - digital totem - classic search of the page of the side side web site website ture to the neighbourhood. By the way possibilities. We found out that is a website, Quartoweb, that results inef- stressed: rebuilding and empowering the geolocalization system. Analysing to create and manage events having an appeared also many positive aspects company open to many different ex- fective because of its confusion, lack the neighbourhood and scaling its val- the state of the art of our possible com- idea of the existing frame. to be considered as the real value of periences with the only task of bring- of control and user generated con- ue, elements that were already in our petitors, we found many weak aspects in At the local scale one of the most impor- the area: the most important element ing innovation making profit. tents. Thanks to a survey we discover path. existing websites: dispersion of informa- tant instrument is the totem: it is com- is the presence of high number of peo- that due to the unreliability of existing We also met Peter Gall Krogh, a de- tion, lack of a hierarchy among events posed by a digital screen and a tradi- ple devoted to their environment and Exploring the opportunities tools, people mainly used the word to sign professor at the Aarhus School of with different expiration date. Quar- tional notice board to interact with users helpful in order to improve it. There Because of the nature of the context, mouth system to be informed on lei- Architecture, that share with us his ex- toweb, presents all this problems and is of every age. Digital interface is directly are a lot of associations and events a top down process could risk to be sure activities. Solutions could not be perience in similar project, dealing with also structured as a blog: the admin load connected with the web platform so of different nature, that we have cata- perceived as something external and exclusively digital because of the large the involvement of citizens, as Democ- contents as a post, so that they appear that every data can be updated in real logued: there isn’t than a lack of possi- negative imposed to the community. presence of elderly people. Consider- racity and other still running, giving us with the upload date instead of the event time. After a study of the neighbourhood bilities of social interaction, but a weak So we found necessary starting from ing that such situation uses to appear useful advises to continue our work. one, and that makes the events consul- we identified the possibility of develop communication between citizens and the meeting with citizens, and their in many other context, both neighbour- At the beginning of July we visited tation impossible. two different kind of elements. In those organizers and between organizers feedbacks could be the first step of a hood and town, we have to think about the smart city office of the Milan mu- We decided to create a user-friendly places where people pass, but not stop, themselves. Using the personas tool bottom up project, attempting to over- a scalable service applicable also from nicipality to receive suggestions from website that in a glance could give all the we designed a simple totem, while in we started an analysis of the actors in- come a simple solution of the prob- other municipalities. The exportation people directly involved in the real information needed; first page after lo- squares, parks and gathering points volved in the life of the neighbourhood. lem, trying to be innovative. We have should not correspond to a segmenta- world, facing everyday problems and calizing you, shows the closest events of in general the totem is enriched by the In addition to associations and normal to consider that the organization of tion of the service but to an enlarge- contradictions. the day. From there user can easily ac- presence of urban furniture elements. citizens (simple users) there is a good events and the participation to com- ment of its ray of action, remaining cess a calendar page completely cus- This physical component of the service number of active or activable citizens munity activities in a neighbourhood under a unique brand. We started to Generating a solution tomizable where is possible to match could be exported in other municipali- that, thanks to a future better commu- as Quarto Oggiaro are important in- shape our project also thanks to some Our solution start from a union between the events schedule with his personal ties: in this way from the local prototype nication policy, could collaborate with strument for a social cohesion the important meetings. The first appoint- local and global scale: we try to answer agenda. After a synthetic overview of the of Quarto Oggiaro it could be possible the associations and become proac- development of a sense of belonging. ment in June was the My neighbour- the need of a specific community giv- events, the citizen can choose to have to approach the global scale with this tive. Simultaneously we conduced a During the tables discussion the asso- hood seminar in Aalborg where some ing a service with a wider breath. The further information on the selected one participation tool, really able to connect research on the JCDecaux and on its ciations agreed on the inefficiency of design tools were presented and ex- website we designed start from different with a simple click. Associations and people together. business model to be sure that our the actual system of organization and perienced with a workshop. The com- local dimensions, that linked together events’ organizers have a preferential work could meet their interests and communication of events. They have a mon guidelines for every pilot city were could cover an unlimited space trough access with a log in to a page that allows

32 33 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 SMAPS_Smart products, places and services for smart cities

Abstract the business model or business can- Many cities are recently developing vas, that focuses more specifically in IDEAlize “Smart” agendas, using a range of ICT the business identification phase, rath- project 2B infrastructures and equipment offered er than the early stages of the process. by the technology industry and/or be- This can be stimulated applying crea- ing discovered by observing other cit- tive and participatory methods. ies. Yet is ICT infrastructure a key con- In the first phase of our project, we’ve dition for smart innovation? Is there used some tools, deriving from the any more urgent topic for facing this service design, that we’ve found very moment of crisis? effective in the development and as- The current recession has highlighted sessment of our own service idea. 1. Milano, October 22 2013, 2. Milano, October 22 2013, The 3. Milano, October 22 2013, Task & Skills and underlined the various problems We’ve then decided that these, could The Team is working on SWOT Actor Map Canvas completed. The Team is working on Analysis Canvas Sistem Map Canvas Ludovica Cappelletti participated Maria Glionna participated to the existing in our country and not only have the potential to be scaled and to to the preliminary research on Smart preliminary research on Smart City, that; they in particular have hit more be themselves the core of our project, City, contributed to the Contextual developed the Blue Sky Research, consistently the most disadvantaged which investigate the possibility of us- were able to see different realities that key role. Analysis, did part of the analysis of the did part of the analysis of the actors, neighborhoods of the cities. ing some service design tools to help are moving to obtain common objec- In a third stage, the group had the actors, was responsible for mapping deepened the literature review about During our analysis, we’ve encoun- the generation of entrepreneurial op- tive. opportunity to take part to a project the associations in Quarto Oggiaro, Smart Cities design, gave contribution tered the European project “MyNeigh- portunities. Later on, the team began a phase of in the borough of Quarto Oggiaro, maintained the relations with them and during the development of the Tool Kit. bourhood”, with whom we had the deeper analysis: a Blue Sky Research MyNeighbourhood. It is a European gave contribute during the develop- Timur Kadyrov participated to the opportunity to work together and an- Understanding the problem: was conducted to understand the Union research project, involving four ment of the Tool Kit. preliminary research on Smart City, alyze the territory of Quarto Oggiaro. The analysis and the understanding possible scenarios of future Smart Cit- municipalities (Milan, Lisbon, Aalborg Francesca Ditroilo participated to did part of the analysis of the actors, We’ve adopted a bottom up strategy, of the problem started with a careful ies while a Contextual Analysis was and Birmingham), aiming at creating the preliminary research on Smart contributed in the contextual analysis, and we took part in some roundtables study of the concept of Smart City. carried out on Milan to understand the Smart Sevice using new technologies City, did part of the analysis of the ac- deepened the literature review about discussions with the citizens. They’ve This first phase was carried out ana- problems of different places of the city. to retrieve the sense of neighborhood, tors, deepened the literature review incubators, participated to the Smart highlighted many problems, but we’ve lysing the literature to understand what During this analysis, one of the areas which is long lost. This project has about participatory design, was the City Exhibition 2012 in Bologna. decided to focus on one of them, that was this new concept of city, what fea- that were studied was Quarto Og- pushed us to make an overview of the expert for the conceptualization and Benedetta Omarchi participated is the lack of job opportunity and the tures should have and how new Smart giaro, a troublesome neighbourhood actors who live and work in the neigh- design of Idealize, was responsible for to the preliminary research on Smart unemployment. Services could be implemented in it. on the outskirts of the city. Through bourhood, and gave us the opportu- the development of the Tool Kit, the City, contributed in the Blue Sky re- Instead of thinking of the possible We understood the different issues those researches we noted that mu- nity to do a preliminary analysis of the logo, the video and the website. search, did part of the analysis of the business in this area, we’ve concen- of the present context and the differ- nicipality and in general many compa- territory and the problems it presents. Giorgio Doro, the team coordinator, actors, performed service design tools trated more on the process of identify- ent goals that the United Nations and nies are gradually decreasing the use The problems encountered were did part of the analysis of the actors, analysis and choice, gave contribution ing entrepreneurial opportunities and the European Community have set to of a top-down approaches in favour of mainly three. At first it was reported was responsible for the research of the during the development of the Tool Kit how to transform them into successful achieve this new model. We’ve scout- bottom-up dynamics. The municipali- the lack of social cohesion, sense of external partner involvment, deepened and the workshop. ventures. ed already existing ideas and services ties have understood the vital role that belonging and participation. This has the literature review about incubators Laura Tomasino participated to the The key question for us was if could be present in our cities, to understand the public and various stakeholders become the topic of the group A. Sec- and social innovation and participated preliminary research on Smart City, possible to help people to realize their better the current situation. In addition have, and they are relying much more ondly, was highlighted the presence to the workshop in Aalborg of My- did part of the analysis of the actors, own business. to the study of the literature and real- on the participatory design. This point of problems within the different ethnic Neighborhood project. contributed to the literature review Right now the aspiring entrepreneurs ity, we participated to a fair in Bologna was crucial also for us: for the way in groups; citizens have very different analysis and participated to the work- don’t have any reliable framing tech- “Smart City Exhibition” where we at- which our design has been conducted backgrounds, culture and skills, mak- shop in Aalborg of MyNeighborhood niques that can help them to build a tended to conferences from different and for the solution itself that we pro- ing it difficult for them to live together. project. robust entrepreneurial idea, apart from communities and institutions, and we pose, where the participation plays a The third, that has become the sub-

34 35 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 SMAPS_Smart products, places and services for smart cities

of “My Neighbourhood” project (Aal- Generating a solution service would be delivered, we con- viding their knowledge, as a research borg, 18-19 June 2013), the meeting Based on the identified opportunities, centrated on means of communication phase in their own field of expertise. with Professor Peter Krogh of Aarhus the development of the service became useful to inform people about the serv- Furthermore, private entrepreneur- School of Architecture and Smart City the target for our project. We focused ice and its organization. According to ships could be involved submitting Exhibition and Conference (Bologna, on the definition of a Smart Service, identified problems and needs of the their project as explanatory task- 29-31 October 2012) helped to link based on active support to entrepre- citizens, we recognized a series of pro- projects, and performing a market re- local problems and needs with inno- neurial activities and on a precise set motion channels: Evenda, the service search and/or promoting their activity vations opportunities and incubators of service design tools, applied on elaborated by team A, web services (e.g. incubators or financial organiza- actors. Later on we analyzed literature entrepreneurial ideas not yet formed: for youth (Web site, Facebook event tions for future business ideas). of social innovation, business improve- this is how the service, “IDEAlize” has page, neighborhood’s web-portal, The overall service provided by “IDE- 4. Homepage of the 5. Login user of the 6. Page for companies 7. Page for the users ment and service design. been shaped. We tried to understand Promo video) local information points Alize” answers to My Neighborhood’s website www.idealize. website www.idealize. of the website www. of the website www. Next step was to understand the incu- how IDEAlize could work at its best: for elderly and unemployed (bulletin purposes and objectives to foster local com com idealize.com idealize.com bating and co-working actors’ process we chose to structure it as a direct and boards, places of social associations, entrepreneurial activities (thus improv- for small entrepreneurs and innovative active communication of know-how. verbal communication to generate cu- ing unemployment condition) and to ject of our project, is closely related activities in Quarto Oggiaro (dividing startups either by studying literature The service consists in a Service De- riosity) and direct promotion using bul- consequently enhance social innova- with the presence on the territory of a into scholar, offices, religious and cul- review about them or by acquiring sign Toolkit offered by professionals to letin and flyers distributed by informed tion and cohesion, finally impacting very high rate of unemployment. There tural types), developing a mapping of information from local entities (“The local people through said workshops: personnel. on the quality of life of the community. is no reference point for the business the main actors’ activities. Opportuni- HUB Milano” and a future-coming co- it aims to help local people to design The next step is the registration to the Moreover, “IDEAlize” could be easily environment of the district; in addition ties were found out in the presence of working space in Villapizzone). better and to develop more clearly and workshop itself, in which citizens de- scaled up and extended to other bor- the activities of this kind and the peo- different activities and possible places From those analysis we’ve decided effectively their business idea, during scribe their profiles and ideas. Regis- oughs or cities, implementing Smart ple who want to start a business on for their development. that could have been more interesting the first stages of the entrepreneurial tration could be done through website Services for its inhabitants. their own have no support. Due to the lack of data about the to innovate in the methods for the gen- idea definition itself. In fact, while we or directly in the office desk in local Exploring the opportunities borough, local social associations, eration of entrepreneurial opportuni- were analyzing the current situation, association’s place. After that, all the According to the problem definition, local administration, institutional rep- ties, rather than on the incubator itself. we understood that local associations requests are evaluated, workshops for project challenges came up thus, to resentatives and actively interested For doing so, we’ve decided to con- in Quarto Oggiaro were unable to face different targets are planned and con- face and solve them, we had to bet- residents gave us an idea about real centrate on the service design tools, this issue on their own, and incubators firmation letters are sent. ter explore the local environment to problems related to the real people, which we’ve been using for the mid- or co-working organizations were ei- Before the beginning of the workshop, study opportunities and possible with imagination of possible solutions term review for our Asp project. Those ther too detached from local realities participants receive an introductive problems. Knowing already the con- and suggestions. As one of the goals methods were really effective in the or require an already structured busi- lecture, where the workshop is ex- BIBLIOGRAPHY text of Quarto Oggiaro (from the pre- of My Neighborhood project for Milan development and assessment of our ness idea, in order to actively engage plained. Later on, during the work- [1] Stickdorn M., Schneider J. (2010) viously described Contextual Analysis) Municipality was to improve local life own service idea. in it. shop, tools are taught and used on the This is service design thinking - 376, we started to analyze the local com- conditions through supporting or cre- To be sure that our idea was an inno- After scouting service design tools to task-projects selected as case study, BIS Publishers, Amsterdam, NL. munity processes and to better under- ating work opportunities, we focalized vation, we’ve also studied co-working, understand which to apply, we im- so that people attending the workshop [2] Deserti A. (2013) Entrepreneurial stand profiles of people living there. on the entrepreneurial aspect of social workshops, incubators, tutoring and agined and outlined precisely how a learn how to apply the tools. The final Design: The Role of Design as Driv- My Neighbourhood project gave us a innovation. Moreover the implementa- specialization workshop programs, to workshop would work, organizing it aim is to make it possible for them er of Entrepreneurial Opportunity possibility to meet together with differ- tion of Smart Services in Quarto Og- understand whether they make use of by pointing out steps and phases in to apply the tools on their own ideas Generation and Assessment – 16, ent actors of local processes during a giaro has been further explored with service design tools. In addition their which service design tools would be in order to implement and structure Milan, IT series of “round tables” that helped us reference to their entrepreneurial po- working logics were studied to take used, with a twofold purpose: to test them as an entrepreneurial proposal. [3] Miettinen S., Koivisto M. (2009) to understand the difficult situation of tentialities, due to the initially identified inspiration and to better understand the applicability of the tools and to Institutional actors, such as students Designing Services with Innovative the community from the bottom. We relevance of the topic. how and where to implement our solu- shape the service itself. After under- of Politecnico of Milano, could support Methods – 274, Otava book printing did research about different types of Participations to Denmark meeting tion. standing the specifics about how the workshop and tutoring activities, pro- Ltd, Keuruu, FI

36 37 Project 3

GreenSpace

Space and green technologies multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 GreenSpace_Space and Green Technologies

GreenSpace PROJECT DESCRIPTION The pursuit towards eco-friendliness is radically transform- Space and Green Technologies ing the way we think, design and work, as private com- panies and public organizations approach the concept of sustainability as a new frontier and a powerful trigger for 3 innovation. Up to now, the space industry is not implementing any analysis or quantification of the environmental impact of its activities, even though one of the main objectives of satel- lites is Earth observation for environmental monitoring pur- Principal Academic Tutor Team A Members Team B Members poses. The causes of this shortcoming reside in the fact Mauro Massari Beatrice Buffa Masoud Bozorg Bigdeli that production rates of satellites are extremely low, that the Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Aerospace Architecture, Politecnico di Milano Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di launch phase is perceived as a singular event in terms of Engineering Francesco Consonni Torino emissions of pollutants in the atmosphere, and that mission Nuclear Engineering, Politecnico di Milano Alberto Castiglioni specifications and constraints are demanding and leave Academic Tutors David Dianda Energy Engineering, Politecnico di Milano poor margins to alternative designs. It must however be lation of the space industry with respect to other productive Giovanni Dotelli Management Engineering, Politecnico di Ludovica Frezza noted that the environmental impact of a satellite is not con- sectors. Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Chemistry Milano [team controller] Architecture, Politecnico di Milano centrated in a single point in space and time - the launch In order to enhance its innovative potential, the project fos- Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Filippo Manelli Diego Martinoia event - but it must be evaluated considering its whole life ters a contamination between the space sector and other Natta” Chemical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano Engineering of Computing Systems, cycle. industrial areas as a starting point for the design activity. Edie Miglio Massimo Molinelli Politecnico di Milano The GreenSpace challenge is framed within the European The two teams have different design targets - outer space Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Mathematics Management Engineering, Politecnico di Beatrice Matassini Space Agency development of an environmental outlook, assets and on-ground activities - but a common goal: the Sabrina Corpino Milano Management Engineering, Politecnico di which aims not only at the full compliance with the leg- development of resource efficient processes and technolo- Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Mechanical Davide Pizzocri Milano islation and at the assessment of the impact of its activi- gies which might reduce raw material inputs, energy con- and Aerospace Engineering Nuclear Engineering, Politecnico di Milano Cristina Palamini ties, but also at laying the foundation for future evolution sumption, wastes and costs. Gian Andrea Blengini Communication Design, Politecnico through innovation, ensuring a competitive advantage for Team A, AENEAS, is characterized by a strong technical Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Environment, di Milano [team controller and project European industry. ESA commits to become an exemplary background and focuses on both methodological and en- Land and Infrastructure Engineering communication coordinator] space agency by promoting the sustainable use of space gineering solutions related to launchers’ life cycle issues: as a necessity and a duty for Europe. Action is necessary on one hand, the definition of innovative tools of analysis External Institution to turn a threat into an opportunity. and, on the other hand, the adaptation of technologies European Space Agency Keeping in mind the peculiarities of space operations - the used in different industrial sectors to this segment, in or- only anthropogenic activities which cross all layers of the der to reduce its environmental impact. Team B, EAC, had EXTERNAL TUTOR atmosphere – GreenSpace concentrates on the definition a diametrically opposite perspective: the development Luisa Innocenti and implementation of design procedures suitable to min- of environmentally, economically and socially sustain- European Space Agency imize the environmental impact of space assets, both in able concepts for on-ground building design, inspired by space and on ground. space-specific technologies; moreover, the definition of a An initial phase of research underlines the lack of tools and multi-criteria tool for a mathematically rigorous evaluation methodologies that allow for the specificities of space ma- of the concepts which considers both requirements and terials, processes and technologies, and points out the iso- goals of the project.

40 41 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 GreenSpace_Space and Green Technologies

AENEAS project 3A Assessment on the ENvironmental Effects of Activities in Space

1. Energy Amounts 2. Energy Diagrams with Materials and Energy 3. Equivalents of Emissions Savings in Wedge Game Units Task & Skills ABSTRACT of the hydrogen production for Ariane Competing to Each Fluxes for Aluminum Production from Mine and Subsytem in a Typical from Recycling Beatrice Buffa focused on the de- The European Space Agency has re- launchers as one of the most signifi- Satellite Launch velopment of the social branch of the cently decided to systematically assess cant environmental hotspots. Six alter- project, making proposals to convey the environmental impact of its activi- natives for the mitigation of the carbon Understanding the problem searches, both in a direct and indirect to the desired result. through various channels information ties, both because of the increasing en- dioxide emissions caused by the plant Following the breakdown of the Green- way. The main contacts have been kept When we switched to the evaluation of on the environmental solution. vironmental awareness and because of were proposed. After a preliminary Space teams’ objectives, we were with ESA’s staff and scientists working the technological solution to reduce the Francesco Consonni took care of the emanation of new regulations on in- evaluation of their effectiveness, an assigned the task of focusing on the on the Clean Space initiative through environmental impact of space activi- the elaboration of the alternatives for dustrial processes. GreenSpace Team MCDA method, TOPSIS, was applied space segment. Team A thus focused phone calls and emails. On the other ties, additional criteria had to be taken the reduction of the environmental im- A was assigned the task of examining in order to find the best solution, con- on the following goals: hand, the awareness of citizens on the in consideration, due to the different pact of hydrogen production. the space-segment of ESA’s activities, sidering also the criteria of adaptability ■■ giving a definition of sustainability for problem has been investigated through needs that industrial activities must sat- David Dianda worked on the identifi- defining the idea of sustainability in this to the plant, maturity of the technology space activities, as nobody had ever a survey conducted with the help of so- isfy. These further criteria have been cation of the stakeholders and on the frame, developing an innovative method and cost. The production of hydrogen taken in consideration the problem in cial networks. Information on the sup- discussed with the main stakeholder definition of their needs and acted as to evaluate their impact and proposing from biomass-derived methanol, paired this industrial sector; pliers has been conveyed to the Green- and are validated by current use in in- the Team Controller. a more environmentally-friendly design with carbon capture, turned out to be ■■ developing an innovative tool for the Space Team through ESA’s staff, due to dustrial practices and by experts’ opin- Filippo Manelli performed the feasi- solution. The first task was carried out the best option, mainly because of the analysis and evaluation of the envi- the peculiar privacy policies that char- ions. Thus, we have considered also bility evaluation of the alternatives for by adapting the definition of sustain- significant reduction in specific CO2 ronmental impact of space activities; acterize this sector. European Space the following aspects: the environmental solution, conduct- ability given by Gro Brundtland, one of emissions it generates. Carbon dioxide ■■ proposing an innovative design so- Agency asked us to develop a method ■■ adaptability, related to the number ing a multi-criteria analysis. the pioneers of environmental studies. savings for a single launch event were lution to reduce the environmental to assess the environmental friendli- and the size of the plant’s modifica- Massimo Molinelli analyzed the Then, the eMergy approach, holistic converted to units used in the Wedge impact of space launching activities ness of space activities and a solution tions to be implemented to adopt the state of the art on Sustainability As- and simpler than LCA methods, was Game, developed by Princeton Univer- during one of the many stages of to minimize their environmental impact. solution; sessment Tools and worked on the adapted from ecology and was used sity professors Stephen W. Pacala and their life cycle, possibly borrowing it To evaluate the solutions we proposed, ■■ maturity, related to the industrial state economic aspects of the sustainability in order to identify the critical subsys- Robert H. Socolow. The results from from other industrial sectors. we have defined a short set of final re- of development of the examined solu- problem. tem of a space launcher. The criticality the previous phase were used in the Since the GreenSpace project is quirements. Considering the assessing tion and to its capillarity of diffusion in Davide Pizzocri worked on the criti- analysis shifted the focus on the pro- social promotion of ESA’s environmen- framed in the Clean Space initiative pro- method, we defined two criteria: present-day plants. cality analysis of space subsystems, pellants, which were further analyzed tal awareness through both physical moted by the European Space Agency, ■■ effectiveness, i.e., the capability of adapting the eMergy approach and through a specifically tailored qualita- and digital channels. our work has ESA itself as its principal the solution to provide the desired successively developing the innovative tive method, Fuel Life Environmental stakeholder and inherits the Agency’s result; FLECA method. Cycle Assessment (FLECA). The use ones. There are several actors who ■■ efficiency, inversely proportional to of this method led to the identification carry an interest in the results of our re- the consumption of resources to get

42 43 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 GreenSpace_Space and Green Technologies

4. Greenhouse Effect Mechanism 5. Histogram Showing the Effectiveness of the 6. Map of Sustainability Assessment Tools 7. Plant Scheme of ESA’s 8. Promotion of Converted Quantities 9. Stakeholders’ Websites 10. Temperature and CO2 Concentration Different Examined Alternatives Hydrogen Production Plant through Oshi Application Network Charted with Issue in the Atmosphere in the Past 400,000 in Kourou Crawler and Gephi Years

Exploring the opportunities involved and, as a consequence of Generating a solution these hotspots, we chose to focus on (TOPSIS) method, which is a Multi- BIBLIOGRAPHY The need to fulfill the objectives of our this, they are often subcontracted to The challenges that were posed by the the hydrogen production for Ariane Criteria Decision Analysis tool, after [1] World Commission on Environment project, respecting the requirements companies that have special exper- objectives of the project have all been launchers for the following reasons: setting a system of weights and taking and Development, Our Common we have identified, gave birth to the tise in the field; overcome through the proposal of solu- ■■ Hydrogen is a commonly used in consideration the previously listed Future, Oxford University Press, Ox- challenges we had to face. First, since ■■ An adequate modeling of the im- tions that either have been created ex chemical and improvements in its requirements for the technical solution, fo r d, 19 87. a definition of sustainability in the field pacts peculiar to space activities is novo or that have been adapted to con- production for space applications we found the optimal alternative for the [2] H. T. Odum, Environmental Ac- of space activities had never been giv- not carried out. texts different from those that originated could have beneficial impacts also problem. The best one among the pro- counting: Emergy and Environmen- en, an effort of restricting a broad idea Finally, following the results obtained in them. The definition of sustainability for on other industrial activities, eventu- posed solutions was the production of tal Policy Making, John Wiley and into narrower boundaries was required. the first phases, the proposal of a de- space activities was given developing ally fulfilling one of ESA’s goals; hydrogen from biomass-derived meth- Sons, New York, 1996. Then, the second and even tougher sign solution to reduce carbon dioxide ideas that had been elaborated by one ■■ Current hydrogen production is anol, paired with carbon capture at the [3] S. W. Pacala and R. H. Socolow, challenge was to develop a holistic, ef- emissions linked to the hydrogen pro- of the pioneers of environmental litera- characterized by significant carbon outlet of the plant. Stabilization Wedges: Solving the ficient and effective method to obtain duction for Ariane launchers was set ture: Gro Brundtland. As for the method dioxide emissions and environmen- The savings in carbon dioxide emis- Climate Problem for the Next 50 an estimate of the environmental im- as the objective of the last phase of the of analysis of the various subsytems, tal problems related to greenhouse sions obtained with this solution were Years with Current Technologies, pact of the main subsystems of a space project. The present production, us- the eMergy approach, borrowed from gases are among the most relevant converted in equivalent units of prac- Science, Vol. 305, No. 5686, Pages launcher. The present solutions, among ing methanol derived from a methane- ecology, was implemented in order to ones in contemporary society; tical interest exploiting the categories 968-972, 2004. which those belonging to the family of reforming process, is characterized by conduct a criticality analysis. Once the ■■ The problem of the evaluation of proposed by the Stabilization Wedge Life Cycle Assessment are dominant, significant values of greenhouse gases critical subsystem, the propellant, had feasible alternatives to mitigate the Game, invented by Princeton Univer- did not suit our needs for various rea- specific emissions. The main results of been identified, a qualitative method carbon dioxide emissions from hy- sity professors Stephen W. Pacala and sons: these phases, which make up the envi- for the selection of the environmental drogen production perfectly fit the Robert H. Socolow. The results will be ■■ Industrial databases are not suf- ronmental solution, must then be con- hotspots in a propellant’s life cycle, was competencies of our team, whereas conveyed both through physical and ficiently enhanced to deal with the veyed through suitable means to the developed. Fuel Life Environmental Cy- the focus on other environmental digital channels to promote ESA’s ef- specificities of space systems manu- general public. cle Analysis, FLECA, specifically tailored hotspots would need specific space forts towards a stronger environmental facturing; for the study of the different processes knowledge and peculiar information sustainability of its activities. ■■ LCA-related evaluations require undergone by a space fuel, allowed the from the industry. huge amounts of data as input and identification of several hotspots for dif- Through the Technique for Order Pref- specific knowledge of the processes ferent propellants used by ESA. Among erence by Similarity Ideal Solution

44 45 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 GreenSpace_Space and Green Technologies

ABSTRACT The GreenSpace project aims at filling Spaceship EAC the gap between the lack of commit- project 3B European Astronaut Centre & ment shown in the past by the space sector in the monitoring of its impact on Environmental Advancement Centre environment and the current perspec- tive towards sustainability. As aware- ness towards the problem is growing, eco-friendliness is today an essential requirement for all industrial activities, 1. The European Astronaut 2. Layout of the territory around the EAC v 3. Solar irradiation map of Germany 4. Wind farms distribution in Task & Skills both from a corporate social respon- Centre building (source: (source: A.G. Aberle, “Thin-film Germany (source: European European Space Agency) solar cells”, Thin Solid Films Environment Agency) Masoud Bozorg Bigdeli focused on Beatrice Matassini concentrated on sibility and from a European regulatory Journal, 517, pp 4706-4710, 2009) the development, definition and AHP the economic feasibility evaluation of compliance point of view. evaluation of sustainable standard and the proposed concepts. Within the GreenSpace framework, In any case, when dealing with com- due to its key role in respect to sus- ance with economical and social as- space-driven concepts for water man- Cristina Palamini focused on the team B focuses on the assessment and plex and uncertain scenarios, decision tainability, represents the core of Team pects. agement in the European Astronaut definition and AHP evaluation of waste the sustainable development enhance- among the possible solutions is not B’s project. Our case study, the EAC In collaboration with ESA partners we Centre. management standard and space- ment of ground-based space facili- straightforward and needs to be sup- building, provides training facilities to structured our tasks as follows: Alberto Castiglioni concentrated on driven solutions, worked on the con- ties. The name Spaceship EAC cov- ported by appropriate methodologies: the European astronauts and includes ■■ the assessment of the sustainabil- standard and space-driven energy so- cept generation and design of the ers both cardinal aspects of our design the final goal of Spaceship EAC is to offices, meeting rooms, training areas ity, in ecological terms, of the EAC lutions to improve the EAC sustainabil- online platform and acted as Team activity: the definition of space-driven provide a multi-criteria and quantitative and a swimming pool, which result in building, based in Köln, Germany; ity and defined criteria and processes Controller. concepts for the European Astronaut decision-making tool, able to focus high energy and water demand and ■■ the undertaking of a design proc- for the AHP assessment. Centre redesign and the environmental on the main goal while considering all in large amounts of waste produc- ess within a technical context, as re- Ludovica Frezza performed the advancement goal of the project. other relevant aspects – environmental, tion: their management acquires high quired by the project goals, namely analysis of the EAC district, the en- As history teaches us, technical knowl- economical and social sustainability. importance from an environmental the exploration of the potential of vironmental impact evaluation of the edge emerged within the space sec- Furthermore, the project promotes lo- perspective, and becomes the key space technologies applied in the proposed solutions and studied the tor serves as innovation driver in other cal community participation in the de- for sustainability improvement. The architecture and civil engineering integration between existing buildings industrial branches: this project aims cisional process, as a way to enhance building, unlike many ground-based fields. The human resources of the and new structures. at consciously managing this gener- knowledge, generate understanding space sites, is not located in a desert- team have been selected accord- Diego Martinoia worked on the de- ally spontaneous process by fostering and promote consensus towards the ed area but near a city: we identified ingly and do not include aerospace sign and engineering of an online plat- the contamination between the space EAC redesign, space activities and their the integration with the pre-existing expertise, in order to foster the ex- form for concepts showcase and col- sector and the architecture and civil en- potential innovative impact on sustain- compound and the attenuation of the ploration of innovative paths; laborative decision-making between gineering fields, in an eco-design per- ability. impact on landscape and local com- ■■ the generation of space-driven in- ESA and the local community which spective. Indeed, space technologies, munity as additional fundamental re- novative concepts which may turn surrounds the EAC. developed for an extreme environment, Understanding the problem quirements. Indeed, our design activ- the EAC in an Environmental Ad- deal with resources scarcity and need Eco-friendliness is nowadays a para- ity began with the broadening of the vancement Centre, a first attempt to be highly efficient, representing a val- mount requirement for any space fa- environmental advancement objective to enhance sustainability through id source of inspiration for the genera- cility, especially if we consider the in order to fully embrace the concept space technologies, processes and tion of innovative concepts for sustain- ground segment, which is fully com- of sustainability, which considers not systems. The extreme perform- ability improvement on ground. parable to other industrial sectors and, only eco-friendliness but also its bal- ances, limited resources and strong

46 47 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 GreenSpace_Space and Green Technologies

likely to be economically competitive. The AHP process outcome is a quanti- tative assessment and a mathemati- cal rigorous ranking of our design al- ternatives; it received positive feedbacks from ESA as considered a valuable tool for decision making practices in complex and uncertain contexts. The final solution implementation may affect the local community and the land- 5. Thin film and crystalline 6. Map of EAC buildings roofs’ 7. Estimation of EAC water consumption 8. “Overall Preference Matrix” and relative 9. Matrixes and eigenvectors for the energy 10. European citizens’ opinion on space activities funding scape surrounding the EAC; disruptive modules orientation surfaces for the different equipments RVV vector for the ranking of the selective solutions’ selection (left: criterion “S”; center: (source: Space Activity of the European Union Survey, criteria within the AHP decision-making “M”; right: “E”) conducted by The Gallup Organisation, Hungary, upon the sustainability innovations, despite their process (S=degree of sustainability, M=maturity of request of Directorate General Enterprise and Industry, 2009) the technology, E= economic feasibility) benefits, may rise controversies and op- position as they represent an alteration of constraints that characterize the out- ■ surveys highlight EU citizens’ lack of itiveness of Europe through sustain- the generation of innovative concepts. ties of our project fulfil the AHP applica- ■ the status quo: a more open decision- er space environment are regarded interest and knowledge towards the ability; Two main drivers influenced our de- tion requirements: making process may be advantageous as design opportunities, inspiration space sector. The EAC location ena- ■ multidisciplinarity and lack of aero- sign activity: a certain urgency for ac- ■ the availability of alternatives; ■ ■ in order to improve understanding and and sources of innovation for the bles the experimentation of the inte- space background within the team tion on sustainability, which leaves little ■ the absence of a clear criterion for ■ consensus, as underlined in the ASP ground segment; gration between its facilities and the allow a fresh and holistic perspec- space for research and experimenta- their evaluation. Schools “Innovation and Society” and ■ the definition of a decision-making local community, as an opportunity tive, which goes beyond the current tion, and a call for groundbreaking As for the selective criteria, we decided ■ “Complex Decision-Making”. Conse- process for the evaluation and com- to enhance the perception of space state of art and is more likely to en- solutions that may revolutionize the for a compromise between complexity quently, our project was concluded with parison of the concepts. The tool re- activities, their role in innovation and gage in new paths. European scenario in a longer term and completeness, and we identified the development of an online tool, based quires flexibility in the criteria definition their potential positive impact on A preliminary research on LCA and perspective. Taking advantage of these as relevant: on gamification principles, that allows and needs to consider technological, sustainability; LEED rating systems, together with conflicting requirements we performed ■ the degree of sustainability (S), ■ EAC district’s employees and common economical and social aspects. ■ the complex decision-making proc- the analysis of the available EAC data, a comparison between standard tech- which refers to the technology over- ■ citizens to get in touch with the Space- ess, which requires an ad-hoc tool served as guidance in the identification nologies and innovative space-related all contribution to sustainability and ship EAC project, discovering the differ- Exploring the opportunities and includes sustainability as a cru- of five relevant areas of intervention, concepts. represents a necessary but not suf- ent concepts, following their testing and Design methods suggest the under- cial criteria, may foster a paradigm in accordance with project require- ficient index in relation to require- expressing a preference, always keeping standing of limitation and constraints shift in assessments procedures. In ments and team expertise: Generating a solution ments; in mind their cost and their environmental in the early phases of the project as a addition, experimenting openness ■ energy solutions; The project focused on the develop- ■ the maturity of the technology (M), ■ ■ benefits. way to identify innovation opportuni- and community involvement may ■■ water management; ment of a range of concepts: there is a parameter in open contrast with ties. Taking on this perspective, we enhance consensus towards space ■■ waste management; no evidently dominant solution and the “S” if we consider that innovative so- BIBLIOGRAPHY pinpointed the most relevant ones for activities, a critical resource for ESA; ■■ preservation of local area; decisional process is not straightfor- lutions are often experimental and [1] Patel, Mukund. Spacecraft Power our project: ■■ the partnership with ESA allows a ■■ involvement of local community. ward. We consequently thought impor- yet not suitable for large scale appli- Systems. CRC press, 2004. ■■ the EAC building compound, far for potential implementation of the con- An in-depth analysis of the above-men- tant to define an ad-hoc assessment cations. The importance of balanc- [2] Eckart, Peter. Spaceflight life sup- being space-specific, supports the cepts, thanks to the agency’s own- tioned areas considered the technol- tool for our design proposals: we relied ing the oppositions through the AHP port and biospherics. Torrace, CA: development and testing of con- ership of technologies, expertise in ogy state of the art, its current applica- on the Analytical Hierarchy Process method is evident; Microcosm Press, 1996. cepts that are potentially applicable the field and spending power, which tion in the EAC and an overview of the developed by Thomas Saaty in 1980, ■■ the economic feasibility (E), in op- [3] Saaty, Thomas. Decision making to the standard construction indus- may support the high costs of such German situation, as well as the related a method emerged during the “Design position to “S” but concordant with with the analytic hierarchy process. try; an investment and drive the compet- space technologies, as groundwork for Methods” ASP School. The peculiari- “M”, since mature technologies are Int. J. Services Sciences, 2008

48 49 Project 4

WISE-SOS

Wireless Security Solution for Scuba-diving multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 WISE-SOS_ Wireless Security Solution for Scuba-diving

WISE-SOS introduction From the ’60, when professional associations for instruc- Wireless Security Solution for tors were established, scuba diving has increased more and more, reaching the nowadays figure of 950.000 new Scuba-diving diving certification per year worldwide. Even if safe to be performed under ideal conditions, the impossibility to ef- 4 ficiently communicate during the activity, but only by mean of hand gestures, could compromise both the environ- ment and divers safeness. In fact, according to a Japa- nese study from 2000, every hour of recreational diving is 36 to 62 times riskier than automobile driving, rising to Principal Academic Tutor Team A Members about 96 times according to an historical data set analysis from other point of view, designing for the first time a new Matekovits Ladislau Andrea Manzoni The WISE SOS over 10 years of activity in USA. Moreover, several studies coating material for underwater application. Electronics and Telecommunications, Telecommunications Engineering, Project, developed confirm how leisure costal activity, such as scuba diving, Politecnico di Torino Politecnico di Milano The results in collaboration with if performed with a poor training may alter fauna and flora With only few data about underwater propagation published Matteo Gregorio Modesto safeguard, exhausting natural resources (e.g. coral barrier Academic Tutors Marascio in literature and patents pending on principal application for Istituto Superiore in Red Sea). All these evidences lead to the desire to give underwater communication, one of the main result was to Peter Ildiko Biomedical Engineering, Politecnico a technological solution, able to answer to the open ques- Materials Science and Chemical di Milano [team controller and project Mario Boella, aims to define a legal frequency of work, collecting moreover data tions about diving safeness and providing a useful tool to about principal variable to parameterize the electromagnet- Engineering, Politecnico di Torino communication coordinator] improve scuba training all throughout the activity. Pirinoli Paola Simone Merlo develop a wireless ic communication and study its feasibility in theoretically, Electronics and Telecommunications, Material Science and Engineering, system to help divers The Challenge in fresh water and in salty water. Experimental test, given Politecnico di Torino Politecnico di Torino The project wishes to push new optimized ICT solutions and the complex state of art analysis and theoretical modeling, Zich Riccardo Nicola Peserico communicate in case state of the art technologies throughout innovation design were carried out only in fresh water (Belgirate, March 2013) Energy, Politecnico di Milano Telecommunications Engineering, solutions in the underwater communication field, consider- with a simplify model. Air and underwater wireless propa- Politecnico di Milano of danger. ing all the related challenging aspects this represents: the gation were then compared, demonstrating the possibility External Institution Francesco Silvestri propagation, the integration of the sensor node and of the to communicate underwater and defining technology limi- ISMB - Istituto Superiore Mario Electronic Engineering, Politecnico di Torino radiating structure into the diving suit, the use of adequate tation of the process. Results of theoretical analysis, an- Boella materials, the investigation of energy efficient solutions and tenna modeling and fresh water test were then presented green harvesting mechanisms through experimental and to ASP-URSI 2013 Conference in Orlando, Florida. EXTERNAL TUTOR innovative lines of developments. Simultaneously, material analysis and selection for under- Spirito Maurizio The Team water application was carried on, defining advantages and ISMB - Istituto Superiore Mario Boella All member of the team were engineers, with different drawbacks of metallic and polymeric materials. Moreover, scientific background. Most of the efforts were given on existing commercial solutions were examined, discussing the study of electromagnetic underwater propagation and the possibility to tailor them for our purpose. However, a to- hardware solutions to develop the network between hosts, tal innovative approach was chosen, leading a nine-month thanks to the majority presence of telecommunication and long laboratory research to synthetize a new class of ma- electronic engineers in the team. However, thanks to the terials, able to act as a coating on electronic devices while presence of material science and bioengineering knowl- protecting them from water and corrosion. Results led to edge inside the group, it was possible to face the issue the definition of a M.Sc’s thesis project.

52 53 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 WISE-SOS_ Wireless Security Solution for Scuba-diving

WISE-SOS Wireless Security Solution for Scuba-diving

1. Antenna design: analysis of 2. Salinity and pH variation in the world [Nasa data] 3. Experimental test on underwater Task & Skills ABSTRACT nication between users. In the first case, electromagnetic field. propagation in fresh water: set up scheme [Belgirate 03.2013] Andrea Manzoni studied the propa- Diving is an activity in continuous devel- the analysis led to the definition of narrow gation of electromagnetic waves at opment, firstly as an exciting and relaxing working band for radio communication, low frequency in both fresh and salted sport, secondly because of the increas- under the right of Italian legislation. More- possibly reduce underwater pollution, in- ered two synergic topics: study of under- working bands for radio communication, water, designing solutions to achieve ing attention to the underwater environ- over, simulations with commercial tools troduced by human improper activity. All water propagation and critical issue on set by the Italian department of environ- underwater communications among ment requiring continuous and in-situ provided an insight into the propagation of these goals could be achieved by the material selection. ment. Commercial solutions in the same scubas. observation. In this contest, the under- pathways and antenna design. Research development of a user-friendly wireless One of the main innovative ideas en- field were investigated, with analysis of Matteo Gregorio Modesto Maras- water safety represents a vital require- on feasible material started from analyses communication system, which could al- closed into the project consists of con- existing patents and a focus on micro- cio in his role of Team Controller and ment. Beside the regular maintenance of of commercial solution and ended with low a better communication between sidering the use of electromagnetic chip hardware. In particular, visits at Is- Communication Coordinator was in the equipment it would be expected that the notable result of designing an inno- scuba divers (e.g. instructor and stu- instead of acoustic waves, reducing tituto Superiore Mario Boella were use- charge of group management, work single divers have a further security level vative polymeric coating able to protect dents), leading to a reduction of both self- environment impact over marine fauna. ful to determine the state of the art of a organization, constant communication represented by the possibility to com- electronic devices without interfering with risk and environment hazard. Since only Analyses of the state of the art shown working hardware solution for wireless between stakeholders and external re- municate each others in case of danger. remote-host communication. one of five team members had previous a lack of understanding on underwater communication and discuss the possi- lations. This project aims to develop a wireless Future prospective after proposed re- scuba diving experiences, enforced the electromagnetic propagation, requiring bility to tailor some new ideas in the field Simone Merlo brought his scientific system allowing such a possibility. Start- sults would led then to the creation of a necessity to discuss with real stakehold- an experimental campaign ad hoc to to our purpose. experience into material analysis for ing from the analyses of the state-of- first prototype and assess its expected ers the feasibility of our solutions, in a field answer questions about feasibility and A side issue coupled with the devise of underwater applications, focusing on the-art of existing underwater commu- where, even from the state-of-the-art, the settle of working variables (e.g. dielec- an innovative propagation system was material selection and R&D for a wa- behavior both in simulated and real en- nication solutions and brainstorming on knowledge about many processes was tric constant, conductivity, propagation how to make it reliable in an electronic- terproof coating solution. vironments. innovative solution that could be put in not still fully disclosed (e.g. few study are constant, phase velocity and wavelength hostile environment like the underwater, Nicola Peserico designed and simu- available for any kind of underwater com- and group velocity). without damaging neither the perform- lated innovative antennas for underwa- act to solve current limitations, including Understanding the problem munication, followed with an even poorer A dedicated study on the “Liverpool ance nor the easiness of use for the final ter communications, aiming to wear- conceptual and/or technological ones, Main challenge all along the project du- commercial scenario in this sense). experience” on a similar test case was user. able solutions for scuba divers. two short-term key macro goals where ration was to drag innovative solutions performed, critically analyzing methods Francesco Silvestri analyzed state identified to be applied to a first proto- into a complex topic such as scuba div- Exploring the opportunities and results. The antenna was modeled A self-critical thinking process was then of art of IP for underwater communi- type: (i) modeling of underwater propa- ing, keeping a good degree of simplicity The complexity of the topic was clear by mean of a numerical simulation tool, required to design the circuit packaging cation, leading the experimental inves- gation to collect inputs for the design of a tigations new antenna and (ii) researching on the without compromising divers’ safeness. from the very first phase of analyses. The investigating the effect of design over with materials with both favorable me- possibility to design a new class of ma- Moreover, a green approach to the issue overall framework set up by the group to electromagnetic field. Theoretical feasibil- chanical and electromagnetic proper- terial able to protect the device, without was required, to avoid short and long- led the preliminary investigation on tech- ity studies about best frequency of work ties. Metallic and polymeric material were introducing artifact among the commu- term impact on the environment and nical feasibility and existing solutions cov- were coupled with definition of allowed studied, starting from existing solutions

54 55 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 WISE-SOS_ Wireless Security Solution for Scuba-diving

for underwater application. potential communication distance with- After the definition of advantages and out interfering with the diving activity. drawbacks of each class of material, Some of the results were successfully analyses moved then towards intensive discussed during the APS/URSI 2013 laboratory research to avoid principal conference (Orlando, July 2013, USA) by weaknesses, while improving claimed some of the team members, leading to best features. To realize the cover of the potential collaboration with the European device, an innovative coating was de- Space Agency. To realize the cover of the veloped based on a composite material device, an innovative coating was devel- made of a high hydrophobic polymer re- oped based on a composite material inforced with ceramic particles to achieve made of a high hydrophobic polymer re- water impermeability and scratch resist- inforced with ceramic particles to achieve ance. water impermeability and scratch resist- ance. Main scientific innovation was a demonstrated barrier capability, showing Generating a solution properties of a layered material in a single Theoretical analysis of underwater prop- 4. Experimental test on underwater propagation 5. Experimental test on underwater propagation 8. Antenna design: analysis of total gain 9. Dielectric constant variation with frequency in fresh water – Theoretical analysis [Andrea in fresh water – System detail [Belgirate, material. Compared to classical material and water wavelength. agation identified a putative communica- Manzoni, Belgirate, 03.2013] 03.2013] for underwater applications, as stainless tion frequency, coherent with the Italian steel and aluminum, this coating could law for radio propagation (10-10KHz). Ex- represent a cheaper solution, theoreti- perimental analysis of underwater com- cally with no or few interactions with the munication in fresh water by mean of a wireless system and with the possibility to 27MHz radio-controlled system. Meas- couple perfectly with any kind of device urements were conducted both in water shape and size. Electrical and mechani- and in air: the maximum distance where cal test performed on the material (syn- estimated, comparing the two systems thesis method, kinetics of polymerization, (air/water). From this preliminary analy- wettability, permeability and dielectric sis, it was proved that a simple commu- constant) showed good results and veri- nication in fresh water is possible, with fied the expected properties. Indeed, an average distance of 2m. Since the further study would be necessary to de- aim of the test was to prove possibility termine experimentally material effects to perform a virtual communication in a on electromagnetic signal attenuation water system, further tests should as- and interaction with the propagation field, sess the maximum length using an ideal along with a characterization of long-term frequency within 10-100KHz, according effects of saline water on coating and de- to our previous results. By mean of Feko vice. Currently, a M.Sc.’s thesis is ongo- simulation, it was possible to propose a ing on the topic, from which some results wide range of antenna shapes. The en- were taken and could investigate some tire antennas studied were proposed to 6. Experimental test on underwater propagation 7. Experimental test on underwater propagation in fresh water – Set up [Nicola Peserico, in fresh water – Set up [Simone Merlo, Belgirate, of the open question addressed. 10. WISE-SOS presentation at APS/ISNC-URSI IEEE 2013 Conference in Orlando (FL) [Nicola Peserico, maximize scuba ergonomic, reducing Belgirate, 03.2013] 03.2013] Matteo Marascio, Andrea Manzoni]

56 57 Project 5

EMIMT

E-Government meets integration and mining techniques multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 EMIMT_E-Government meets integration and mining techniques

EMIMT PROJECT DESCRIPTION People shop online, book hotels and flights online. This E-Government meets integration happens because the data needed to complete these and mining techniques tasks are easily accessible and a lot of websites allows us- ers to query the Web to obtain enough information to be 5 confident. In many countries, citizens take for granted the fact that government and local authorities should make a variety of data sets available to the public. This data sets span a vari- ety of topics such as economic indicators, crime statistics, Principal Academic Tutor Team Members educational data, government spending and campaign Alessandro Campi Matteo Carlo Maria Aletti contributions. The new generation of tools for managing Politecnico di Milano Mathematical Engineering, Politecnico and visualizing data have empowered data activists, led by Dept. of Electronics and Information di Milano [team controller and project journalists, who are turning this data into visualizations and communication coordinator] stories that are spread by social networks and seen by mil- Academic Tutors Edoardo Giovanni Colombo lions of people. Tommaso Buganza Computer Engineering Politecnico di Milano These visualizations, stories and public attention, in turn, Politecnico di Milano Piero Franceschini lead to new questions and hence a demand for additional Dept. of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering and Management, data. This scenario brings the pressing need for the crea- Industrial Engineering Politecnico di Torino tion of an ecosystem of tools and data that enable us to Mariangela Rizzo discover good data, create useful artifacts from it, and con- Tania Cerquitelli Mathematical Engineering, Politecnico di tribute it back to the Web. Many tools are developed to this Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Control and Milano aim and some experiences (such as Google Fusion Table) Computer Engineering Davide Sanapo have demonstrated that, if you provide good tools for data Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Torino management and visualization, there are plenty of data en- External Institutions thusiasts who are eager to use them to create more value Regione Lombardia from data and put it in the eyes of the public. Comune di Torino This project aims to propose a framework tailored to extend way to organize the economical information such that dif- EXTERNAL TUTOR the internet revolution to public administrations. This is a ferent data from different administrations is comparable. Enrico Brambilla step forward the exploitation of all the information we have Once the data is organized our final output is a web ap- Regione Lombardia about government and society for a better understanding plication that provides information at different levels. There of the actual situation allowing people to relate objective will be the possibility to download the raw data set, to look data available online or offline with news articles, blog posts at visualizations and to play around with data. or other comments enriching data with information about the mood of people. In order to give a taste of the possibilities offered by this new scenario, we decided to focus on economical data, This project tries to provide an idea of a framework that balance sheets from the Italian public administrations and could fill a part of the gap. Firstly we propose a protocol, a to focus on few demonstrative data exploitation.

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EMIMT E-Government meets integration and mining techniques

Task & Skills ma to represent the data and he chose Introduction mation such that different data from PSIH (PSI Holder) is represented by an Mariangela Rizzo approached the the data visualizations along with the People shop online, book hotels and different administrations is comparable. Italian municipality, who decides to put themes of transparency in public ad- web design to be implemented. flights online. This happens because Once the data is organized our final out- on-line data about its balance sheet ministration and open data through a Matteo Aletti analyzed the balance the data needed to complete these put is a web application that provides and its expenses. The proposed solu- detailed study of the state of art. She sheets structure and its contents in or- tasks are easily accessible and a lot of information at different levels. There will tion is that of a private company that analyzed municipalities balance sheets der to help the development of a well websites allows users to query the Web be the possibility to download the raw operates mainly as intermediary with and contributed to the definition of new suited data storage strategy. to obtain enough information to be con- data set, to look at visualizations and to other players in the market (B2B), but “social” indicators for the assessment Furthermore he contributed to the un- fident. This project aims to propose a play around with data. that also makes the data available to of a city. Mariangela Rizzo defined also derstanding of the economical based framework tailored to extend the inter- Knowledge spreading can and must be the public in downloadable formats. the criteria to use in the data-mining indicators of a city. He proposed an net revolution to public administrations. seen as a way of fostering people criti- The free channel, i.e. the service of process. analysis approach in order to perform We decided to focus on economical cal thinking and reasoning. This does visualization of balance sheet data with Piero Franceschini analyzed differ- interesting comparisons between mu- data, balance sheets from the Italian not mean that a common citizen with some elaborations, is financed by the ent types of business models based on nicipalities. public administrations. Even though no experience whatsoever can impro- municipalities, which in this way obtains PSI data that provide services to citi- Davide Sanapo focused his atten- the city of Florence can be considered vise herself a politician or an economics also a gain in transparency and “rep- zens with an added value. In the case tion on Open Data and on Open Linked in step with the times, providing a vast expert. Nevertheless new ideas, inputs utation”. The B2B channel, that is the of municipalities, Piero studied the situ- Data; in particular he studied the possi- amount of open data, the majority of can arrive from more people than usu- selling of services about economics of ation and proposed a business model bility of using the OLD framework think- towns is rather lagging. In most of the al, and a better awareness of what is municipalities regarding mainly tenders, that offers several possibilities to exist- ing of its possible advantages. Moreo- cases they just publish the balance going on can prevent the affirmation of is made up of commercial relationships ing and to new firms and improves the ver, he analyzed the requirements that sheets in a .pdf format, which moreo- populist leaders and ideologies. between our company and the compa- relationship between citizens and poli- data should have in order to be com- ver it is a scan of the printed version, nies who are interested in public works tics due to increased transparency pletely accessible and to be used for resulting in a piece of information that is The Business Model of the municipalities. Edoardo Colombo dealt with the government settings. He took part in quite useless in our era, where comput- After a short introduction about PSI technological and design aspects of the decion process for the technologi- ers can parse, analyze data, given that (Public Sector Information) at Europe- Design the project. He designed the web ap- cal aspects. it is in a machine readable format. an level, there is an analysis of the im- For each topic we can identify experts plication infrastructure, choosing the This project tries to provide an idea of pact on public welfare which it causes. and non-experts. When we talk about technologies to be employed: database a framework that could fill a part of the Then, there is a comparison of several data there are those people who feel system and web application frame- gap. Firstly we propose a protocol, a business models of companies using comfortable with downloading raw work. way to organize the economical infor- the PSI as raw data. In our case, the data and build their own analysis using Moreover he designed the XML sche-

62 63 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 EMIMT_E-Government meets integration and mining techniques

specific tools and techniques, and we ate user is not capable of performing required services. First of all we need a Data Analysis that could improve both the politics Bibliography have the person from the street. For this her own analysis, still a mostly static database where the informations need We decided to focus on balance sheets and the economics of public admin- [1] Pollock, R.. Welfare gains from kind of user we can only assume that visualization of the data may not be to be stored and a way to organize it. because they are mandatory and quite istrations; opening up Public Sector Informa- she can perform normal web browsing what is more suitable for her. Therefore We decided to use PostgreSQL and to easy to find on the municipalities web- ■■ as confirmed by the survey, there is tion in the UK, University of Cam- tasks and no more than that. Therefore we want to provide something more keep the schema as simple as possi- sites. We first analyzed the structure of a real need for the service we de- bridge, 2011, available at: we have to produce some visualizations interactive. Our inspiration came from ble, featuring just one table. Then there a municipality balance sheet and then signed; [2] http://rufuspollock.org/economics/ that enable this category to have infor- the famous TED talk by Hans Rosling is the necessity for a web application figured out how to understand the in- ■■ we took into consideration the way papers/psi_openness_gains.pdf mation instead of just data. Between filmed in February 2006, where he framework to build the dynamic web formation hidden inside of this data. citizens interact with data and struc- [3] Borgonovi, Fattore, Longo. Man- them we can imagine the intermediate presented a quite interesting data ex- pages that will be served to the user. We provided different tools to analyse tured our work into three levels in or- agement delle Istituzioni Pubbliche, level, a person who is not capable of ploration tool that now can be found at Sinatra resulted to a good choice, be- and measure the economical behaviour der to offer a fully enjoyable experi- Egea, 2012 dealing with raw data, still she is not that gapminder.com. More recently Google ing open source and indicated for fast of the administrations. Once a common ence by different kind of users; [4] Ferro, E., Osella, M.,Modelli di busi- unskilled. We want to provide tools and made a similar one that can be found at prototyping. point of view is provided it is finally pos- ■■ we chose technologies that allow a ness nel riuso dell’informazione pub- not static visualizations, i.e. we want to google.com/publicdata. sible to make objective comparisons fast and easy implementation and blica, 2011Regional CT Observatory give her the ability of exploring the data. Open Linked Data and interesting analysis that should be deployment; they are all well docu- of Piedmont Region The Expert Level: The expert is con- Technology The idea of the Semantic Web is built useful both to citizens and to adminis- mented and open source. [5] Gupta N., Halevy A., et al. Recent sidered that kind of user capable of her There are several technological as- around the concept of the “Web of trations. A first descriptive analysis has progress towards an ecosystem of own analysis. Therefore we have just to pects that need to be tackled. First of Data” which means moving from the been followed by a deeper correlation structured data on the Web. ICDE provide the raw .xml file for download- all we have to develop a data format existing “document centric” Web to a analysis, by means of data mining tech- 2013: 5-8 ing. to represent the balance sheets pro- “data centric one”. niques and association rules. [6] Halevy A., McGregor S.. Data Man- agement for Journalism, IEEE Data The Non-Expert Level The non-expert vided by the public administrations. There are potential benefits for institu- Conclusions is assumed being able to perform basic The data format must be both human tions in using the principles of Open In the end we think that our project can Eng. Bull. 2013, number 3, pp. 7-15. web browsing (with a certain amount and machine readable, according to and Linked Data in different areas, but, successfully be deployed for the follow- of confidence), and nothing more than the W3C guidelines on Open Data for of course, data must respect some ing reasons: that. Keeping this fact in mind we had Open Governments. Therefore we de- constraints. ■■ It offers a standard framework and to think about static tools enabling her cided to use XML as data format which Anyway, there is still a degree of confu- communication protocol among the to understand, i.e. passing from data to guarantees the aforementioned fea- sion regarding the key concepts of the municipalities, this being what lacks information. tures. The next step consists in building Semantic Web and linked and open the most in the Italian peninsula; The Intermediate Level The intermedi- a web application able to provide the data. ■■ it offers a feasible business model

64 65 Project 6 MCDA for cultural heritage

Multi-criteria decision analysis for cultural heritage conservation and development multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 MCDA for cultural heritage_ Multi-criteria decision analysis for cultural heritage conservation and development

MCDA for cultural heritage PROJECT DESCRIPTION The challenge Multi-criteria decision analysis for The enhancement of built cultural heritage is recognized as cultural heritage conservation and a major element for strengthening the economic base of a territory as it fuels development through its attractiveness development 6 for inhabitants and external visitors, in terms of both tangi- ble and intangible values. Furthermore, the collective nature of built cultural heritage due to the large number of persons using it simultaneously makes the decisions affecting cultural heritage involve dif- Principal Academic Tutor EXTERNAL TUTORs Violeta Popova ferent stakeholders holding multiple and conflicting values. Alessandra Oppio Nathalie Dufour Architecture, Politecnico di Milano By this multidimensional nature, the decision makers need Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Building and Soprintendenza Regionale Valle d’Aosta Noemi Zito to consider many criteria such as integrity, reversibility, fi- Environment Sciences and Technology Industrial Engineering and Management, nancial balance, social benefits. Paolo Galimberti Politecnico di Torino In this context the goal of this multidisciplinary project is to Academic Tutors Fondazione IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore point out different development scenarios for the castles Valeria Pracchi Policlinico Mangiagalli Regina Elena Team b Members of the Region Valle d’Aosta according to the requirements help the Soprintendenza per i Beni e le Attività Culturali en- Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Building and Carolina Anselmino of the Spatial Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis approach. hancing the Cultural Heritage network in the Valle d’Aosta Environment Sciences and Technology Alessandra Kluzer Architecture heritage preservation and territory through a more exhaustive understanding of which Fondazione IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore enhancement, Politecnico di Torino Team A_ A future for the Valle d’Aosta Castles: How kind of strategies should be fullfilled. Firstly, the evaluation Marta Bottero Policlinico Mangiagalli Regina Elena [team controller] to assess development options within a regional tool can be used to define macro-scale strategies that do Politecnico di Torino - Interuniversity Dept. Boris Bresciani context not directly affect the single castles but upgrades the sys- of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning Mariangela Carlessi Building Architecture, Politecnico di Milano Team A was in charge of exploring an assessment meth- tem and, secondly, to evaluate and choose which action Fondazione IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Giulia Ceriotti odology based on Nijkamp’s theory of wares, multicriterial (among the ones planned) should be implemented for each Davide Ponzini Policlinico Mangiagalli Regina Elena Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano techniques and spatial softwares (GIS) to help the deci- castle. It was also considered how the strategies proposed Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Architecture Zhaoyuan Li sion maker generating and evaluating different scenarios at a macro-scale level (the system-scale) influence the ac- and Planning Team A Members Management Engineering, Politecnico di and choosing the best action to implement at the scale tions submitted at the micro-scale level (the castles-scale). Simone Albertini Milano of each castle in order to enhance them basing on their The results Ugo Fratesi Chemical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano Alessandra Piatti specific historical and social background. The work of the The multidimensional analysis of the Valle d’Aosta Region Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Building and Martina Cividini Urban Planning and Policy Design, team was continuously related to the one of team B in or- and its castles’ system, combined with the use of ad- Environment Sciences and Technology Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano Politecnico di Milano der to develop a final evaluation tool which outcome would vanced evaluation techniques, has led the project teams Aurelio David Carmen Pietrafesa also consider the future of each castle within the macro- to the de¬velopment of two innovative, flexible and widely External Institutions Architecture heritage preservation and Architecture Construction City, Politecnico territorial vision, avoiding the risk of wasting the opportunity usable assessment tools, to support decision makers who Soprintendenza Regionale Valle enhancement, Politecnico di Torino di Torino of a balanced development of the whole region. are committed to define the development strategies of built d’Aosta [communication coordinator and team Sofia Spinelli cultural heritage. Both the evaluation systems were struc- Fondazione IRCCS Ospedale controller] Mathematical Engineering, Politecnico di Team B_ Defining development strategies for the tured by the involvement of the Regional Soprintendenza Maggiore Policlinico Mangiagalli Luca Peruselli Milano Valle d’Aosta Castles’ system: a multcriteria spatial per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, raising a high level of con- Regina Elena Architecture heritage preservation and decision support tool sensus concerning the decision criteria and the develop- enhancement, Politecnico di Torino Team B focused on setting an evaluation tool with in order to ment options proposed.

68 69 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 MCDA for cultural heritage_ Multi-criteria decision analysis for cultural heritage conservation and development

to parameters, nor can be done by comparison, as the concept of “simi- Assessing alternatives lar goods” would be misleading. project 6A ■■ Second, the risk concerning archi- for single cultural goods tectural goods is that if circumstanc- es lead to a deadlock, not assum- ing any management strategy at all could impact negatively not only in terms of wasted opportunities for the growth of the host region, but also in 1. Issogne, September 2012. 2. Sarre, September 2012. Visit at 3. Aymavilles, September 4. Fenis, September 2013. Visit at the Task & Skills terms of material decay, which can Exploring functionalities of the castle of Sarre. 2012. The castle of castle of Fenis. Taken by Aurelio David eventually lead to the loss of it. new tools. Taken by: Simone Taken by: Aurelio David Aymavilles. Taken by: Simone Albertini Noemi Zito Albertini. Aurelio David analyzed the organizational structure analyzed the organizational structure This means that decisions have to be of Valle d’Aosta and contributed in the of Valle. She contributed in the best made, but sometimes the challenge sion of the whole region. nomic fabric of the region, but a wide tion could be useful in the prepara- financial collection of data. He was the practices research and in the phase of becomes even more arduous due to UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM number of them lacked both a strong tion of a development castle-scale official photographer during the work- characterization of the castles. both the presence of different stake- In order to better understand the re- identity and proper sustainable pro- strategy? How could data be as- shop in Valle d’Aosta. holders having different priorities, and quirements of the tool to be devel- gram. sembled in order for the Soprin- Martina Cividini ABSTRACT shortage of resources, as in the con- oped, it was necessary to understand Furthermore, the lack of a systemic tendenza to have a complete vision worked on the ecological analysis at Conservation and enhancement of temporary economic crisis. the needs of the Soprintenza and get fashion to organize information about of the whole region? the scale of the castle. She helped in built cultural heritage is one of the cru- It is in this framework that the project the proper knowledge about the cas- the castles and the territory resulted ■■ Generation and evaluation of local the production of the maps and in the cial factors in the long-term develop- MCDA for Cultural Heritage aimed to tles, the territory of Valle d’Aosta and in increasing difficulties for the Soprin- strategies: which criteria determine ANP model development. ment of a region, but how do public find an innovative way to deal with the actors involved in the decisional tendenza in managing them, with fre- the most suitable program for each Aurelio David institutions choose the best policy to such a situation, working with the Re- process. quent cases of not optimal allocation castle? What are the impacts of each worked on the social analysis and adopt in order to tackle such a com- gione Valle d’Aosta on its portfolio of Such information were obtained first- of resources. choice to the physical and cultural contributed in the phase of characteri- plex collective issue? The problem thirteen castles. In particular, team ly by an intensive workshop in Valle To sum up, we needed a tool that fabric of the territory? zation of the castles. He was in charge is indeed quite hard to tackle, as its A was in charge of exploring a new d’Aosta, where most of the actors were would take into account the aforemen- Unfortunately, the state of the art is of the tutors-team communication. degree of complexity is even higher methodology based on Nijkamp’s met and interviewed. This helped the tioned issues, and that would help the very poor when it comes to the spe- Luca Peruselli than the management of other kind of theory of wares, multicriterial tech- design team in both gaining a compre- Soprintendenza in the definition of the cific field of Cultural Heritage manage- analyzed the data about the cultural goods (i.e. social housing, public facili- niques and spatial softwares (GIS) to hensive awareness of how decisions right program for each castle, start- ment and, as some prior investigations events taking place in and around the ties) for at least two reasons: help the decision maker generating had been made in the past years and ing from a well-organized local-based outlined, there is a complete lack of castles. He searched for best practic- ■■ First, when dealing with cultural her- and evaluating different scenarios and the current situation each castle is in. knowledge and that would assess the instruments concerning the decisional es and participated in the phase of the itage, the most appropriate strate- choosing the best action to implement In particular, the first analysis carried various impacts on the different as- process. However, there are some un- characterization of castles. gies of enhancement are often root- at the scale of each castle in order to out focusing on the castles, outlined a pect of the territory. related techniques or procedures that Violeta Popova ed on the history and based on the enhance them basing on their specific very heterogeneous portfolio, with dif- could come in handy, both for what analyzed the close-range accessi- embedded values of each cultural historical and social background. The ferences in the state of preservation, EXPLORING THE OPPORTUNITIES concerns the analysis of the specific bility and infrastructure system. She good. Assessing value and finding work of the team was continuously re- function and relationship with the sur- Once the problem was defined, it was features of the castles and their sur- searched for the best practices and the right action to implement is a lated to that of team B in order to de- roundings. Some of the castles had a broken down to two macro areas of roundings, and for the evaluation of was in charge of coordinating the final harsh task which cannot be reduced velop a final tool which outcome would unique character, and a solid function research: the impacts of the newly adopted pro- report development and correction. also maintain the macro-territorial vi- well integrated with the socio-eco- ■■ Data selection: what kind of informa- grams.

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SWOT methodology. These data are that are very important when dealing referenced as “elements”, and have with cultural heritage. Nonetheless, to be geo-referenced through a GIS despite the way we managed to solve software and displayed into interac- this specific problem, the tool seems tive maps, divided between positivity to be promising when it comes to as- and negativity; sessing alternative actions for cultural ■■ The elements are then organized in heritage management enhancement, a weighted network based on the as the combination of the layering of ANP technique, linking all the col- reality provided by the wares and the lected elements with one another ANP model minimizes complexity re- 5. October 2013. The coaxial matrix. when relationships and mutual influ- 6. March 2013. Sorting and localizing the castles 7. Ussel, September 2012. Visit to the castle of in the territory. Ussel. Taken by Aurelio David duction and is very responsive to gath- ences are present among them. The er inputs by the multiple points of view multiple actors involved in the deci- of the multiple actors involved in the sion making can input their opinion decisional process. In particular, we are referring to the topics (economy, identity and society, concerning economy, ecology, The problem of the management of a in the model, expressing what and to well-known SWOT1 analysis, which is events, nature and landscape, mo- mobility and accessibility, identity, portfolio of cultural heritage goods is which degree each thematic group very useful to highlight weaknesses bility and accessibility, organization) events and organization. This evalu- strictly related to the genuine knowl- of element can affect the enhance- and opportunities; the GIS, a power- was established basing on Nijkamp’s ation consists of two parts: one first edge of the goods themselves and the BIBLIOGRAPHY ment of the system. This result in pri- ful tool to georeferentiate data through wares3. This methodology was shared highlights the prerequisites needed territory, with its tangible and intangible [1] L. Pedrazzini, G. Pesaro - The en- orities: fields and elements that are maps; and the ANP (Analytical Net- between the two teams, so that the for the program to be successfully aspects, which are intertwined. There- hancement of knowledge, preser- more important than others, and that work Process)2 , which is a multicri- data of both teams could have been implemented, and then, the impacts fore, when providing a tool for help- vation and valorisation of historical strategies and programs should take terial-based technique that can help exchanged and compared. each one has on the territory. This ing the decision maker in choosing settlements in the alpine area: an into consideration. All these data are in organizing and analyzing complex way, a set of alternative programs the best alternatives for the enhance- interdisciplinary approach, 44th Eu- displayed in maps of synthesis; decision. GENERATING A SOLUTION can be evaluated at once, with those ment of cultural goods, we opted for ropean Congress of the European ■ Investigation about the history of the In fact, one of the main challenges of The solution of our project is a tool re- ■ having major positive impacts on the one that could embed the phase of Regional Science Association, Uni- single architectonic goods, their re- the project was to combine and apply volving around a spatial SWOT of the prioritized thematic fields being most knowledge prior to the proposition versity of Porto, Porto, Portugal Au- lationship with the territory and the such techniques in one unique and most important elements contributing desirable than the others. The exist- and evaluation of a set of alternatives. gust 25th –29th , 2004 local people (the process of charac- innovative methodology that would to the enhancement or the hindrance ence of the various maps displaying We fulfilled that need through the con- [2] T.L. Saaty, Fundamentals of the An- terization), together with a research be useful for the main goal of the en- of a given portfolio of cultural goods, the elements already sorted in the tinuous use of the same framework of alytic Network Process– dependence on the best practices, will then sug- hancement of the castles. which can be used both for what same layers through which the as- SWOT and wares logic for both the and feedback in decision-making with gest possible programs that can be Furthermore, since our aim was to co- concern the analysis of data and the sessment of prerequisites/impacts is collection and the evaluation of data a single network journal of systems implemented on each cultural good. operate with team B and its studies evaluation of a given set of alterna- made, is a big help for this task; at the beginning and at the end of the science and systems engineering, In this phase, it is crucial to consult at the scale of the region and the for- tives, through an ANP-based network ■ The matrix connects each local- process. The outcome of the applica- June 2004, Vol. 13,N° 2 the maps with a focus on the single ■ mulation of macro strategies, a com- model. scale action with every possible tion of such method for the case of the [3] P. Nijkamp, G. Oirschot, A. Ooster- good, rather than on the territorial mon framework to gather synthetic The tool, which can be applied for any macro-scale strategies elaborated castles of the Valle d’Aosta was very man, Regional development and en- scale; information about the most important generic portfolio of cultural goods, with the procedure thought out by positive, but not without some weak- geneering creativity: an instrumental ■ Such programs can be evaluated consists of the following: ■ team B, in order to have a complete nesses. The need for a spatial or- comparison of science parks in a through a coaxial matrix that links ■■ A common thematic framework overview of what can be implement- ganization of data becomes a bit tight knowledge society, Research mem- 1. L. Pedrazzini, G. Pesaro, 2004 them with the various aspects of the (based on the wares) is used to gath- ed at both scales for the territorial when it comes to non-physical data, oranda, Free University, Amsterdam, 2. T.L. Saaty, 2004 territory, represented by the wares 3. P. Nijkamp, 1993 er synthetic data with respect to the enhancement. such as the intangible, cultural ones 1993.

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long workshop in Valle d’Aosta visiting castles and meeting the stakeholders, A tool to evaluate and it was possible to use all the data col- project 6B implement strategies lected for a SWOT analysis. The SWOT and information were then reorganized at the system-level into a network through the ANP tool to get a dynamic description of the ter- ritory including tangible and intangible aspects. A focus group with the stakeholders 1. Sarre, September 2012. An 2. February 2013. The analysis at the 3. September 2013. 4. September 2013. Elements of relevance, Task & Skills Alessandra Piatti investigated the in- defined priorities and peculiarities. eye on the territory. Taken by: global scale Priorities from the according to the priorities from the Aurelio David stakeholders stakeholders Carolina Anselmino investigated the frastructural elements of Valle d’Aosta The big challenge was to integrate social capital of Valle d’Aosta. She co- and the castles accessibility. She the ANP with the spatialiazation that operated for the thematic maps gen- helped in the elaboration of maps and enriches the model deeply because UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM goods is very strict (at least in Italy), the method carried out. eration. She contributed to define the spatialization of data. strengths, weaknesses, opportunities The Soprintendenza per i Beni e le At- making privatization and refunction- The deep analysis of the territory strategies-evaluation tool. She ana- Sofia Spinelli analyzed the economic and threads are physically placed and tività Culturali – the Governement De- alization unlikely to happen was the kick-off needed. Therefore, lyzed the micro/macro scale integra- situation of the system in terms of rev- detectable. Through the use of GIS partment responsible for Cultural Her- Therefore, it is possible to understand we travelled to the VDA Region for a tion. enues and expenses. She collaborat- tool thematic maps were generated, itage – of the Valle d’Aosta Region has why we were commissioned by the weeklong workshop; it was there pos- Boris Bresciani investigated cultural ed in the ANP results analysis. embedding the data collected and the a wide range of Goods to manage. Soprintendenza: we were asked to de- sible to visit all the castles belonging opportunities and events of the region, priorities expressed. The maps were Although it is an autonomous region, velop a tool which could help decision to the system, to meet the stakehold- linking them with the castle system. He Abstract then used together with best practices the current economic crisis is deeply makers in the Cultural Heritage field. ers and to experience the area in its worked as coordinator for the final the- This project focuses on the Cultural analysis to propose different strate- affecting the availability of resources The mean can be particularly fruitful for wholeness. This made it possible to sis development. Heritage management and enhance- gies. of the public sector; it is becoming a case study such as the VDA Region; go on to step 2: the SWOT analysis of Giulia Ceriotti inspected environ- ment. Nowadays decision makers The final step was to evaluate the harder to understand towards which in fact its autonomy allows the analysis the territory. mental aspects of the region. She have to face a strong economic crisis strategies proposed and to verify the strategies and policies to invest. of the territory to be at different scales helped to generate thematic maps. that forces them to rationalize the ex- feasibility at castle-scale, through the The Cultural Heritage field is a quite without being too dispersive, and fa- EXPLORING THE OPPORTUNITIES She elaborated focus group results, penses. Because of that, Valle d’Aosta development of a dynamic tool that peculiar one: cilitates the collaboration with the dif- The SWOT analysis evidenced the ANP software implementation and region was deeply interested in devel- took into account all the elements ■■ the value of goods is difficult to as- ferent stakeholders. complexity of the system analyzed. results. She contributed to define the oping a tool that could help in decision and the stakeholders opinions for the sess, yet there is not a shared meth- The system which we were asked to The first challenging task was to or- strategies-evaluation tool. making processes in the Cultural Her- strategies evaluation. In conclusion, a od deal with is composed of 13 castles ganized all the data collected into a Carmen Pietrafesa analyzed differ- itage field; particularly, for a system of deep knowledge of the territory is fun- ■■ goods already exist and are decay- spread over the Region; they belong to complete scheme of the territory that ent case studies to identify best prac- 13 castles spread on the regional ter- damental for the strategy definition, ing, decisions have to be made fast different eras and different typologies, could include all its tangible and intan- tices which could help in defining strat- ritory. and a rational tool is useful not only for and should be more than simple have different characteristics, different gible peculiarities; different features egies. She also helped the analysis of The project can be split into two main strategies evaluation but also for a bet- preservation functions and a different preservation of the region have mutual interactions the macro/micro scale interactions. parts: one dedicated to data collection ter knowledge of the system analyzed. ■■ goods belong to the society at large, statuses. Therefore it is a particularly and impacts, we needed not only a Zhaoyuan Li analyzed the financial and in getting acquaintance with the Also, general advices for strategies but the only actor in the decision complex system, which has to be scheme but a dynamic description aspects of Castles system. He also territory, while the other dedicated to definition in the Cultural Heritage field process is usually the Government linked with the natural and cultural of the territory as a network. Also, we helped in the best practices analysis the tool development. After a week- can be extracted. Department richness of the Region; this complexity required a tool which could integrate and research. ■■ the legislation about this kind of needs to be captured by the tool and the theoretical model that includes

74 75 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 MCDA for cultural heritage_ Multi-criteria decision analysis for cultural heritage conservation and development

5. June 2013. Data spatialization: 6. June 2013. Data spatialization: 7. June 2013. Data spatialization: 8. February 2013. The 9. October 2013. The SWOT analysis, 10. October 2013. The SWOT 11. June 2013. Best tangible aspects tangible aspects tangible aspects analysis at the global scale according to the priorities from the analysis, according to other priorities practices example: stakeholders (environmental scenario) the implementation of a fidelity card. tangible and intangible aspects with in different fields. First of all, we had to cooperated with us to define priori- were able to propose possible strate- cific characteristics of the castles. the spatialization of the information, deal with public bodies: huge amount ties; leading to a better understanding gies. The latter needed to be formally In conclusion, the work led not only to 12. June 2013. Best practices example: the strengths and weaknesses; in fact, we of data are stored but hardly available, of the territory, identifying peculiari- evaluated: we propose a dynamic tool a set of tools to help decision makers implementation of a transportation network were aiming at the enhancement of even in a limited and autonomous ter- ties and vocations to indicate possible which weights strategies according to enhancing the Cultural Heritage net- a physical wide territory, not of just a ritory where it is possible to be in di- strategies. what feature they influence and the work in a territory; but it also led to system. rect touch with the Soprintendenza. We were now able to generate themat- relative importance they gain; the tool a better understanding of which and Since they involve numerous criteria, Secondly, considering the territory in ic maps which embeded all the infor- is particularly useful because allows how strategies should be fullfilled. A these kinds of problems are normally a broad sense – including intangible mation collected, weighted depending decision makers to use it themselves, beforehand implementation of macro- faced through MCDA (Multi Criteria aspects – made our system descrip- on the priorities defined through ANP; without the help of the experts. In fact, scale strategies that do not directly af- Decision Analysis) tools, which fam- tion complete but we had to overcome it is a totally new concept, which allows any other strategy can be proposed fect the single castles – but upgrades ily is very wide due to the diverse na- difficulties in defining intangible indica- the decision makers to see directly on and evaluated with the same method; the system – has to happen; then ture on the decision boards. Despite tors and in spatializing not physical in- the territory the preferences acknowl- it leads to a better understanding of the tool can be used to evaluate and this variety, no existing tool integrate formation. Finally, we collected data at edged. A sensitivity analysis can be where energy, time and money should choose which action (among the ones MCDA and spatialization concept different scales: difficulties were faced carried out, to exploit how different be invested. planned) should be implemented for for territory enhancement. ANP/AHP in scaling local information up as in de- priorities translate in a different under- Afterwards, it is necessary to investi- each castle. (Analytic Network/Hierarchy Process) riving micro-scale information from the standing of the land. The spatialization gate how the strategies proposed at methods stood out as the most suit- macro-scale ones. enriches the model deeply because a macro-scale level (the system-scale) able MCDA tool for at least overcom- strengths, weaknesses, opportunities influence the actions submitted at the BIBLIOGRAPHY 13. October 2013. The evaluation of strategies ing theoretical system description and GENERATING A SOLUTION and threads are physically placed and micro-scale level (the castles-scale); [1] V. Ferretti, Verso la valutazione inte- based on the actions at the castle-scale priorities definition; while for the spa- After the analysis, we organized a detectable; it is a quick mean to man- to see what strategies are concretely grata di scenari strategici in ambito tialization problem we opted for one of focus group at the Soprintendenza age the big amount of data. feasible. It was interesting to unmask spaziale. I modelli MC-SDSS, CELID, the most innovative tool: the GIS. Then office, where we invited the main Exploiting some case studies, we were that the most of the strategies recom- 2012. ISBN 9788876619755. science and systems engineering, the greatest challenge was the integra- stakeholders involved in the decision able to identify some best practices mended had to be implemented at the [2] T.L. Saaty, Fundamentals of the Ana- June 2004, Vol. 13,N° 2. tion of the two exiting and deeply dif- process: employees of departments to implement for the system of cas- castle-scale; it was therefore impossi- lytic Network Process–dependence [3] Ian L. Mcharg, Design with Nature, ferent tools. involving Cultural Heritage, managers tles of the VDA Region; questioning ble to identify them as system strate- and feedback in decision-making with Wiley,1995. ISBN-13: 978-0-471- Several difficulties were encountered of museums, mayors, and so on. They also ANP priorities and GIS maps, we gies, since they revolved around spe- a single network journal of systems 1146 0 -4

76 77 Project 7

Re-Condo

Rethinking condominium. Urban scenarios and design proposals for a transformation of the middle-class housing stock in Milan and Turin multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 Re-Condo: Rethinking condominium_Urban scenarios and design proposals for a transformation of the middle-class housing stock in Milan and Turin

Re-Condo: Rethinking condominium. PROJECT DESCRIPTION Between 1950s and 1970s, Milan and Turin experienced Urban scenarios and design proposals for a an impressive growth in housing production. A consistent transformation of the middle-class housing part of this building boom was made up of condominiums that aimed at meeting the cultural and spatial needs of an stock in Milan and Turin 7 emerging middle class. Such factors, together with eco- nomic and regulatory aspects, deeply influenced the for- mal, typological and technological solutions adopted in these buildings. Contemporary architectural culture has never paid much Principal Academic Tutor EXTERNAL TUTOR Team B Members attention to this “ordinary” housing stock: nevertheless, Federico Zanfi Alessandra Spada Cristina Calleri several issues are now arising concerning its growing age Politecnico di Milano Urban Center Comune di Milano Sustainability design, Politecnico di Torino and its resistance to typological transformation, which Dept. of Architecture and Planning Marcello Fantini partly contrasts with the evolution of living practices and Alfredo Spaggiari Energy engineering, Politecnico di Milano quality standards. Nevertheless, condominiums represent Academic Tutors Urban Center Comune di Milano Sara Mangialardo an important part of contemporary urban heritage and of- Filippo De Pieri Building engineering, Politecnico di Milano fer potential opportunities in terms of “dense living” housing Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Architecture Antonio De Rossi Gregorio Pecorelli and energetic and technologic upgrading. unit. Four building complexes have been chosen in the two and Design Urban Center Metropolitano Torino Architecture, Politecnico di Milano cities as study-cases, and four transformation scenarios [team controller] The aim of the Re-Condo project is twofold. First, it aims at have been developed on them, paying particular attention Elisabetta Ginelli Laura Suico investigating the evolution of the living practices and the ac- at the relations between innovative housing programs, the Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Building and Team A Members Interior design, Politecnico di Milano tual technological performances of condominiums through physical constraints and opportunities offered by the build- Environment Sciences and Technology Silvia Comi Ani Zakaryan field research and a collection of case studies. Second, it ing structures, and the surrounding urban and social con- Architecture, Politecnico di Milano. Architecture, Politecnico di Milano aims at developing scenarios for the future transformation texts. Michele Bonino Roberta Di Matteo of condominium buildings and the urban sectors they de- Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Architecture Architecture, Politecnico di Milano fine, with particular regard to architectural redevelopment, Team B was mainly involved in the development of an in- and Design Carmelo Guido Galante typological reversibility, as well as to technological, ener- terface tool aimed at promoting a widespread process of Energy engineering, Politecnico di Milano getic and infrastructural improvement towards efficiency condominium upgrading. The proposal deals with a web Isabella Lami Andjelka Muric and consumption lowering. platform, promoted by the Public Administrations, and im- Politecnico di Torino - Interuniversity Dept. Interior design, Politecnico di Milano plemented to intensify the communication between the of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning [team controller] Initially, the two teams shared a preliminary phase of analy- different actors involved in the process of condominium Margerita Persello sis, in which they studied the recent urban policies pro- upgrading, to foster the dissemination of international best External Institutions Building engineering, Politecnico di Milano moted in Milan and Turin and focused on a series of urban practices in the field of building upgrading, and to facilitate Urban Center Comune di Milano Olga Shubina sectors in the two cities that were deeply characterized by people to access information and building regulations. Urban Center Metropolitano Architecture heritage preservation and the presence of condominium buildings constructed during These two working lines have represented the two inte- Torino enhancement, Politecnico di Torino the second post-war decades. After this preliminary phase, grated sides of a potential public policy to be promoted by Andrea Zammataro the two groups articulated their work in two different levels. the Urban Centers in Milan and Turin, which have tried to Architecture, Politecnico di Milano Team A was mainly involved in the development of design consider both the strategic aspects as well as the design solutions at the scale of the building and the single dwelling aspects.

80 81 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 Re-Condo: Rethinking condominium_Urban scenarios and design proposals for a transformation of the middle-class housing stock in Milan and Turin

ABSTRACT Between the 1950s and 1970s there Re-Condo: Rethinking was a growth in housing production in project 7A condominium. the cities of Milan and Turin; the major part of this building boom was made New concept proposals for condos up of condominiums. Social, economic and regulatory aspects influenced the rethinking typological and technological solutions adopted for these buildings, which were adjusted to the needs of emerg- 1. Typological analysis of Zona 6 in Milano 2. Example of urban plan of Zona 6 in Milano 3. Concept of co-housing in Via Mercadante in Task & Skills Margherita Persello researched on ing middle class in that period. However, with the building in Piazza Tirana highlighted Turin Silvia Comi has an architectural aca- the building phase of the condomini- since more than 40 years have passed, demic background, and she made re- ums chosen as case-study, in particu- the socio-economic aspects, as the search on the urban context through lar she focused on how the structures most important ones have changed. tween the actors, the economic unfea- Understanding the problem being shaped in its formal, typological various layers and tools. She was also and the installations were constructed. The subject of the project is to analyse sibility of the process, and the fact that Between the 1950s and 1970s in Italy and technological by the interaction of involved in choosing the best hypoth- In a second phase she focused on the current context and the actors’ new upgrading hypotheses often do not sat- occurred the so-called building boom these factors, together with economic, eses for the further development of the possible solutions in order to increase needs, and to re-think this important part isfy all the involved actors’ requirements in close relationship with a large and urban and planning aspects. project. energy efficiency in the buildings. of contemporary urban heritage in order at the same time. unexpected expansion of the Italian Currently, the scenario appears to be Roberta Di Matteo has an architec- Olga Shubina, coming from the field to satisfy new requirements and needs. The second phase consisted of a redis- economy. In this period the population very different: in particular the socio- tural academic background, and she of study of Architectural Preservation, First of all two areas were chosen: Zona tribution of the goals between the two of Turin and Milan increased a lot be- economic aspects have changed in- was involved in the analysis of the urban has been dealing with historical maps 6 in Milan and Barriera di Milano in Turin. teams. On the one hand, team B focused cause millions of Italians moved from fluencing not only people’s needs, but context and the case-study buildings. of urban sectors and buildings. Later These areas show a high concentration on the lack of communication between the South and the North-East of Italy also the structure of the society and the She also worked in choosing the best on, she helped to develop the design of condominiums built between 1950s the different actors, developing an online towards the richer and industrialized ar- type of inhabitants of condominiums. hypotheses for the further development hypotheses, according to the present- and 1970s, and they have been recently platform, where the inhabitants of the eas of the country. Today these buildings present several of the project. day building legislation. affected by some innovative urban poli- condominiums could find all the neces- The answer to this huge and unex- emerging problems: some of them are Carmelo Guido Galante, as energy Andrea Zammataro participated in cies promoted by the two Municipalities, sary information to promote a redevelop- pected growth was the construction connected with their growing age, oth- engineer, after the analysis of existing the first part of the research, by pro- such as Variante 200 and the program ment of their building within the existing of many new dwellings –most of them ers concern the difficulty to adapt build- systems in the case-study buildings, ducing maps and diagrams of the Urban Barriera in Turin and the urban urban regulations. This platform could be organized according to the model of ings to the new spatial and typological proposed some technological solutions urban sectors and of the case-study transformations project linked with the very useful considering the complexity the condominium – both in the central needs of the contemporary society. in order to improve the project in terms buildings. Then, after collecting the new metro line M4 in Milan. These neigh- of the network and the huge number of and in the peripheral areas of the cities. However, within this complex context, of sustainability and adequacy to the necessary data, he explored hypothe- bourhoods have been analysed through stakeholders. On the other hand, team Condominiums had to meet two main condominiums still play a relevant role: contemporary needs. ses for the development of the project, different tools, like maps and diagrams, A has focused on the design of four dif- targets. The first one was to satisfy the they represent an important part of Andjelka Muric participated in the ur- also in relation to the stakeholders that and 4 condominium buildings were se- ferent concept solutions, addressing to cultural and spatial needs of an emerg- contemporary urban heritage and must ban analysis with other group members, could be involved. lected as exemplar case studies. four urban dynamics, that could at the ing middle class through the typology be adapted in order to meet again the which was the most important part of In a first phase of the research, we have same time meet the needs of the actors of the “appartamento”. The second one requests of their new inhabitants. the project, and later on, worked on identified some of difficulties that actu- involved, especially inhabitants of condo- was to guarantee the issue of property, different possible systems of interac- ally prevent the condominium stock to miniums, and guarantee the economic and give to each family a perception of Exploring the opportunities tion between the inhabitants, in order be addressed by widespread upgrading feasibility of the process. stability. In this way, the condominium During the first phase of the project, to sustain built future scenarios. actions: the lack of communication be- became the leading housing model, teams have worked together focusing

82 83 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 Re-Condo: Rethinking condominium_Urban scenarios and design proposals for a transformation of the middle-class housing stock in Milan and Turin

position of the neighbourhood, which is the projects of urban redevelopment also characterized by a low-rise build- planned by Municipality of Milan in the ing fabric organized all around court- yard of San Cristoforo. yards that constituted relational spaces. The last case study in Turin, in Via Por- The economic feasibility is guaranteed pora, is located in a neighbourhood since the strategy allows those families equipped with regional facilities attract- that already live in the buildings to re- ing flows of city users. In particular, it duce their costs . Moreover, the sharing is close to one of the largest hospitals of duties and free time among different in Turin representing an attractive point. families can improve the condominium Thus, temporary dwellings can be a vi- 5. Concept of social residences and services in 7. Example of intervention on a building of the model from a social point of view. able proposal to satisfy the needs, pres- Piazza Tirana in Milan complex of Via Savona in Milan The complex of condominiums in Via ently ignored, of this category of users. Savona in Milan is located in an area un- Moreover, since an intervention at the dergoing a gentrification process. The super condominium scale is proposed proposals, but also improved when ants of condominiums, and guarantee concept consists of two proposals. The to guarantee the feasibility from a man- some problems were pointed out. the economic feasibility of the process. first one foresees the interaction of two agement and economic point of view, After the research phase, the areas or more individuals who, considering a general hypothesis to deal with large chosen for the analysis were Zona 6 Generating the solution their changing needs, divide their two scale interventions is also provided. in Milan and Barriera di Milano in Tu- As far as the project task of team A 4. Concept of co-working and reduction of the 6. Concept of temporary residences in Via big flats in three smaller apartments, The contexts where the buildings are apartment size in Via Savona in Milan rin. The reasons why these areas were Porpora in Turin is concerned, the requirements of the with the objective to sell or rent the new located are representative of recurring chosen are the presence of condomini- actors involved (inhabitants, investors, one. The second proposal foresees the urban dynamics, which are spreading ums built between 1950s and 1970s public administration and contractors) purchase of some apartments and the in many Italian cities. In this perspective, as well as social and urban dynamics were identified, also according to the subsequent transformation into offices even if we have developed a specific on the analyses and the comprehen- that are also typical for other areas of case studies. At the end of the research analyses that were previously carried by a private investor, integrating them design for each of the four case stud- sion of the complex issue of updating the cities. Different maps were elabo- and analysis phase, the conditions that out. The economical feasibility resulted into a rich network of small temporary ies, the related proposals are intended and enhancement of condominiums. rated to underline these different dy- have made difficult a widespread in- as the most important requirement for showrooms linked with the neighbour- to set some general interventions prin- This phase of the work was focused on namics in the selected areas. Team A tervention on this stock until now were all the actors, in order to activate the hood of design and fashion. ciples that could be exported to similar the reading of bibliographic sources, drew up the maps of Zona 6 in Milan, identified: lack of communication be- process of redevelopment. In addition, The residential building situated in Milan situations. study trips, lectures held by tutors or while team B did the same for Barriera tween the actors, economic unfeasibil- inhabitants also had requirements re- in piazza Tirana was chosen because experts from different fields and meet- di Milano in Turin. These maps indicate ity of the process and the problem that lated to their social and spatial needs, of its location: it is a neighbourhood ings with several people and organiza- the construction period and the typol- interventions often do not satisfy all the connected with different dynamics in- which does not represent an attractive tions, who helped teams to collect as ogy of the buildings, the owner (public involved stakeholders’ requirements at side of each chosen case study. In the BIBLIOGRAPHY point of the city because of the lack of much information as possible related to or private), urban and social aspects of the same time. Then a reorganization following part the main characteristics [1] Ginsborg Paul, Storia d’Italia – dal local services. Therefore, the concept the project context. At the same time the areas (implementation of policies of of goals between the two teams was of the concept proposals are elabo- dopoguerra ad oggi, 2006, Einaudi. proposes the creation of social apart- a research on building redevelopment social and urban regeneration, existing made: team B focused on the lack of rated according to the identified urban [2] Tafuri Manfredo, Storia ments and the insertion of services experiences was carried out to be or planned infrastructure networks). communication by developing an on- dynamics. dell’architettura italiana. 1944-1985, that are not present in the area. The aware about the state of the art. The According to the general analysis, the line platform, while team A has been fo- The first case study is a condominium 2002, Einaudi. economic feasibility is guaranteed by information obtained showed some ef- second phase of the project was fo- cused on the design of proposals that situated in Turin, in Via Mercadante. It is [3] Gazzola Antida, Intorno alla città. the low prices of the apartments. An- ficient strategies that could be taken in cused on the selection of four buildings could at the same time meet the needs very suitable for a concept of cohous- Problemi delle periferie in Europa e other advantage is the closeness to consideration during the design of the within the areas to be considered as of actors involved, especially inhabit- ing because of the demographic com- in Italia, 2008, Liguori.

84 85 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 Re-Condo: Rethinking condominium_Urban scenarios and design proposals for a transformation of the middle-class housing stock in Milan and Turin

Re-condo web platform: project 7B enhancing requalification through communication

1. Program results Gephi, possible controversies 2. Program results Gephi, Map of concepts 3. Diagram of objectives Task & Skills wants to intervene through the creation among actors related to energy efficiency objective Cristina Calleri, sustainability de- Laura Suico, Interior design, Politec- of tools and useful models for the rede- sign, Politecnico di Torino nico di Milano velopment of two different contexts in She was involved in archive research- She dealt with analysis map develop- the cities of Milan and Turin. tant to gather the information of the ur- from the Italian economic and urban four different types: historical, typo- es, analysis map developing and or- ing, she organized the focus-group The main objective of the project is to ban centers, which played an important boom. logical, of the social policies, and public ganized the focus-group using the using the Superdecision software and create a possible intervention proto- role in connecting the various stake- We organized the first stage of the and private property. Superdecision software. developed the website mock-up. col that improves the communication holders. Moreover we involved experts project into three separate phases: the At the end of the editing of the maps, between the different involved actors and inhabitants during all the phases of preliminary analysis of the areas of in- we discussed the results with some ex- Marcello Fantini, energy engineer- Ani Zakaryan, architecture, Politec- easing the complex process of inter- the project. tervention, the requirements analysis perts that helped us in identifying the ing, Politecnico di Milano nico di Milano vention. Through the use of the ANP method phase and the last phase of the crea- requirements of the project. He dealt with stakeholder require- She worked mainly on the state of the We have organized the work into three (Analytical Network Process) we have tion of a plan of intervention. After that we identified four main objec- ments analysis by means of ANP art analysis, she developed the analy- different phases: context research, identified the best structure for the on- During the first phase of analysis we tives that characterize the intervention methodology , studying of multi-cri- sis maps and she conducted research analysis of the possibilities of interven- line platform. Then we organized a fo- wanted to understand the characteris- protocol: functionality, energy efficien- teria analysis methods and organized on existing case-studies in Europe. tion and creation of a prototype. cus group to check with some experts tics and the changes over the years of cy, quality of life and social cohesion. the focus-group using the Superdeci- During the first phase the two teams if our choices were correct. the two considered cities (i.e. Milan and In order to understand and clarify the sion software. worked together to analyze the two At the end the group was able to create Turin). several requirements of the project, contexts of intervention in the city of a protocol of intervention that led to the We identified two areas that we consid- we classified them using a structured Sara Mangialardo, building engi- ABSTRACT Milan and Turin. creation of a final prototype. We have ered relevant in the urban transforma- method (Bottero et al, 2005)l neering, Politecnico di Milano The condominiums built between the We have created four different types of proposed a new and innovative man- tion of the cities. We chose the district During the research phase, we estab- She worked on Inhabitants and ad- years 1950s and 1970s represent a maps, summarizing the main features ner to build a web site creating a new of Lorenteggio located in the south- lished a profitable connection with the ministrators interviews, she conducted large part of the architectural heritage of of the two cities. sense of community and a participa- west of Milan, and and the neighbor- two Urban Centers that allowed us to research on public policies and ana- the major Italian cities. Today this type In the second phase, the Team B was tory process that could incentive new hood of Barriera di Milano places in the deal directly with the local realities. Fur- lyzed the website economic feasibility. of architecture is no longer responding involved in the creation of a web plat- urban transformations. northeast part of Turin. thermore Urban Centers helped us to to the needs of the new inhabitants of form to create a relation between the For the two districts we designed differ- communicate with professors and pro- Gregorio Pecorelli, architecture, Po- these spaces both by the energetic and different involved actors. We divided Understanding the problem ent concept maps that would help us to fessionals in the re-qualification sector litecnico di Milano [team controller] the functional point of view. them in three main categories: inhab- As we said before, the goal of our analyze the evolution of the urban area in the two cities. He was involved in archive researches, The Re-Condo project focuses on itants, municipality and construction project is to define a protocol of inter- in its architectural, political and social At the end of this phase we accurately analysis map developing and he de- the analysis of this phenomenon from companies. vention for the recovery of the huge aspects. identified the main requirements: veloped the website mock-up. a multidisciplinary perspective and it At this stage of the work it was impor- stock of condominiums which derives The proposed maps were divided into ■■ Urban Aspects

86 87 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 Re-Condo: Rethinking condominium_Urban scenarios and design proposals for a transformation of the middle-class housing stock in Milan and Turin

validity of the elements of our system. For the data processing we used a ANP dedicated software called Super- Decisions which allowed us to critically analyze the responses. During the two years of research we encountered several times the inhabit- ants, who participated in all the phases of the project. The fundamental goal was to create 4. Second diagram of objectives 5. Diagram of the actors involved 6. Solution diagram 7. Diagram of the web platform 8. Diagram of the web platform without subtext 9. Diagram of our work through the web platform a new sense of community and to promote a par- ticipatory process. We tried to provide a solution to share the common goals Involving the population in the deci- ■ A new picture of the neighborhoods scattered private property that involves munication among the different stake- The goal of this section is to generate ■ among the involved actor to promote sion process Promoting local responsibility and many owners. So we tried to scale the holders. a continuous exchange between the new interventions that can improve ■ Economic Aspects citizen care for the re-qualified area case studies to the Italian situation. Our idea wants to generate an online supply and the demand in the requali- ■ the quality of life of the inhabitants, the Involving local companies into area Involving the population in the deci- We understood that in order to propose platform that allows a meeting of the fication building sector. The tool wants neighborhood, and finally the city. transformation sion process an optimal solution, it was necessary to inhabitants, the municipality and the to promote and spread innovative tech- Promoting local responsibility and Shaping a citizen designed neigh- solve the complex system of interac- companies. nologies in the field of energy saving citizen care for the re-qualified area borhood tions among the different stakeholders. and innovative construction. ■■ Environmental Aspects To address the complexity of this net- Generating a solution The second part is dedicated to case Enhancing the inhabitants con- Exploring the opportunities work we decided to apply a systemic The Re-condo web site wants to pro- studies and virtual simulations. In this sciousness for the energy saving At the same time we made a research approach that is normally used to solve mote an effective communication us- section we can find both national and Solving the local critical situations for on the good requalification practices in the decision problems to a urban trans- ing an updated and clear platform. In international projects. the health of citizens Europe. formation issue. This structured method particular, a key point of the project is From the point of view of the private We also individuated three main key is- At the end of the first ASP year we had is called Analytical Network Process. the creation of a network that allows the investors, the tool can spread informa- sues for the requalification in the two a study trip to Paris, where we met ex- This methodology derives from the different involved actors to facilitate the tion and advertisements and it can also cities: perts in the field of urban regeneration. AHP, Analytical Hierarchy Process, communication operations. simplify the administrative procedures. Bibliography: ■■ A livable environment In particular we had a crucial meeting which is used in the Multi Criteria De- The platform is divided in two different The system could also generate new [1] DE PIERI F., BONOMO B., CARA- Solving the local critical situations for with the Director of Lamsade, Profes- cision Analysis to structure a decision areas: an informative section and a part partnerships among companies. Finally MELLINO G., ZANFI F., (a cura di), the health of citizens sor Alexis Tsoukias, who introduced us problem through a network of relations that contains several cases of good the tool is an interesting opportunity for 2013, Storie di case. Abitare l’Italia Enhancing the inhabitants con- to the topic of Decision Aiding formal that generates a hierarchy of the pos- practice and innovative simulations. the municipalities to boost the urban del Boom, Donzelli, Roma sciousness for the energy saving models. We used this tool in the next sible solutions. Applying of this method The first informative part is organized transformations at different scales from [2] DENTE B., 2011, Le decisioni di Pol- ■■ A new start against the crisis for the phase of the project applying the ANP we can classify several alternatives ac- into four different categories: neighborhoods to individual buildings . icy, Il Mulino, Bologna local companies method (Analytical Network Process). cording to the different weights that we ■■ Developers / Promoters To verify the tool structure that we de- [3] BOTTERO M., LAMI I., LOMBARDI Involving local companies into area Most of the case studies that we studied gave to the objectives. ■■ Options of Intervention signed, we organized a focus group. P., 2008, Analytic network process. transformation in Paris concerned the public property. The use of this tool helped us to realize ■■ Costs / Funds The focus group was a structured dis- La valutazione di scenari di trasfor- Enhancing the requalification busi- On the contrary the main characteristic that crucial issue for our project was to ■■ Law / Administration cussion with renowned experts of re- mazione urbana e territoriale, Alinea ness of our stock (i.e. condominiums) is the create a network to improve the com- qualification where we could check the editrice, Firenze

88 89 Project 8

PARLOMA

A Communication System for Deafblind People multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 PARLOMA_ A Communication System for Deafblind People

PARLOMA Project description use the residual writing competences they have in one spoken Parloma team consist of five students with different scien- language (e.g., Italian) and can receive messages through a A Communication System tific backgrounds: computer science, mechatronics, phys- transposition of the same language (e.g., Braille, Malossi, writ- ics and biomedical engineering. The multidisciplinarity of the ing on the palm). However, these solutions are not optimal be- for Deafblind People group made it possible to achieve excellent results, thanks to cause proficiency in voice of deafblind people is variable and a strong collaboration between each team member, all giving often limited. Indeed, tactile sign language has showed to be 8 their own scientific contribution to the success of the project, the most effective communication system because it relies on working with synergy and passion. the linguistic competences they have gained before the devel- The stakeholders of the Parloma project are several and with opment of their blindness. The principle is to create a system different tasks and goals and can be divided into Internal and able to transfer sign language (SL) from one point to another, External ones. As for the Internal stakeholders, the tutors Paolo in such a way that a Deafblind remote receiver can understand Principal Academic Tutor Leonardo Lesmo TEAM Members Prinetto and in particular Marco Indaco, representing the Poly- what is signed from a remote signer. The signer communi- Paolo Prinetto Università di Torino - Department of Giuseppe Airo Farulla technics of Turin, monitored the development of the project in cates resorting to sign language; the system captures it, and Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Control and Computer Science Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Torino its entirety, and contributed in the realization of the sign ac- provides the output in tactual sign language (TSL). The output Computer Engineering Carlo Geraci Giorgio Micotti quisition, recognition and transmission modules together with is sent through the web and received by the receiver that can Ecole Normale Supérieure - Institut Jean Physics Engineering, Politecnico di Milano the CNR-IEIIT. Calogero Oddo, representing Scuola Superiore understand it by touching an interface based on anthropo- Academic Tutors Nicod Chiara Pintor Sant’Anna, provided the team with the receiving system, the morphic robotic arms and hands. The TSL is synthesized by Licia Sbattella Davide Borra Biomedical Engineering, Politecnico robotic hand, and helped in the implementation and testing of means of movements of arms, palm and fingers. Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Electronics NoReal.it – Torino di Torino [team controller and project the device. Carlo Geraci, from the École Normale Supérieure, Summarizing, the final objective is to capture and transfer re- and Information Antonio Chimienti communication coordinator] provided his expertise in linguistics and put the group in con- motely the message produced by the signer in such a way CNR-l’Istituto di Elettronica e dell’Ingegneria Ludovico Orlando Russo tact with Lega del Filo d’Oro. The External stakeholders of Par- that it can be represented using low cost and anthropomor- Marco Indaco dell’Informazione e delle Telecomunicazioni Mechatronics Engineering, Politecnico di loma project are all the device users, in particular the deafblind phic interfaces. Indeed, the project poses the basis for the first Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Control and (IEIIT) Torino people that are represented by the Lega del Filo d’Oro. They worldwide level experimentation of a “telephone for deafblind Computer Engineering Roberto Nerino Alice Rita Salgarella will gain the most benefit from the development of Parloma. people”. For this purpose, this project is not dealing with is- CNR-l’Istituto di Elettronica e dell’Ingegneria Biomedical Engineering, Politecnico di Other users that could be identified as stakeholders are deaf sues related to semantic and syntactic signs recognition; in External Institutions dell’Informazione e delle Telecomunicazioni Torino people or hearing people that want to get in touch with the fact, these aspects should be addressed only while consider- deafblinds and can buy only the acquisition device. Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (IEIIT) ing transpositions between different languages (e.g., transla- The PARLOMA project aims at designing and developing a Università di Torino Calogero Maria Oddo tion between spoken Italian language and written versions of system for the remote communication between two people Ecole Normale Supérieure – Paris Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Italian Sign Language). who are respectively: NoReal.it – Torino Giuseppe Pettiti The final system will be validated through the usage of visual ■■ Deafblind and Deafblind and tactile versions of Italian Sign Language. The team wish to La Lega del Filo d’Oro CNR-l’Istituto di Elettronica e dell’Ingegneria ■■ Deafblind and Deaf stress that the terminology embedded in this project is inde- dell’Informazione e delle Telecomunicazioni ■■ Deafblind and Hearing (with knowledge of sign language). pendent from the chosen Sign Language. Therefore, PARLO- EXTERNAL TUTORs (IEIIT) The human need to communicate is strong. In particular this MA project emerges as a cross-sign languages technological Anna Maria Carrozza Daniele Pianu is evident in the case of deafblind people: this disability denies tool; indeed, it could be used to remote transfer messages in Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna - Advanced CNR-l’Istituto di Elettronica e dell’Ingegneria access to both vocal and sign languages, but communication every sign language nowadays used in communications. The robotics technology and systems laboratory dell’Informazione e delle Telecomunicazioni is still in place through Tactile Sign Languages, which are Sign project has received full support from “La Lega del Filo d’Oro”, Christian Cipriani (IEIIT) Languages (used by deaf, normally seeing people) that are an Italian association that brings together and actively sup- Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna - Advanced modified in order to convey meaning through tactile feedback. ports more than 100’000 deafblind and multisensory impaired robotics technology and systems laboratory In their relations with the outside world, deafblind people can people.

92 93 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 PARLOMA_ A Communication System for Deafblind People

PARLOMA A Communication System for Deafblind People

1. PARLOMA team at work 2. PARLOMA team at work 3. PARLOMA team with ASP friends TASKS & SKILLS ABSTRACT Chiara Pintor (Biomedical Engineer- As Aristotle said, “Man is by nature a For this reason their communication ing) contributed in the bibliographic re- social animal”. One of the main charac- is based on a different mechanism: search, using design methods to find teristics of human beings is the will to the receiver’s hands are placed on the the support will be extended to other a relevant place in society, moreover subject during their life. Among this the best solution. She also took part in be together and form communities; do- ones of the signer in order to follow the tactile languages spoken in other parts it should also be considered that be- group we consider also deaf because the design and development of the hand ing this, we are able to help each other. signs made. Since the communication of the world. tween deafblind people, or between deafblind are strongly in contact with cover and helped the group in its man- A crucial condition to enable this cohe- is still based on sign language, these deafblind people and social operators, them before blindness occurs; when agement. (Team controller) sion is to share a language: that is the variants are called Tactile Sign Lan- Subproject description the mutual interaction is based not they become also blind they are forced Giuseppe Airò Farulla (Computer En- only way to communicate and cooper- guages (TSL). Therefore, while it is pos- The term deafblindness describes a only on language but also on a social, to interrupt these relationships because gineering) worked on identifying stake- ate in an effective way. sible for two normal speakers or two condition that combines in varying de- emotional, intellectual and physical the mobility related to their new way of holders and use cases, implemented In its typical form, the human language signers to communicate in presence of grees both hearing and visual impair- growth. However, those relations can communication causes a significant communication policies, developed the is conveyed through acoustic-vocal one another or remotely (either through ment creating a severe disability which be abruptly truncated if, for any reason, increase of costs. The communication coding parts of the project. modalities. In deaf people, this modal- phone calls or video-calling systems), is different and unique. The main com- the conditions that permit those people between deafblind is very high expen- Giorgio Micotti (Physical Engineer- ity is not accessible and language finds at the moment there is no way for two mon disease is the Usher Syndrome, to live in the same place change. sive; the contribution given by the De- ing) participated in the research activity, naturally other ways. This modality is deafblind people to communicate with which can tackle the hearing in the The number of deafblind people in Italy partment of Health is often insufficient worked on a 3D model of the hand and called gestural-visive: the meaning is each other if they’re not in the same early stage of the life, making the sub- is not clearly declared, as a matter of for their necessities. This situation is its kinematics, developed the coding codified in the poses made by hands, place, given the basic need to touch ject blind during adultness. Therefore fact there are no official data available even worse considering everyday com- parts of the project. by gestures, and by facial expressions, each other’s hands. deafblind subjects learn the sign lan- because a real counting has not been munications, because no financial aids Ludovico Orlando Russo (Me- and it is then received through the op- The PARLOMA project set as a goal guage (SL) used by deaf as their first done yet. It is possible to estimate that are provided. As a matter of fact, deaf- chatronic Engineering) worked on de- tical apparatus. Sign Languages are to enable this remote communication, language, then, when blindness oc- deafblind people are between 3000 blind need to pay a personal interpreter veloping both the front-end recognition true natural languages, exactly like vo- developing an haptic interface which curs, they modify it in tactile sign lan- and 10000, particularly the target for in order to satisfy their desire of com- system and the back-end robotic tech- cal languages, which means they have would be able to reproduce Tactile guage (TSL). TSL is the only way deaf- this project is composed by a group of munication. This difficult situation caus- nology, developed parts of the project. a complete grammar and can convey Sign Language locally, in order to keep blind people can use to communicate: 2000-5000 people. es a progressive decrease of meetings Alice Rita Salgarella (Biomedical En- every possible meaning; but they’re to- communication natural and immediate it consist of touching the signer’s hands Moreover it is necessary to consider between deafblind and consequently a gineering) took part in the state of the art tally independent from the latter. for deaf-blind people. In these 2 years, while they are gesturing through SL in that the stakeholders network is also reduction of the network. analysis, exploring the different solutions Deafblind people can use neither vocal the project has targeted the Italian Tac- order to understand the sign made. composed by other 10-40 people per These difficult conditions enhance the and collaborating in the concept devel- nor sign languages, in the latter case tile Sign Language, the variant used by The necessity of being in the same deafblind, including relatives, co-op- research and development activities of opment. She also contributed in the de- because they lack a way to receive Italian deafblind people and the ones place to communicate is a real burden erators, signers, deaf and other deaf- the group: the main goal is designing a sign and development of the hand cover. the meaning expressed by the signer. involved with this community; later on, to maintain social relations and to keep blind, continuously in contact with each communication system which may de-

94 95 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 PARLOMA_ A Communication System for Deafblind People

erable costs. To overcome this critical limitation, which would negatively affect the societal and commercial impact in the follow-up of the project, the team has capitalized on the leading experi- ence that Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna had over the last 20 years within the de- velopment of robotic upper limbs and tactile sensors. Finally, a big effort has been spent on designing a cover which 4. Pipeline of the remote communication system 5. Feasibility study is the most suitable for the tactile sen- sation. The main issue was finding an appropriate material and the manufac- turing technique, as a matter of fact the crease their isolation and enable better lution. As far as software, only very few mote connection. goal was to project a cover able to re- relationships between deafblind people techniques are able to perform robust The main challenge of the project was 6. Hand segmentation within the development 7. Representation of the robotic hand produce the anthropomorphic features and between deafblind and the entire sign recognition; a small number of al- to design a system optimized to work solution and to suit the robotic shape. community. The solution proposed by gorithms for hand pose tracking based robustly and in real time. The front-end the project is a remote communication on non-invasive technologies are pro- solution has been mainly based on a well system based on the tactile sign lan- posed in literature, so the team had to known hand tracking approach based guage, the remote transfer of informa- develop an entire algorithm able to per- on depth map, 15 Degree of Freedom plies a high potentiality to play a key the message in order to generate com- tion allows a better inclusion of deaf- form these tasks based on the chosen (DoF) tracking, appearance-based that role in the market). Among all the pos- mands suitable for the robotic hand. Bibliography blind in the society because there is no technology. uses a random forest classifier. This ap- sible alternatives, a depth system has The robotic hand will reproduce the [1] Newport, E.L., & Supalla, T. (1999). necessity for them to be in the same For what concerns the back-end side, proach, however, was deeply reshaped been chosen to identify human hands; message in LIS. The receiver can lat- Sign languages. In R. Wilson & Keil, place to communicate. at the very beginning it was obvious and optimized in order to obtain a ro- an algorithm appearance-based has er understand the message by simply F. (eds.), The MIT Encyclopedia of PARLOMA had to face hardware and that the sign reproduction module had bust and fast algorithm; paralleling GPU been implemented to recognize the touching the haptic interface. Summing the cognitive sciences. Cambridge, software issues, that concerned both to necessarily be anthropomorphic, programming was also considered. shape of the hand that is, at each mo- up, the developed system will perform MA: MIT Press. the sign recognition module (front- thus a system based on an anthropo- Moreover, a very complete training set ment, in front of the acquisition device. the following basic operations: [2] Jamie Shotton, A Fitzgibbon, M end) and the sign reproduction module morphic robotic hand has been cho- based on several 3D models of hands In this way it is possible to recognize the ■■ Sign acquisition and recognition Cook, Toby Sharp, M Finocchio, R (back-end); moreover, it was crucial to sen. In this scenario, the most relevant of different dimensions and structures, movements done by the human hand. (front-end) Moore, A Kipman, and define a protocol to link these two ele- problems were choosing an existing has been built from scratch in order to After that, the system can generate an ■■ Sign Conversion into an intermediate [3] A Blake. Real-Time Human Pose ments. robotic hand, since that is a system obtain a more robust classifier. intermediate representation composed form Recognition in Parts from Single With respect to the sign recognition too complex to be developed in a few The proposed solution has been of all the information encoding the pose ■■ Transmission Depth Images: module, several state-of-the-art tech- years; and design a specific cover in or- thought as a pipelined system that of the hand and the wrist. ■■ Conversion and Synthesis (back- [4] Supplementary Material. Training, 2, niques in the field of computer vision der to emulate also the tactile feedback starts with the sign acquisition phase The system will send the encoded end). 2011 were analysed as suitable for the final from a real human hand. (front-end) and ends with a robotic ac- message through the web; this mes- Among all the considered devices usa- [5] Carrozza, M.et al. The development purpose of the project. In particular, the Moreover, different ways to link the dif- tuator (back-end). The overall system sage can be also encrypted and signed ble for the receiver side, differences are of a novel prosthetic hand-ongoing team has realized different concepts ferent modules were proposed in order pipeline aims at acquiring the message to ensure privacy and authenticity of in mechanisms, sensory equipment, research and preliminary results. based on some of the available tech- to allow them to communicate in real coded in Sign Language by means of the communication. A receiver module performances and objectives, and the Mechatronics, IEEE/ASME Transac- nologies and has chosen a specific so- time using a standard and secure re- low-cost technologies (since this im- can receive (and, if needed, decrypt) ready-made solutions all have consid- tions on 2002, 7, 108-114.

96 97 Project 9

SMART.MAP

Smart Sensitive City. New Mapping for XXI century citizens multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 SMART.MAP_Smart Sensitive City. New Mapping for XXI century citizens

SMAR. T MAP PROJECT DESCRIPTION The challenge Smart Sensitive City. New Mapping for Information technologies offer innovative ways to deal with XXI century citizens urban space. EXPO 2015, as occasion to promote the local and regional area values, requires an original idea of map- 9 ping able to record, analyze and represent dynamically the complexity and heterogeneity of the hosting territory. The project aims to produce innovative senseable images of the city enhancing accessibility to the Event at various scales and gathering proactive feedbacks as profitable resource Principal Academic Tutor EXTERNAL TUTORS Giovanni Fassio and legacy, through building expectations, field and immer- Antonella Contin Guido Arnone Industrial Engineering and Management, sive maps available on 2.0 smart-devices. Contents and Architecture and Planning, EXPO 2015 - Settore Innovazione tecnologica Politecnico di Torino tools design will be applied to two layers of mapping: 1) a preferences, resident or foreign visitors, current user posi- Politecnico di Milano Filippo Pozzoli layer of field maps and points of interaction with the users; tion. A sketched structure for the IT interface assessed the Roberto Bottazzi Building Engineering/Architecture, 2) a layer of sensitive or immersive maps. feasibility of the overall project, working out a business plan Academic Tutors Royal College of London Politecnico di Milano [team controller] Clarifying the problem flexible to the expected users and stakeholders. Alberto De Marco Sonia Pravato Territory hidden values, mapping and technologies are the Team B worked on the second hypothesis. After the joint Management and Production Engineering, Bruno Cicciarello Interior Design, Politecnico di Milano main key words of the project, interpreted in two hypoth- preliminary research with Team A, focused on the defined Politecnico di Torino Comau Robotics Anastasiia Stryzhevska eses: context of the EXPO Waterway thanks to a clear plan of ac- Architecture, Politecnico di Milano 1. technology as a tool to gather documents, information tions. Working on the tool/contents relation they found their Luca Guerrini Alessandro Frigerio and knowledge (Heritage/Cultural path) innovative surplus in the engaging cultural/business model. Industrial Design, Arts, Communication and UP! Design and Research Lab Team B Members 2. technology as a pro-active system to implement the Overall objective: the enhancement of Milan as water city Fashion, Politecnico di Milano Massimo Allevi meaning of a territory (Via d’acqua/EXPO) through an interpretation of itineraries. Gioia Gibelli Management Engineering, Politecnico di The teams proposals They worked on the implementation of agricultural commu- Pier Luca Lanzi SIEP-IALE - Società Italiana di Ecologia del Milano Team A worked on the first hypothesis, offering an innova- nity designing strategies, creating a smart community and Electronics and Information, Paesaggio. International Association for Marco Cremonesi tive experience to discover the cultural heritage. They set a common brand to develop “Glocal” (global+local) busi- Politecnico di Milano Landscape Ecology Civil Engineering, Politecnico di Milano up the technological issues, the contents and contents- nesses. This approach aimed to contribute to the physical Michela Delbosco display part, focusing on the innovative dimension of the definition of the Waterway metropolitan context as a new External Institutions Ilaria Tosoni Architecture for Sustainability Design, tool/contents relation. public realm of the cities that surround it. The reached ob- EXPO 2015 Settore Innovazione tecnologica Eth Zurich Institute for Spatial Development Politecnico di Torino [team controller & Overall objective: to develop a set of maps for an interac- jectives could be: an immersive, customized, interactive project communication coordinator] tive experience of the city through an application, that will and social experience; user-context direct interaction; en- Eth Zurich Institute for Spatial Giuseppe Doronzo help visitors to get use of Expo facilities, linking the exhibi- hanced awareness of citizens on their neighborhood; en- Development Industrial Production and Technological tion site with Milan urban structure. Layering cultural herit- hanced attractiveness of the city for tourists. Royal College of London Team A Members Innovation Engineering, Politecnico di Torino age, knowledge and events, results in that technology not SIEP-IALE - Società Italiana di Ecologia Kai Chen Heghine Pilosyan only permits to be global and ubiquitous, but reinforces the del Paesaggio. International Association for Architecture for Sustainability Design, Architecture for Sustainability Design, local dimension of heritage. Landscape Ecology Politecnico di Torino Politecnico di Torino In meta-prototyping phase were defined pre-set routes Luca Cioria basing on specific parameters as time availability, individual UP! Design and Research Lab Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Milano

100 101 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 SMART.MAP_Smart Sensitive City. New Mapping for XXI century citizens

that will let citizens and tourists dis- cover concealed wonders of Milan S.H.O.W. MI and experience must-have-done lo- project 9A cal traditions, guiding them with smart Search for Hidden Opportunities itineraries thought to meet to their very needs. and Wonders in Milan After the understanding of this pos-

Search for Hidden Opportunities sibility, we ran on a detailed market and Wonders in MIlan analysis in order to know which are the functionalities that people would like to Task & Skills 1. First view of the 2. User preferences 3. The app creates 4. Social Real have in a city guide app, coming out all visual output and presentation. tual link created turns into a physical Kai Chen, Architecture heritage pres- app insertion your own customized Network_User profile with different results to shape our app, Anastasiia Stryzhevska, Architec- one, as in “Digital Islands”, aiming to itinerary ervation and enhancement adding, for instance, social and gam- ture propose a new and innovative experi- ing functionality as an answer to “shar- He studied the sustainable heritage ple with the same interests to get in At the moment, there is a lack on the She was responsible for the architec- ence not only for tourists, but more im- ing” needs or the possibility to interact strategies and how the app can con- touch and, for example, to use and market for a tool allowing tourists and tural and historical research and sub- portant for the citizens. with people to create what - we can- tribute to the public and government. explore the same route. In order to citizens to get valuable, up-to-date sequent selection of entities that were Starting point of the routes becomes not conceal - we are proud to define Luca Cioria, IT Engineer encourage citizens to new discoveries and involving information about a city. about to form the app’s database of the initial position, identified by GPS “social real network”. He developed the application and the towards a more aware consciousness There are several applications meeting points of interest. and other advanced technologies. The The other big challenge we had to deal logic inside. He took part to the reali- of public networks, synergies with some of these needs but no one, at city is rebuilt without pre-established with was the selection of places of in- zation of the algorithm to manage the the network of public transport, small the moment, frames the whole picture. paths, thanks to the inclusion by the terest and the creation of the itinerar- logistics flows and to interact with oth- Deepening in, we can experience a ABSTRACT user of its individual preferences; from businesses and other facilities in Milan ies. How to find interesting stories and er smartphone applications. lack of perceived quality in quite all Project Smart.Map S.H.O.W MI these the algorithm creates a custom are expected. to attract people in discovering new Giovanni Fassio, Management Engi- guiding apps, above all concerning (Search for Hidden Opportunities and itinerary, allowing immediately to dis- Users can furthermore create a per- places and how to create a perfect itin- neer interesting itineraries and interesting Wonders in MIlan) aims to show the cover places, stories and events con- sonal diary to collect all moments, erary for every person were only two of He supervised the economical part of stories to tell about a place. cultural heritage of Milan and the sto- nected with the needs of the user. Fur- pictures and emotions and share their the main things we had to focus on. It the project and the business model The itineraries that could be eas- ries hidden in it, through dynamic and ther content is available only when the experiences. was not bed of roses to combine the generation. He realized the algorithm to ily found on the market are standard personalized itineraries to be articulat- visitor arrives in the established place, Briefly, the goal is to provide the set necessity of a cultural and edited itin- connect people in a social real network ones developed by common users or in order to enlarge the local dimension, of tools for a unique experience of the erary with an “app philosophy”, where Filippo Pozzoli, Building Engineering ed according to one’s preferences, on by professionals, where only the most intended as local and deep discovery city through narrative actions, using everyone could add, share and edit and Architecture available time and resources and on remarkable places are shown and the of a specific place, and to increase the the two main dimensions the world is everything just clicking one button. Team controller. He supervised the the starting point and the intended information are given in sort of a di- exploration of a place thanks to a dif- moving through: sharing and customi- At last, we focused our attention on whole evolution of all the branches of destination. The final application we dactic way, not tailored on every users’ ferent way, with strong focus on the zation. possible targets and stakeholders. It the project, verifying the overall con- plan to develop aims to narrate the ur- preferences. is not trivial to understand who could gruence, deeper focusing on contents ban space in Milan through a drift in- environment and on the quality of con- Now, with Expo 2015 expected to bring Understanding the problem benefit more from our app and which and narrations. spired by Situationists practices and tents generated by experts from vari- loads of new visitors in Milan, there is Sonia Pravato, Interior Design Project show.MI aims to create a new are the stakeholders that could pop in. an approach of sensory exploration, ous disciplines. an unmissable chance for filling this She dealt with the state of the art and The paths can be saved and shared way of city mapping in order to work Adding commercials, means of trans- connecting the Expo site, key – stone gap. show.MI is what we ended up the development of the mobile appli- with other users in real time, cultivat- out custom trips around the town, of- port and famous places are only few for international visibility of the territory with: an application for smartphones cation graphic interface, supervising ing the social aspect that is now more fering people a different approach of the topics we tried to depict and - with Milanese urban fabric. The vir- providing an integrated experience than ever indispensable, allowing peo- when visiting or living in a city. exploit.

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Exploring the opportunities selection of the most crucial ones cre- Given these premises, the project fo- ates an additional value to our project. cused on the following aspects. We carried out a survey to define the Points ones that are the most appealing to Being quality oriented in terms of con- our potential. tent we made a research about build- Infrastructure ings and public spaces that might have This virtual application had to have 5. You can play with the past, learn about place a potential to enter in our list of points physical points of access. We had to in a different way, try to understand what it was of historical and cultural value. We dis- somehow communicate our exist- and what is now covered that Milan has 42 museums, ence. Having started with the idea of 200 historical buildings and almost the creation of a network of point of 9. A frame of the first promo video made with 10. A frame of the first promo video made with 11. A frame of the video about the project team B team B(2) 1500 monuments. Since we wanted access through the active QR codes to show them within their cultural and that were aimed to lead our users to historical context we had to define a the app we abandoned it because of distinct added values for tourists and, ies is the gamification. Places can ditional sharing features are available rather short list of points to be able two reasons. First one is that now, even more importantly, citizens, trans- hide secrets to discover, challenges to in the app, such as sharing photos of to produce content based on serious two years after the start of the project forming the experience of living Milan take. Points are acquired following the places or additional comments, sug- research that involved consultations QR codes technology is already quite into something memorable and fun. path, and additionally coupons and gestions and reviews. with various experts. We picked the obsolete. Second is our unwillingness Unlike a traditional guide, show.MI de- discounts on tickets. All these chal- The underlying foundation that makes 6. You can check-in in new place, earn badges objects giving a priority to their abil- to participate into the creation of un- and share this with friends velops a two way interaction with its lenges and experience will be provid- all this possible is the quality content ity to tell stories, valorizing less known necessary visual pollution with which users. Content is proposed in an inter- ed thanks to augmented reality, such and the focus on the experience. We but potentially interesting objects as contemporary cities are already full. active form, with a layer of gamification as the possibility to see the past in the aim to give new value to the impressive well as the famous ones providing less We decided to connect to the existing to better engage users.The show.MI smartphone instead of the presence of cultural heritage of Milan, exposing the known facts about them. In our case infrastructure. We gained the permis- application a structure, or using other tools such hidden wonders and the forgotten se- innovation lays in the engagement of sion of EXPO to integrate the commu- We tried to leverage the full potential as Google Goggles or our proprietary crets. A fun experience for tourists but new technology we use to tell the old nication of existence of our product in of the smartphone and rethink the gamification tools. also a valuable tool to raise awareness stories to keep them alive. the newly created Isole Digitali. There experience of exploring a city with a The third layer, after intelligent itiner- of our heritage among the citizens. will be 30 of them by 2015 and being Algorithm new, modern mindset. The key feature aries and gamification, is the social scattered in the whole city they are 7. Play with the app, search for interesting things We had to choose the mode of crea- is the intelligent generation of custom layer. We call it a social real network, Bibliography perfect for why we need them. and try to be faster than your friends tion of itineraries that will guide our us- itineraries, based on user preference, a social network whose main focus [1] Borden D. Dent Cartography: the- ers through the city. We had two dif- time constraints and dynamic adap- is to have people meet and share in matic map design - Dubuque (Iowa) ferent options: either predefined paths Generating a solution tations along the way. This is deeply the real world. By crossmatching itin- : Brown, 1990 or customized ones. Our favor was introduction integrated with the real time guidance eraries it’s possible to have groups of [2] Giovagnoli, Max. Cross-media: le given to the last one due to better cor- The proposed solution is a smart- feature, that optimizes the travel path people, with common plans and in- nuove narrazioni - Milano, Apogeo, respondence with the philosophy of phone application that integrates all and the employ of public transporta- terests, meet in person. Also here, a 2009 our app. the concepts developed so far, namely tion thanks GPS, Wifi and our proprie- proprietary algorithm is able to identify [3] Cani, Fabio(a cura di) Itinerari di Mi- Layers an intelligent guiding system, a plat- tary algorithm. You concentrate on the users with similar interests, to connect lano e provincia - Milano: Nodo libri, We had in mind the idea of multiple form to deliver quality content and a experience and the discovery, the app them and to allow them to meet in the 1999 (Series on the initiative of: Pro- 8. All your experiences, your pictures, your visit thematic layers from which, in the end social interaction environment to con- takes care of the logistics. real world. This could be made before, vincia di Milano; Azienda di promozi- will be stored on the cloud and will create your personal and own diary! only three survived. We believe that the nect users. The aim is to generate a An additional layer on top of itinerar- during and after the experience. Ad- one turistica del Milanese)

104 105 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 SMART.MAP_Smart Sensitive City. New Mapping for XXI century citizens

WA.AG Network project 9B Water-Agricultural smart maps for fertile WA metropolitan territories AG n e t w o r k

1. Login page of the 2. Users’ experiences 3. Users can access the 4. Users can get 5. Users can get Task & Skills Since the beginning it emerged the application are tracked and stored selected itinerary and information about the information about the in their personal page confirm or modify it points of interest directly points of interest directly Massimo Allevi participated to the Giuseppe Doronzo participated to consciousness that an inclusive ap- from the navigation map from the navigation map preliminary study of the problem and to the analysis of the case studies and proach towards all the major actors of the generation of the solution. He took in generating possible solutions. He that area was necessary for the suc- of development of a solution. reconstruct the historical relation be- the department of the public adminis- contact with the main external stake- worked on the formalization of the cho- cess of the Expo event and in order to The final output of the project is a sys- tween the city and the waters of Milan tration in charge of the green area of holders, interviewing several of them, sen solution and on the economic fea- have a lasting legacy for Milan. So, the tem composed of an application for through the project “Waterways”, con- Milan; DAM (Distretto Agricolo Mila- and he was actively involved in the final sibility of the project. main actors identified have been the smartphone and a web-based related necting a work of urban and ecologi- nese), a district which includes all the elaboration of the solution. department of the public administra- software. The designed solution aims cal requalification with the Expo event. major producers of agro-food prod- Heghine Pilosyan has been involved tion in charge of the green areas of Mi- to rediscover the local culture and to This will also create a strong connec- ucts in the province of Milan; local as- Marco Cremonesi worked on the in the initial problem- and target-setting lan; DAM (Distretto Agricolo Milanese), enhance the territory through the defi- tion between the city center and the sociations that currently occupy and problem-setting phase, the genera- phase, and site analysis. She coped a district which includes all the major nition of itineraries and the creation of surrounding area of Milan. manage that area and tourists-citi- tion process and he also developed with the conceptual and graphic as- producers of agro-food products in a network of local businesses under The requirements of Expo have been zens, towards whom the entire system possible scenarios of the solution. His pects of the project, along with the the province of Milan; local associa- a common brand. The cooperation the enhancement of the visiting ex- is designed. main role was to analyze and to solve definition of possible combinations of tions that currently occupy and man- among local entities and the innovative perience for tourists and citizens, the The main goal of the DAM is to foster the problems related to the feasibility several concepts. age that area and tourists-citizens, technologies are the key factors to al- possibility to create a legacy for Milan, agricultural activities and sustain small aspects. towards whom the entire system is low the operation of the system. More- both for the territory and the society, and medium enterprises operating in designed. over, an e-commerce platform will be with a focus on sustainability themes the metropolitan area of Milan through Michela Delbosco took part into the ABSTRACT Several analysis have been carried out added to allow the commercialization and the use of new technologies. the maintenance of public goods, Expo 2015 will be an exceptional pos- problem-setting phase and carried out in order to understand their require- of products both at local and global According to this, the final objective of fields and waterways and through the sibility to promote the potentialities of territorial analyses. She worked on is- ments and to find out a response to scale. our team can be summed up in three requalification of landscape. the city of Milan and of its surround- sues related to systemic design, brand- them. For example, the modern tech- main sub-objectives: the promotion Public administration has showed to ings. WA.AG project, one of the two ing and graphic user interface and she niques of dynamic mapping allowed Understanding the problem of Milan and its metropolitan area as be well pleased versus the Smart.Map- sub-project of Smart.Map, has been was actively involved in the final elabo- territorial enhancement and the crea- Expo SpA, the company in charge agricultural water city, the valorization WA.AG project because it fully meets developed together with the new Wa- ration of the solution. tion of a common brand. Moreover, for the design and the realization of of local businesses and the creation of its objectives regarding the prepara- terways designed by Expo spa in the case studies of outstanding examples the Expo 2015 event in Milan, is the a proactive mapping system to create tion of the city for the Expo event, like west area of Milan, with the main goal of technologies implementation in ur- main external institution involved in the and allow an immersive, customized, the census of all the operating farms of turning this area into a smarter and ban context have been also analyzed. project, together with SIEP/IALE (In- interactive and social visiting experi- and companies around Milan, includ- outstanding example of improvement So the project evolved from a first ternational Association for Landscape ence for both tourists and citizens. ed services offered. and awareness of the territory. phase of research to a second phase Ecology). The aim of the project is to The final users of our service will be:

106 107 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 SMART.MAP_Smart Sensitive City. New Mapping for XXI century citizens

platform that will be integrated within the system and connected to the other layers, local producers will be able to sell their products to citizens and tour- ists even after the visit. The system will be characterized by all the last features of new applications, in terms of user experience and usability issues, while the maintenance of the system will be assured through paid 6. Users can discover itineraries 7. Local producers can upload 8. Map of the points of interest 9. Network of interactions and events on the web application data within the virtual marketplace and linear matrix used for their among the involved actors advertising and commissions on each and use the e-commerce platform analysis commercial transaction performed on to sell their products the platform. The analysis carried out to define the while an analysis of the services cur- Cariplo, has been identified as quali- The designed solution is oriented to users’ requirements showed that citi- rently available for tourists and citizens fied provider of itineraries and a coop- a rediscovery of local culture through zens consider the opportunity to dis- showed most common features of ex- eration with them has been started to the definition of itineraries and the cre- cover new places and to increase the isting applications for smartphone, as include the LETs into our platform. 10. Scheme of how three kinds of users can interact with the platform and the application ation of a common brand to simplify awareness of the territory a funda- well as several lacks that our system Finally, MatchingMarkets, a project by horizontal and vertical relationships mental factor. Therefore, interests for could compensate. the MIT Senseable City Lab, repre- between local producer and custom- Expo’s themes and curiosity for new Several case studies have been exam- sents an attempt to create a network meetings and lectures with experts on tive storytelling narrative, based on a ers. New technologies play an impor- technologies and social aspects of the ined and used for the final solution too. of local producers through the creation different issues related to our project linear matrix used to describe the in- tant role because they will allow the visiting experience have emerged and Eataly, the new company dedicated of an e-commerce platform, while Lo- together with the studies of existing teractions user-context in each point. cooperation among local entities and have been taken into account all along to the promotion of high quality Italian Cast, a project developed by the MIT solutions. Secondly, the creation of Ten existing qualified itineraries have the internationalization of their typical the development of the project. food around the world, has been ana- Mobile Experience Lab, is a very use- narrations, the discovery of the mean- been identified and provided by LET products. lyzed as an interesting case of supply ful attempt to better understand how ing to convey, also through the realiza- project. Finally, a layered map has Exploring opportunities chain management in the food indus- evolving media technologies could tion of a brand around the new Water- been designed in order to create a re- The development of the project has try, in order to understand how they be used to improve connections be- ways and the design of a network of lation between the morphology of the been divided in a phase of research select the partners and how they keep tween people and their social, cultural relations among final users. Finally, the area, the itineraries, the actors and the and in a phase of solution develop- a relationship with them. and physical space. Two members of integration with technology, smart de- events. Bibliography ment. TianTian has been useful to under- the team met the creators of this last vices and web platform , the creation The final output of the project is a sys- [1] P. Lembi, Il fiume sommerso: Milano, The first research phase included a stand how technology can be used in project in Boston, in the MIT campus. of uses cases and the final definition of tem composed of an application for le acque, gli abitanti, Editoriale Jaca deep analysis of the context and of all an easy way to allow small food pro- The second phase represented the the business model. smartphone and a web-based relat- Book, 2006 the requirements of the involved ac- ducers to sell their products on the development of possible solutions of ed software. Through the application [2] L. Bistagnino, Design sistemico. tors, which led to the definition of final web with simple and intuitive tools. the project and it has been divided Generating a solution it will be possible to interconnect the Progettare la sostenibilità produttiva objectives to pursue in agreement with Distretto 33 carries out and supports into three main sub-phases. Firstly, As a starting point for enhancing the discovery of the territory, which refers e ambientale, Slow Food Editore, our main external institutions partners. several projects of territorial enhance- an initial collection of data have been considered territory, several points of to the layered map, with the producers Bra, 2011 Conferences about smart cities high- ment in the west area of Milan. A carried out, through several interviews interest have been identified and ana- present on it and the events organized [3] Landscape Expo Tour project (http:// lighted major opportunities to exploit project called Landscape Expo Tour to potential final users of our system, lyzed through the principles of interac- by them. Thanks to the e-commerce www.let-milano.com) in the metropolitan city of the future, (LET), by LAND Srl and Fondazione on-site inspections, conferences,

108 109 Project10

NHEC

NEA Human Exploration Concept multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 NHEC_NEA Human Exploration Concept

PROJECT DESCRIPTION NHEC In 2011, the International Space Exploration Coordination NEA Human Exploration Concept Group (ISECG) formulated a shared Global Exploration Strategy providing, in two different mission scenarios, the guidelines for the next decades manned and unmanned space exploration activities. 10 The ‘Asteroid Next’ challenging mission scenario foresees two human visits of a Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) up to 2035. Most of the key capabilities and technologies have been identified, but some of them shall be more investigated. For instance, in order to enable humans to effectively complete Principal Academic Tutor Team A Members Team B Members in-situ mission objectives by guaranteeing the most suit- Paolo Maggiore Lorenzo Ferrario Niccolò Alessandri able access, in-space destinations (e.g. NEAs) systems shall Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Mechanical Space Engineering, Politecnico di Milano Architecture, Politecnico di Milano be more deeply studied. and Aerospace Engineering Giacomo Gatto Margherita Censi In the described frame, the NEA Exploration Crew Vehicle to Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino Architecture, Politecnico di Milano be designed would represent a multiple destinations and re- capture vehicle, which would enable to grab a small asteroid [Team controller] Alessandro Ciani lated tasks manned space system, able to explore different and anchor it to a convenient point in space, like one of the Academic Tutors Martina La Vista Energy Engineering, Politecnico di Milano small bodies and free flying in their proximity. The multidiscipli- Earth-Moon Lagrangian points. This would save the long time Michèle Lavagna Architecture, Politecnico di Milano Alessandro Cingoli nary project mainly focuses on mission analysis and design, necessary for the astronauts to reach the asteroid, and the Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Aerospace Francesco Robotti Space Engineering, Politecnico di Milano as well as on ergonomics evaluation of the interior spaces for scientific study closer to home would benefit from an environ- Engineering Energy and Nuclear Engineering, Politecnico Chiara Gastaldi a baseline design of this vehicle. The two teams worked on ment that is less hostile than that found in deep space. Moreo- di Torino Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di two different mission concepts, but with a common aim, i.e. ver, the role of a deep space mission would be paramount in Nicole Viola Tiziano Fabio Vigano’ Torino to maximise the scientific return of a human mission to a plan- a long-range human exploration strategy. Among the various Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Mechanical Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di Luca Levrino etary body such as asteroid 1999JU3. The vehicles that they pathways to Mars, NHEC would certainly contribute to the in- and Aerospace Engineering Milano Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino conceived have different dimensions, and this affects their tegration of robotic and human missions, to the preliminary [communication coordinator and team pressurization, as well as the number of astronauts they can development of new space systems and the incorporation of Andrea Messidoro controller] carry: consequently, the concept of operations will vary ac- technologies still to be enhanced, and to the management Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Mechanical Ricardo Repenning Bzdigian cording to the above-mentioned features. of human performance risks. and Aerospace Engineering Electrical Engineering , Politecnico di Torino The innovative character of such missions is indeed confirmed A multidisciplinary approach is maintained throughout the by their quick advancement in the state of the art. For exam- project, in order to simultaneously deal with all the issues External Institutions ple, ESA is looking to the future of space exploration in terms that the design task asks to solve. The European Space Thales Alenia Space - Italia of advanced concepts designed to explore, prepare and help Agency was the principal stakeholder to be identified for Camera di Commercio di Torino humans in the very harsh conditions found in deep space further development of the present mission, since its in- environment. A group of scientists from the Keck Institute terest in building a sustainable human space exploration EXTERNAL TUTOR for Space Studies in California thought of a robotic asteroid endeavour is continuously growing. Eugenio Gargioli Thales Alenia Space

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to allow complex instruments on the surface of the asteroid with respect to ASTRID: a robotic mission, in order to collect project 10A THE NEXT GIANT LEAP a wider variety of samples. Moreover, Extra Vehicular Activities (EVAs) can be easily performed by crew mem- bers, thus increasing both variety and quantity of samples. Some contamina- tion prevention concepts and informa-

tion handling technologies have been 1. Team internal 2. Example of habitative 3. Cupola view reproduction. 4. Example of ISS 5. One of the 6. Training activity at the russian module. Reliable Task & Skills ABSTRACT conceived after the experience of four structure and interaction A feeling of the confinement hatch. research modules Soyuz Simulator. Simulation with stakeholders. design, but complete an astronaut may experience of the ISS. Limited of the approach and docking The team is composed by members Near Earth Asteroids are an amazing decades of EVAs. absence of ergonomics in the space might be space and very high phase of the Soyuz Spacecraft The final outcome resulted in a highly and comfort. appreciated observing that density of controls to the ISS.This activity has that cooperated in an extremely inte- source of knowledge of the Solar Sys- Cupola is the biggest existing and instruments to been extremely useful to grated way in order to fully exploit the tem due to their ancient origin, and a sustainable conceptual design: since window on the Space. reduce volume at appreciate a current example minimum. of command and control synergies due to their different back- perfect test bed for future missions to most of the technologies involved have received by the customer, focusing system of a spacecraft. grounds. However, considering their Mars. already been tested, the required ad- needs and targets. main areas of expertise, they were in Following the ISECG’s Exploration vance of the technology is limited to While analyzing a space-related as possible since the cost of such mis- charge of different aspects. Lorenzo Strategy, the team has been assigned few fields. project, the definition of the require- sions (both in terms of human lives and Ferrario and Giacomo Gatto, aero- to the conceptual design of a space- Moreover, some of those newly pro- ments and the identification of driv- economical) is enormous. Moreover, with deep sampling capabilities for as- space engineers, conducted the mis- craft for the in-situ analysis of a Near posed solutions have either been de- ers is of fundamental importance. The the knowledge and know how return teroids exploration leads to a series of sion architecture trade offs and a re- Earth Asteroid (NEA). This vehicle has veloped in other fields, but have shown level of complexity of the system and must be high, thus, in situ analysis, specific project challenges: search about power systems, attitude to detach from a mother-ship, ap- the capability of adapting to the char- the integration in a single mission of wide sample collecting and uncon- ■■ The approaching and “landing” control systems and space suits; they proach the celestial body, deploy sci- acteristics of this project, or will find an enormous amount of different as- taminated reentry are other significant phase (usually referred as “grab- also supervised the integration proc- entific payload on the surface and col- other applications outside the space pects, ranging from technological to drivers to be considered. It follows, bing”) are conditioned by the micro- ess. Martina La Vista, architect, fo- lect samples. industry, thus providing technological diplomatic, may be faced only with a indirectly, that the ability to perform gravity environment and by the na- cused on possible configurations of The work has been conducted on a spin-offs. clear understanding of the basis on extra vehicular activities and to avoid ture of the asteroid; the spacecraft and on ergonomics. feasibility analysis level, with focus on In conclusion, the work presented can which the whole project has to be de- contamination is another main driver. ■■ The necessity to collect deep sam- Francesco Robotti, energy engi- the technological aspect. Currently be used as a starting point for a more veloped. While requirements are set ples implies the need for heavy and neer, worked on power generation and developed technologies and expected detailed design phase that will lead, by international standards, the gen- EXPLORING THE OPPORTUNITIES consuming instruments (e.g. a drill), information handling systems. Tiziano advances in each field of space engi- hopefully, to missions that will help the eral brief and the objectives required A description of the specific project thus a high power availability is Viganò was in charge of the grabbing neering have been considered. This humankind to answer questions it has by the institutions represent a good challenges and their respective pos- needed; moreover, a proper storage systems and drilling technologies. conditioned the conceptual study, been posing for hundreds of years: the starting point for the identification of sible solutions, with reference to the system must be assessed; opening to the exploitation of concep- origin of the Solar System and, more main drivers. Therefore, basic yet fun- state of the art and the existing alter- ■■ The necessity to perform EVAs leads tually new designs and solutions for important, the origin of life itself. damental aspects of a space mission natives. In this part the students can to the assessment of an airlock or overcoming serious limitations of the such as safety and success can be also illustrate some critical passages airlock-like sub-module with con- current technology. UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM recognized. In fact, the safety of the of researches or experiments carried tamination prevention and of an in- The concept presented is that of a 2 A description of the specific analysis crew and of the equipment must be out. formation handling systems. men crew vehicle with independent of the project made by the team, e.g. never put at risk and the result of the The architectural decision of develop- When grabbing is considered, the al- landing capabilities and enough power the working out of the general brief planned activity should be as certain ing a 2-men crew pressurized vehicle most null gravity of the asteroid im-

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7. General Architecture of 8. Preliminary 9. One of the innovative solutions 10. Deep Sampling Drilling 11. EVA Egress rendering 12. Underwater training 13. Manual sampling activity 14. Artist’s view of a 15. Plan of the developed solution the Mission drawings considered: the Mechanical System components/Valtion for manual sampling in with the aid of anchoring possible exploration of possible Counter Pressure Suit. Tieteellinen Tutkimuskeskus microgravity conditions. equipment vehicle configuration configuarations poses the design of some retaining tion). Moreover, dimension and weight the suit. All these aspects have been In the proposed scenario, to reduce pipes are located in a carousel which, mechanism for avoiding the space- constrains and reliability, robustness faced considering different donning critical phases and increase system through rotation, selects the proper craft to bounce away after the touch- and contamination requirements play and doffing possibilities (i.e. air-locks safety, the 2-men crew vehicle per- pipes (e.g. the ones for ultrasonic drill- down. Even a non-grabbing option an important role in the choosing of and suit ports) and different kinds of forms a single landing after an explora- ing or the ones with specific tools) can be chosen, in this case the space- the system. However, the main focus suits (i.e. the Constellation Suit and the tive probe validates the asteroid as a and locates them in the correct posi- craft shall ensure a stable parking po- is on the power system that has to innovative Mechanical Counter Pres- significant target. This avoids a pre- tion for the assembly. Once the drills sition nearby the asteroid for the time keep instruments and systems run- sure Suit) and performing a thorough deployed structure and a precursor are activated, both astronaut exit the 16. Proposed 17. Vehicle required to perform all the scientific ning. The main alternatives considered trade off analysis. Finally, the use of a robotic mission to set it, thus increas- spacecraft to deploy a series of an- solution rendering possible interiors configuration in-situ analysis, with reasonable mar- are energy storage and energy stor- information handling system derived ing the flexibility of the overall program. choring equipment (i.e. circumferential gin. The attitude control during the age supported by a power generation from military aviation is suggested in The rendezvous phase is performed cables, harpoon anchors, ice screws, Rendezvous and the Docking phase subsystem: Lithium-Air batteries and order to allow an easier data manage- using a system that features cold gas and surface nets) that will be crucial spite requiring an higher volume, does assumes in both cases a fundamental Radioisotope Thermoelectric Gen- ment. thrusters, to avoid contamination, sup- both for experimentation, since there not impose any limit on the duration of role; after a first study of the state of erators (RTGs) have been analyzed. ported by momentum wheels. In this is little knowledge on how such sys- the operations and, at the same time, solves the problem of peaks manage- the art, since the Technology Readi- Both solutions exhibit pros and cons, GENERATING A SOLUTION way, it will be possible to use the same tems will work in an unknown micro- ness Levels (TRLs) and the perform- mainly linked to complexity, unfore- A description of the developed so- hardware both for the attitude control gravity environment, and for mobility. ment, exploiting as much as possible ances of the existing technologies are seen events management and safety lution, pointing out its elements of and for propulsion. Then, the space- Afterwards, the collection of low depth the continuous production of the RTG more than satisfactory, standard sys- issues; therefore, a thorough trade-off innovation, its advantages and dis- craft grabs the surface of the aster- samples from the surface can begin. in order to recharge the batteries, thus tems have been considered. study has been necessary. advantages compared to the other oid anchoring to the soil as it touches These phases are performed using in- increasing the maximum deliverable For what concerns sample collection, Furthermore, the need of the space considered alternatives, let alone pos- down by means of ice screws on the novative maneuvering units that can power. adequate instruments and their power crew to perform EVAs poses major is- sible validations. legs and harpoons. Once secured on be donned and doffed in a suit-port source have to be identified. Existing sues that have to be considered, such The proposed solution has been de- the surface, the vehicle deploys the like fashion, thus drastically reducing space-drills and new configurations as the atmosphere loss avoidance, the veloped considering the ASP focus on high power payloads for sampling and the risk of contamination. Bibliography have been studied, considering the minimization of penetration of contam- multidisciplinarity and innovation while provides a safe haven to astronauts The power system that allows such [1] http://www.ecss.nl/ harsh environment of the targeted ination agents and of dust deposited filtering concepts and well-established during their EVAs. Part of the high mission to proceed smoothly features [2] Wertz J. R. and Larson W. J., Space body (i.e. microgravity, material form, on the suits and the ease of wearing, technologies with qualitative criteria of power payload is made of low vol- the combination of a modular RTG Mission Analysis and Design, El Se- temperature, dust and solar radia- the comfortable fit, and the safety of technical viability. ume and low mass extendable drills: with Li-Air batteries. This solution, de- gundo: Microcosm Press, 1999

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for future research studies. In fact, it edented challenge, whose scientific is our belief that in order to success- return will outweigh the investment re- fully design a vehicle, it is necessary to A Friendly Manned Interface quired. Unfortunately, the deep space project analyse the environment in which it will 10B environment is very hostile, and many operate. Most of the design solutions issues such as microgravity effects, that we came up with are derived from radiation shielding and extreme tem- a careful study of the mission scenario, peratures have to be carefully seen by means of a deep joint analysis of to. Moreover, to allow astronauts to both the scientific output and the hu- perform Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA), man needs. In the aim of designing spacesuits are equipped with effec- B01. Artistic representation of B02. Astronaut B03. Example B04. Foam surface mobility procedures and the tive life support systems. However, if Hayabusa-2 approaching asteroid performing an EVA of a Man-in- harpoon, with Task & Skills team progresses. He provided the related systems, three drivers were the spacesuit, and the equipment at- 1999JU3. using the Manned Can vehicle. nomenclature. Niccolò Alessandri was involved in target description, proposed mission Manoeuvring Unit. identified to make the necessary deci- tached to it, is too bulky, astronauts’ the user requirements definition and in architectures, and especially concen- sions, namely: space architecture studies. trated on the creation of the vehicle agility could be compromised, result- for docking attempt. most useful information, particularly ■■ safety of the astronauts; Margherita Censi carried out the concept. ing in loss of both safety and scientific UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM about space ergonomics and psychol- ■■ reliability of the system; state of the art research on explora- return of the exploration mission. The needs and targets that we were ogy. On the other hand, to increase Ricardo Repenning carried out ■ simplicity of the system and of the As a consequence, our focus was on provided with by the customer are our technical knowledge and to vali- ■ tion activities and described the pre- the research on batteries and power operations. liminary possible scenarios. Her main sources in space missions. He then overcoming these issues, so as to de- among the most recent and innova- date some of our choices, we visited task was also the study of the psycho- developed different docking solutions sign a small unpressurised vehicle able tive research interests in today’s space two facilities of the European Space logical aspects. on which he conducted several experi- to support mobility, maximising human science – and beyond. For this rea- Agency (ESA), an institution that could EXPLORING THE OPPORTUNITIES Alessandro Ciani developed a re- ments. agility as it has never been proposed son, not only the requirements’ gen- potentially become a partner of the NEA 1999JU3 will be visited by the search on already existing exploration before, but always considering safety eration reflects the task that we were project: at the European Astronaut Japanese robotic mission Hayabusa-2 space vehicles. He investigated the as a main driver: for these reasons it assigned, but also the design issues Centre we learnt about the astronaut (B01). The analyses carried out by this new vehicle concept, estimated its di- Abstract was named NEA Robotic Friend (NRF). that we confronted. training, whilst at the European Space probe will be useful in investigating the mensions and worked on the solutions Exploring space strengthens the future Its design is mission-oriented, since The high level requirement of the mis- Research and Technology Centre we origin of organic matter and water in for mobility aid. of humanity in a common cause, as it it is driven by a thorough study and sion is to conceive a small, possibly participated in a symposium on ad- the solar system. Besides, before our Alessandro Cingoli was in charge of stimulates innovation and inspires indi- planning of the whole mission scenar- non-pressurized, vehicle so as to al- vanced space technologies for robot- human mission planned for 2033, a ro- studying the state of the art of dock- viduals. Nowadays, it requires intense io, which takes into account psycho- low close approach of NEA 1999JU3. ics and automation. botic precursor will be sent to the tar- ing techniques. He then produced the international cooperation to achieve in- logical aspects as well as ergonomics Since no particular constraints other The multidisciplinary character of the get to perform further studies. A state requirements and contributed to the credibly challenging objectives, which and visual comfort arguments. In other than these were imposed, we oper- project was never abandoned, and of the art research provides us with design of the final solution. our team tried to interpret and trans- words, our work was intensively devot- ated all the remaining design deci- all the competences offered by each important hints, for example: more Chiara Gastaldi concentrated her late into suitable requirements in order ed to provide an outline of the whole sions. A substantial state of the art member of the group were exploited sites on the same NEA are likely to be efforts on exploration systems, con- to design an innovative space mission mission, so that we also investigated research was certainly the first way to at best. For these reasons, emphasis explored; thermal experiments have to ducted a deep analysis of the state of concept. Among the stakeholders we exploration activities and selected the get acquainted with the subject, but it was laid on the entire NEA proximity be conducted to validate existing ther- the art before defining the exploration identified there are in fact national and hypothetical related equipment. Max- was not enough. Because a mission phase of the mission, and on the crea- mal models and/or put bases for new equipment and the concept of opera- international space agencies, such as imising the use of spin-ins, we even is indeed centred on the protagonist, tion of a concept responding to the ba- ones; surface and subsurface sam- tions. ESA or NASA. proposed some solutions, culminating i.e. Man in our case, we had the lucky sic functional requirements rather than ples must be collected; traces of water Luca Levrino, team controller, coor- Sending Man to a Near-Earth Asteroid with an astronaut pouch for temporary chance to interview two astronauts, on in-depth technical choices, thus or amino acids should be searched dinated the group work and checked (NEA) is an extraordinary but unprec- sample storage, and a foam harpoon from whom we collected some of the leaving a further technological analysis for. More importantly, asteroid’s di-

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(B09, dimensions in cm): studying the concept of operations and the mobility procedures we deduced spacecraft dimensions, understood how to sup- port movements by means of tethers and handholds, created a dual redun- dant moving platform that we named Mobility Aid Rototranslational System or MARS (B10 and B11), and account- ed for a cargo where to store samples B05. Foam harpoon approaching the asteroid’s B08. Experimental B09. Ergonomic study 2 B10. Exploration activities with the aid and tools ( ). NRF design ( ) in- B11. MARS in rotated B12. Drill inside the B13. NRF, with B14. Illumination soil. setup for the foam of the MARS. B12 B13 configuration. cargo module. nomenclature. of the asteroid’s harpoon prototype. cludes a platform and four poles that surface. can be mounted just before the 8-days long NEA proximity period begins. ration: the Manned Manoeuvring Unit tle is known about soil properties–the and is always ready to steer the vehi- (MMU) and the Man-in-Can. MMUs safety of the whole mission could be These poles: cle back to the mother ship in case of (B02) are anthropomorphic vehicles compromised. Therefore, we devised ■■ improve attitude control: in all, there failure, as well as help his EVA-partner. hosting the Portable Life and Support a harpoon whose feasibility would be are 24 thrusters, 12 in the basis and Moreover, the NRF acts as a small lab- System (PLSS), as well as the pro- tested on this NEA in view of future 12 in the poles; oratory to support the mission, since it pulsion and attitude control systems. missions: as a start, we outlined and ■■ provide a valid source of diffuse illu- can analyse scientific data in order to They support astronauts during EVA, conducted experiments to measure mination (B14); carry out specific operations such as B06. Foam harpoon penetrating the asteroid’s B15. Tongs. B16. Surface sample and were used only for a few times the performance of a harpoon using ■■ provide handholds for astronauts; in-situ spectroscopy and neutron de- soil. collection. for maintenance operations on the foam after ground penetration (B04, ■■ provide an interface for mating with tection, which require a real time anal- International Space Station because B05, B06, B07, B08). As for the ex- the mother ship; ysis. Concerning tools, tongs (B15) they were reckoned too risky, but they ploration equipment, we selected it ■■ support the cargo module contain- and rakes/scoops (B10, B11, B16) are have recently been reconsidered for from the literature, also trying to be ing all the equipment. used for surface sample collection, NEA exploration. On the other hand, confident about the on-going increase This ‘friendly manned interface’ is a and a pouch was designed to tem- the Man-in-Can (B03) is a pressurized of technology readiness level: for in- vehicle not only serving as shuttle be- porarily store samples (B17), whereas spacecraft conceived for ISS mainte- stance, we preferred an ultrasonic drill tween the mother ship and the aster- drills (B12) are for in-depth coring. In nance, and later repurposed for ex- over a more common rotary drill. oid (like the MMU), but also supporting general, we tried to maximise the em- B17. Safe Sample Pouch. B18. NRF travelling ploration activities. Starting from the all the scheduled activities once the ployment of spin-ins, i.e. terrestrial from the mother ship to the asteroid. B07. Foam harpoon ejecting foam into the analysis of pros and cons of these GENERATING A SOLUTION destination is reached. In this configu- technology that could be modified to asteroid’s soil. two vehicles, the NRF concept arose The central role of the human being in ration the two astronauts are always suit space applications. to overcome the limits of both, and to such a mission prompted us to con- on-board; the NRF supports mobility Bibliography mensions are paramount to plan the directly fulfil the specific requirements sider psychological aspects when and maximises agility removing bulky [1] Wiley J. Larson and Linda K. Pranke, activities: it is almost spherical, with an of an asteroid mission. designing the NRF: in effect, mission loads from around them (unlike both Human Spaceflight: Mission Analy- 870 m diameter and it is 980 m long. High-level trade-offs and decisions success is mostly dependent on as- MMU and Man-in-Can). To increase sis and Design, McGraw-Hill, 1999 In the state of the art analysis we found also involve docking techniques and tronauts’ performance. The shape and safety, only one astronaut at a time [2] Vv. Aa., The Global Exploration that two different vehicle concepts exploration systems. Due to the uncer- dimensions of our vehicle are then pro- performs the exploration activities, Roadmap, National Aeronautics and B19. NRF approaching the B20. Team B logo have been proposed for NEA explo- tainty of the docking process–very lit- posed pursuing an ergonomic design while the other provides assistance Space Administration, 2013 asteroid.

120 121 Project11

ReCoUAV

Innovative High Dependable and Reconfigurable Flight Controller for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 ReCoUAV: Innovative High Dependable and Reconfigurable_Flight Controller for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

 ReCoUAV: Innovative High PROJECT DESCRIPTION Dependable and Reconfigurable The purpose of this team project is the investigation of  potential future applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehi- Flight Controller for Unmanned Aerial cles (UAVs) for civil purposes. The first task involves the Vehicles analysis of the UAVs state of the art and the identification 11 of the normative that regulates their flights: the standard procedures were identified by direct contact with mainly ENAC (the Italian policymaker for Commercial Aviation and Aeronautics). The request of higher mission complexity and systems re-configurability as well as the need of increased Principal Academic Tutor David Merodio Codinachs Team A Members flight performances progressively require efficient onboard Luca Sterpone European Space Agency Roberto Alicino processing systems, and among the different electronic Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Control and Aeronautical Engineering, Politecnico di technologies for avionic applications the Field Programma- Computer Engineering Mario Porrmann Milano ble Gate Arrays (FPGAs) was studied as an effective solu- Heinz Nixdorf Institute, University of Dietrich Kevin Dongue Dongue tion for their flexibility and reconfiguration capabilities. The Academic Tutors Paderborn Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di analysis of the control system took into account the pres- Cristiana Bolchini Torino ence of fault tolerant codes, accelerometers and different Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Electronics Niccolò Battezzati Letterio Mondo sensors in order to realize a completely autonomous and and Information SKY Technology Electronic Engineering, Politecnico di Torino dependable flight control. The analysis of electric and ther- Gabriele Persichilli mal configurations of the propulsion system was done with Erasmo Carrera Mechanical Engineering, the purpose to identify the best suitable solution following Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Mechanical Politecnico di Torino [team controller] mission requirements. The second task concerns the re- and Aerospace Engineering search of possible stakeholders for this technology and the Team B Members definition of preliminary designs according to given targets: Giorgio Guglieri Marco Arnoletti the demand of the UAV technology for civil applications Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Mechanical Automotive Engineering, Politecnico di arises from the low manufacturing and operational costs of and Aerospace Engineering Torino the systems, but thanks to its high degree of innovation a Matteo Di Luca wide range research was carried out: as a result, some of External Institutions Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino the possible applications were identified and specific mis- Thales Alenia Space Italia [communication coordinator] sions were selected. The targets of these missions were European Space Agency Qianwen Gao carefully evaluated and translated into detailed specifica- University of Paderborn Engineering Computing Systems, tions for the design phase through regular group meetings. SKY Technology Politecnico di Milano After this, the design phase was performed through an it- Cristian Rostiti erative procedure in order to integrate the different subsys- EXTERNAL TUTORs Automation Engineering, Politecnico di tems into a feasible solution in terms of technical require- Francesco Iacomacci Milano [team controller] ments and costs competitiveness. Thales Alenia Space Italia

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U-Quad: Universal Quadrotor project 11A

1. Hot spot identification with an IR camera 2. ADC Micro multispectral 3. Example of picture taken by a multispectral camera Task & Skills ABSTRACT camera Roberto Alicino According to the US Department of (Field Programmable Gate Array) was as aeronautical engineer, defined the Defense, a UAV can be described as: chosen, thanks to its ability to be main scenario and the preliminary de- “A powered vehicle that does not carry reconfigurable according to the mis- Understanding the problem to be respected in order to receive a react at least as a human pilot in the sign of the UAV. a human operator, can be operated sion to be accomplished. The first step needed to accomplish permit to fly for a particular civil ap- case of a possible collision, i.e. being Kevin Dietrich Dongue Dongue autonomously or remotely, can be The objective of the project was the in- the objectives of the projects consist- plication. A common factor among capable of detecting in advance dan- as mechanical engineer, studied the expendable or recoverable, and can vestigation of the possible application ed in a wide market research, in order the different national regulations con- gerous approaching aircraft (Sense) main aspects and issues of the pro- carry a lethal or nonlethal payload“. of the UAV technology for civil pur- to better understand which were the sists in an extreme attention to pre- and performing a maneuver to prevent pulsion system and mechanical trans- They are use normally in Dull, Dirty and poses and the preliminary design of a most important issues related to this vent or at least to reduce at minimum it (Avoid), all in a few moments. There- mission. Dangerous missions, in which their us- system based on a FPGA technology new technology. Soon, the team found the possible damages caused by the fore, even if it is possible and probable Letterio Mondo age can prevent humans from being capable of fulfilling the requirements that, at the moment, the principal ob- UAV in case of partial or total failure. that regulations would become less as electronic engineer he had a cen- hurt. proposed by the different stakehold- stacle to the diffusion of the UAVs in As a consequence of that, all regula- restrictive within a few years, the whole tral role in the definition of the control Even if, at the moment, UAVs are main- ers. civil applications is due to particularly tions set restrictions about MTOW team decided to carry on the project system, based on a FPGA integrated ly used for military applications, during In order to meet such objective, the limiting criteria which need to be re- (maximum take-off weight), maximum keeping in mind these considerations, circuit. the last years the civil market for this strategy of the team was first to ana- spected by the unmanned aircraft in AGL (above ground level) altitude and in order to first conceptualize and then Gabriele Persichilli new technology has increased, and it lyze the current state of the art of UAV order to achieve the required permit to maximum distance from ground op- design a vehicle that may be market- determined the main stakeholders for is expected to become more and more for civil applications, identifying poten- fly by the national civil aviation author- erators, airports and populated areas ready in the very near future. the project, managed the relationships important in the next few years. In fact, tial fields of use and the main stake- ity. In fact, even if there are some at- permitted. In addition, at the moment with them and selected the payload there are a lot of missions in which a holders involved. The meetings and tempts to develop common guidelines no UAV would be allowed to fly in non- required to fulfill the mission require- UAV can be used for civil purposes: the exchange of information with them for the future regulations of the mar- segregated airspace (although some Exploring the opportunities ments. search and rescue, firefighting detec- allowed us to better understand their ket, nowadays differences can still be exceptions can be temporarily consid- Once understood the constraints to be tion and support and law enforcement needs and consequently to elaborate found from state to state, such as the ered for scientific purposes), in order respected, the team focused on find- are only some few examples of the a conceptual and innovative solution maximum service ceiling or the maxi- to avoid undesirable collisions with ing applications compatible with them. field in which a UAV could be helpful. able to satisfy several requirements. mum distance allowed between the manned aircrafts: the reason lies in Therefore, the intent of using the UAV Regardless the category of the sys- The result has been a highly reconfig- ground pilot and the vehicle. the fact that, today, there is no con- as a platform for testing the behavior tem, the core of the UAV technology urable platform, able to house different In Italy, for example, the ENAC has trol system or algorithm that meets all and performance of electronic devices resides in the control system, which payloads in order to accomplish sev- recently released a preliminary regu- the requirements established by na- at high altitude (one of the first applica- can be based on very different type eral different missions. lations draft about UAV, in which are tional civil authorities (FAA in particu- tion considered) was discarded, also of processors: among them, a FPGA specified some of the prerequisites lar). Such a system should be able to because the feasibility study with re-

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4. Example of flight plan setup 5. Example of aerial photogrammetry 6. Sicily Operative Map of zones with fire risk 7. 3D CAD model of the 8. Quadrotor control 9. FPGA Virtex5 by Xilinx® quadrotor gards to the available resources gave potential stakeholder has significantly decided to reframe the problem from fixed wing aircraft, more suitable for a UAV powered by an internal com- Bibliography a negative result. Thereafter analysis shifted the paradigm and has put into its foundations, in particular focusing wide area coverage. bustion engine would require a tank [1] Gundlach J. “Designing Unmanned of low altitude application was per- play the quadrotor as the best configu- on the impossibility of the simultane- filled with gasoline which might cre- Aircraft Systems: A Comprehensive formed, such as: ration to be employed. ous presence of a lot of equipment As a result, the remaining problem ate great damages in case of failure or Approach”, American Institute of ■■ Detection of hot spots in power lines Generating a solution onboard, which on the other hand was the high performing motherboard crash of the UAV. Other advantages Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2012. and electrical power transformers would guarantee the versatility of our needed to distinguish and manage of the electric solution stands in the [2] “Regolamento Mezzi aerei a pilotag- ■■ Monitoring illegal dumping of waste Considering the several aforemen- UAV. The solution to this problem the different payloads and sensors recharge of the primary source of en- gio remoto (Bozza)”, ENAC, 2013 and chemicals in waters and indus- tioned potential opportunities of UAV was the concept of a “universal UAV for each mission setup: such moth- ergy which are the batteries and can [3] Valavanis K. P., “Advances in Un- trial zones usage, it was clear that by choosing frame” able to house various kinds of erboards are available on the market, be done quite easily and the fact of manned Aerial Vehicles: State of ■■ Aerial photogrammetry one specific mission the others will be equipment depending on the specific but usually their dimensions and cost being eco-friendly. On the other hand, the Art and the Road to Autonomy”, ■■ Monitoring progress of civil engineer generally excluded, since each mis- mission on which the user can eas- are exaggerated for small UAVs. the main disadvantage consists in the Springer, 2007 (non definitive) projects sion has its own particular technical ily mount on and remove the required Therefore, the team realized that such maximum endurance achievable (gen- ■■ Cultural heritage monitoring requirements and payload. In fact, payloads and sensors to fulfill different an extremely performing device was erally less than 1 hour): however this Among them, the identification of the except for the typology of UAV frame tasks. In particular, a quadrotor config- not necessary in this case, finding as aspect was not considered critical for Corpo Forestale dello Stato as a po- (fixed or rotating wing), which is obvi- uration over a fixed wing one has been the optimal solution the FPGA (Field the applications analyzed, because all tential stakeholder for our project has ously extremely binding for a specific chosen, mainly because of: Programmable Gate Array), a com- of them usually require less time to be risen a new point of study: in fact, it mission, it was clear that the related pletely reprogrammable board, guar- accomplished. deals with fire and the extinction proc- payloads and sensors cannot be all ■■ Easiness of use and control (move- anteeing a high grade of reconfigura- In conclusion, the team conceptual- ess. The possibility to innovate in this mounted on one single UAV for space ments result only thanks to the dif- bility of the UAV. ized a highly reconfigurable UAV able application stands in the introduction and weight reasons and also because ference in thrust between the rotors) Finally, the choice of the propulsion to perform several missions thanks of UAVs usage in the post-fire monitor- an extremely performing motherboard ■■ Hovering and VTOL (Vertical Take- system was performed: considering to its unique characteristic of being ing. A comparative study between the able to manage and interact simulta- Off and Landing) capability the aforementioned applications, an extremely accessorizable with the currently used technology for this type neously them should be mounted on ■■ Reduced mechanical complexity electrically driven propulsion, instead required payloads and sensors, sup- of missions and the UAV has been the UAV. ■■ Limitations imposed by regulations of an internal combustion one, re- ported by a completely reprogramma- performed. Additionally, the consider- Since there would be no innovation in in terms of altitude and distance vealed to be the most suitable solu- ble motherboard able to manage all ation of Corpo Forestale dello Stato as developing such a project, the team achievable would made useless a tion for all of them. As matter of fact, the onboard equipments.

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an optimum with their high perform- ance at low operational costs. The Versatile UAS: overview challenge of the project was to help project 11B and preliminary design demonstrating UASs potential pro- viding a robust architecture with re- spect to failures. Italian and European UAS markets are underdeveloped in comparison to US or Israeli markets and this is mainly due to the lack of a 1. Control system architecture 2. M190 rendering clear regulation. This was the situation Task & Skills a series of meetings with project tu- in 2012, at the beginning of our project Matteo Di Luca after identifying pos- Qianwen Gao provided the analysis tors, external institutions and possible and only recently European Union Mem- sible stakeholders and their needs, of the control system, assessed pos- stakeholders the group identified ap- ber Countries deliberated to establish, defined UAS requirements at system sible data transmission architectures pealing applications for UASs. Stake- high resolution with low operational several meetings with potential stake- around 2016, a common regulation for level; he made the multidisciplinary and designed the assisting system for holders’ requirements were carefully costs was defined. This UAS platform holders was an intention to adopt our medium size UAVs [1]. Thus, UAV Eu- design of the UAV platforms, from the stable control; she also investigated pinpointed and the team was ready to was also adapted for a third scenario solutions contingent upon particular ropean industry is in its early years and aerodynamics to the systems integra- the payload requirements and their assess competitive design solutions. in collaboration with Valle d’Aosta re- features of the final product. In order to there is a lack of UAS solutions for plenty tion through the CAD model, and co- possible physical implementation on The challenge was to provide a reli- gion (Northern Italy) in order to per- answer their needs the UAS had to be of applications. Furthermore, for several ordinated the results of the other team the model. able architecture with low manufactur- form several dedicated environmental reliable and multiple failures tolerant; civil applications US and Israeli solutions members during the design phase. ing costs. Two UAS versatile concepts monitoring missions with low opera- furthermore, where a manned sys- are obtained adapting machines origi- Cristian Rostiti analyzed the sensors were provided and assessed from tional costs. tem was already used, the UAS had nally developed for military purposes and studied the pros and cons of dif- Abstract both technical and economic point of From a regulatory point of view, UAS to guarantee equal or better perform- with important drawbacks on the sys- ferent technologies available. He cre- Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) views with special attention paid to re- potential has been limited by flight au- ance but at lower costs. Our multidis- tem’s final cost. ated a preliminary design of the control have been developed for Military ap- liability and failure tolerance. thorisations. With its contribution in ciplinary team had the potential to de- Focusing on performance, versatility, system focusing on versatility, re-con- plications and until recently this was A first UAS performs sea surveil- underlining the potential gain behind sign the required new concepts. UASs reliability and costs our team designed figurability and failures avoidance. He their only purpose. UASs are complex lance: every day, Guardia Costiera UAS applications for civil purposes, are very complex, they require a wide from scratch completely new solutions. also gained information about the Ital- systems and their industry includes a performs fishing vessels monitoring the project also contributed to moti- range of skills and expertise and our A preliminary project of a complex sys- ian and European regulations and pos- broad supply chain providing a large activities and migratory fluxes control vate policymakers to change the cur- different backgrounds were a powerful tem has to be subdivided in several ac- sible developments in the short term. range of enabling technologies. The at sea over a wide area South East of rent regulations. source of creative ideas for innovative tivities in order to reduce its complexity. Marco Arnoletti analyzed the state project deals with future civil applica- Lampedusa island (Southern Italy). A solutions. However, the difficulty consists in cor- of the art of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles tions of the system and aims at ex- long range UAS was designed in or- Understanding the problem rectly organizing those tasks and con- and met stakeholders; he analyzed ploiting the huge potential behind it. der to meet the requirements identified UAVs were not used for civil applica- Exploring the opportunities catenates them in a logical way, minimiz- possible alternatives for the propulsion They can contribute to boost industrial together with Guardia Costiera and to tions until recently. The team had to Stakeholders asked for very demand- ing the impact of subtasks’ delays on the system of the final solutions and identi- competitiveness, promote entrepre- maximize the patrolled area. identify feasible civil applications that ing solutions from both a technical and final solution [2]. In this sense, we faced fied possible harsh environmental op- neurship and create new businesses A second UAS was designed for envi- could improve from a technical and an economic point of view and satel- the challenge to manage a complex erational conditions for the UAV. in order to generate growth and jobs. ronmental monitoring in collaboration economic point of view current activi- lites represent an alternative technol- project not only for the several technical The team deeply studied the UASs with CFVA. Together with Sardinia’s ties of potential stakeholders and in- ogy that could respond to their needs. domains involved but also for the eco- theoretical framework, from the regu- local institutions, a concept that per- vestigate their interest and willingness However, costs associated to satellites nomics and business strategy aspects lations to the state of the art. Through forms environmental monitoring at to exploit the change. The outcome of are higher than UASs that represent that we considered.

130 131 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 ReCoUAV: Innovative High Dependable and Reconfigurable_Flight Controller for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

the M180 would glide landing without any major consequences; for an emer- gency landing on sea, a particular sys- tem with airbags was conceptualized in order to insure the buoyancy. The aerial vehicle is versatile with its capability to perform several activi- ties with some minor changes: an ex- ample could be the National electric grid monitoring or the environmental monitoring on wide sea area. Apart 5. Manual and automatic modes for UAV control. from its failure tolerant control system architecture, M180 performs activities at lower costs than existing solutions frame, engine and fuel tank system) Bibliography and with wider monitored area with re- was possible and also in this case a [1] European Union document contain- 3. UAS schema for the communication system spect to conventional solutions (boats CAD model was provided together ing the analysis of the potential, the and helicopters). This high degree of with a study of components installa- market and the strategies to be im- innovation is confirmed by the recent tion inside the frame and a structural plemented in the near future for the 4. Concept for the Ground Station monitor decision of the Italian government to analysis of major components. The benefit of the development of UAV: launch the “Mare Nostrum” project M65 model was also adapted for a COMMISSION STAFF WORKING that aims to improve the sea surveil- third scenario in collaboration with DOCUMENT Towards a European lance also through the use of UAV sys- Generating a solution and a long range was required to en- ficiency, lowering the amount of fuel Valle d’Aosta region (Northern Italy) in strategy for the development of civil tems. Two UAS versatile concepts were pro- sure a wide overall monitored area. required for a long range mission and order to perform several dedicated en- applications of Remotely Piloted Air- A second UAS, the M65, was de- vided and assessed from both techni- With the low altitude requirement, In- consequently structural components’ vironmental monitoring missions. After craft Systems (RPAS), Brussels, signed for environmental monitoring cal and economic point of views with fra-Red camera was the best solution mass which is required to overwhelm several meetings with local institutions 4.9.2012 in collaboration with CFVA. Together special attention paid to reliability and with respect to Synthetic Aperture Ra- loads during the flight. M180 is able to (mainly ARPA), a mission was defined [2] Reg Austin “Unmanned Aircraft Sys- with Sardinia’s local institutions, a failure tolerance (control system archi- dar currently on board of military sur- monitor in 12 hours a 60 km x 60 km and the model had to detect and study tems - UAVs design, development and concept that performs environmental tecture is given Figure 1). veillance UAS. The system is designed square area almost in every environ- the air temperature vertical profile over deployment”, Wiley Publication (2010) monitoring at high resolution with low The first designed UAS solution, the for boats and objects detection while a mental condition during day and night the atmosphere and the dedicated Additional material operational costs was defined. M65 M180 (Figure 2), provides sea sur- satellite communication system allows time over the whole year. Its control instrumentation was defined. M65 is [3] Link to an article of an important is able to monitor a 36 km x 36 km veillance and is able to replace boats for live streaming of video images to system shows several redundancies innovative considering its purposes Italian journal about the “Mare Nos- square area almost in every environ- and aircrafts from Guardia Costiera to the ground station (Figure 3 and Fig- such as an object avoidance subsys- and the high flexibility of possible pay- trum” project delivered by the Italian mental condition during day and night perform fishing vessels and migratory ure 4) and thus direct manual control tem dedicated especially to avoid bird loads. Furthermore, with its failure tol- government after the recent trag- time over the year. In this case a di- fluxes monitoring in Southern Italy. In when needed (Figure 5). An expen- strikes and fixed obstacles. Particular erant control system architecture and edy in Lampedusa island: http:// rect streaming of video images to the order to reduce UAS interference with sive satellite communication system attention was paid to the propulsion the object avoidance subsystem, M65 www.lastampa.it/2013/10/14/italia/ ground station was not a requirement Commercial Aircraft traffic, the UAV was the only possible solution to meet system, which was shown to be a ma- provides great reliability at lower costs cronache/sbarchi-al-via-la-mis- and a radio communication system was designed to operate at relatively Guardia Costiera’s requirement of live jor cause of system loss. A combustion with respect to traditional systems. sione-del-governo-arrivano-i-dro- low altitude (3.5 km): in this condition video streaming. Similar to a glider, engine provides the required reliability was used. A higher degree of free- ni-per-evitare-le-tragedie-wJ1d- the UAV reduces its observed area the M180 has a high aerodynamic ef- and in case of failure on solid ground dom in the subsystems design (model br32vmLgNT02mtyFjI/pagina.html

132 133 Project12

Colorado

Community-based policies for natural resource sustainable development multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 Colorado_Community-based policies for natural resource sustainable development

Colorado PROJECT DESCRIPTION Community-based policies for natural The project compare problems, approaches and solutions applied to the sustainable planning and management of resource sustainable development natural resources in two distinct geographical landscapes: the 5 Terre (marine environment) and the Valle Varaita (al- 12 pine region). The final aim is to develop as far as possi- ble innovative policies in order to manage local resources that trying to solve the problems related to those particular lands, showing how the land itself characterizes the whole process of decision making. Principal Academic Tutor United States National Park Guido Lorenzi These regions are characterized by a highly diverse oro- Maria Brovelli Service - Denver Service Center Energy and nuclear Engineering graphic and hydro-geological systems, strong biodiversity, Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of United States Forest Service - Lai Lu and intense land use by different and competing stake- Environmental, Hydraulic, Infrastructures Arapaho & Roosevelt National Management Engineering holder communities. The Project will focus primarily on and Surveying Engineering Forests Elena Richermo the problem of forest and water management, considered United States Army Corps of Civil Engineering under different perspectives: ecosystem and biodiversity Academic Tutors Engineers Henrique Dadalto Sahao preservation, sustainable economic exploitation, and natu- Piero Boccardo Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di ral risk management. Politecnico di Torino - Interuniversity Dept. EXTERNAL TUTOR Milano [team controller] The work methodology will be multidisciplinary. The ob- of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning Rafael Moreno served natural resources systems has been investigated University of Colorado Denver - Dept. of Team B Members for what concerns: Andrea Castelletti Geography and Environmental Sciences Alice Berardo 1. the characterization of the multiple planning and man- Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Electronics Frederick Chambers Environmental Engineering agement objectives reflecting the different stakeholders’ anticipated effects of planning and management actions and Information University of Colorado Denver - Dept. of Vittoria Camisassi communities that impact the system; to a broad audience; Geography and Environmental Sciences Architecture heritage preservation and 2. the modeling of the system dynamics, for the purpose of 6. the role of emerging Participatory GIS (PGIS) in enhanc- Piero Fraternali Janos Fustos enhancement simulation and optimization to inform and support deci- ing spatial information management and planning. Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Electronics Metropolitan State College of Denver - Dept. Constantin Sandu sion-making; 7. the role of end user’s mobile devices as a complement and Information of Computer Information Systems Territorial, Urban and Environmental and 3. the role of local communities in the participative definition to traditional sensing technologies (human sensor net- David Mays Landscape Planning [communication of sustainable resource exploitation policies; works, remote meters) Giorgio Guariso University of Colorado Denver - Dept. of coordinator] 4. the role of ICT as an enabler of better decision-making, The project should have relied on a strong collaboration Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Electronics Civil Engineering Sara Scaramellini also with a reference to the emerging paradigm of social with the Faculty of Geography and Environmental Sci- and Information Energy Engineering networking and crowdsourcing, as potential tools for im- ences of the University of Colorado Denver, which special- Team A Members Luca Vanoli proving the participation of stakeholders in a co-deciding izes, among other things, on the research of development External Institutions Martina Draghi Industrial Engineering and Management process; policies for the sustainable use of natural resources, but University of Colorado Denver Engineering and Management [team controller] 5. the role of Geographic Information Systems, especially the plan changed during the two years and this collabora- Metropolitan State College of Maria Ferrara Luisa Villani in the open source domain, as a means for mapping the tion failed. A parallel work on field was conducted in both Denver Construction City Civil Engineering territory and its salient features, collecting and integrating the Italian regions exhibiting comparable natural resources United States Geological Survey Fjolla Iljazi Mengying Wu relevant data, and supporting the communication of the management scenarios. Engineering Electronic Systems Engineering

136 137 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 Colorado_Community-based policies for natural resource sustainable development

ists). All these actions should contribute to favour the awareness and the involve- 5 Terre Smart Start ment of the population towards the cre- project 12A ation of a smart community. Policies are put into effect by three interrelated programs, each of them addressed to a specific class of stakeholders, aiming to make people collaborate in solving their main critical problems. These problems are related to the preservation of natural 1. The two visions of 2. Project keywords analysis 3. State of the roads in 4. View of villages and terraces in 5. Beginning of a path with a Task & Skills resources (e.g., paths’ monitoring) and sustainability processed by the software Gephi Cinque Terre one year Cinque Terre. (Vernazza, September view on Vernazza. A totem will be after the flood. (Corniglia, 7th, 2013. Author: Lai Lu) installed here. (Vernazza, September Henrique Dadalto Sahao, team Elena Richermo joined Martina and they emerged from the community itself September 26th, 2012. 8th, 2013. Author: Lai Lu) controller, managed contacts with the Maria in business plan development, through appropriate surveys proposed Author: Martina Draghi) external institutions of Colorado. He focusing on geological aspects. She by the team. In one of the three pro- UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM years, starting from the first definition involvement of the community could also worked on the concept of “smart also worked on possible alternatives grams, called “Active path”, the team de- At the beginning of the two-years de- that involved three pillars: the eco- successfully compensate these dif- community”, finding international suc- for the monitoring of the paths. Be- veloped a smartphone application able signing journey, team A was appointed nomic, the social and the environmen- ficulties, strengthening the bond be- cessful experiences. fore dividing the tasks, the whole team to involve and exploit tourists in monitor- to focus on the social aspects of the tal one. These three aspects had the tween individuals and, thus, producing Martina Draghi and Maria Ferrara worked together in understanding the ing the trails, through a rewarding sys- complex problem concerning how to same importance in the sustainability a benefit in social terms. worked together on the project busi- problem and defining the main objec- tem which can promote, at the same design good policies to involve com- concept. Then, further bibliographic ness plan and on the elaboration of tives of the project. time, local products. The whole system munities in the sustainable manage- studies led the team to think about EXPLORING THE OPPORTUNITIES the application contents. Concerning was designed with a special concern to ment of their own natural resources, in sustainability in a different way: the The need to preserve the environ- external contacts, Martina managed ABSTRACT its real socio-economic feasibility: local such a way that both the territory and environmental sustainability must have mental goods without compromising relations with suppliers and dealt with The project has the aim of develop- institutions and technical suppliers were its community could get some advan- the highest priority. In fact, if the en- the well-being of the society led us to the economical analysis, while Maria ing policies and strategies to involve the contacted, a market analysis and a mar- tages. During the early stages, in order durance capacity of the environment consider the concept of Smart Com- was in charge of managing the com- population in the management of the keting plan were done and a complete to better clarify the problem frame- decreases, both the common good munity suitable for the purposes of the munication with local institutions in natural resources of their own territory. business plan was proposed, attesting work, the team examined in depth two delivered by the social system and the project. Focusing our attention on the Cinque Terre and dealt with social In particular, the efforts of the team are the self-sustainability of the proposed key concepts: sustainability and com- output of the economic system de- Italian case study of the Cinque Terre, needs analysis. directed towards communities where solutions within 3 years since the kick- munity, trying to understand their re- crease. It is thus clear that natural re- we performed a market analysis using Fjolla Iljazi worked on tools analysis nature itself is the primary economic off. The project was submitted to the ciprocal relationships. sources are also economic and social different questionnaires; in particular, and dealt with the technical develop- good. The analyzed case study is the announcement “Smart cities and com- The recent awareness about the limits resources: they are the foundations of we handed out two different types of ment of the smartphone application. Italian area of the Cinque Terre (SP), munities” promoted by the Italian Minis- of world resources has led the global human life at all levels and their good surveys. The first one was addressed Guido Lorenzi was in charge of the whose villages and natural resources try for University and Research and got community to start thinking about and sustainable management is re- to both the resident population and promotion of the project to the munici- were heavily damaged by the disrup- totally financed. The project team is still the concept of sustainability, with a quired to ensure a proper quality of life the resident tourists. The second one, pality of Turin, exploring alternatives for tive flood in October 2011, revealing the working on the executive design, in col- specific concern on the necessity of for all the world population. instead, was an online questionnaire the replication of the project. ineffectiveness of the previous manage- laboration with the Municipality of Ver- a change of the present growth de- A deeper analysis of international ex- sent using social networks to a sam- Lai Lu, focused on the research of the ment strategies. The project consists in nazza and the NPOs SaveVernazza and velopment paradigm towards a more periences showed that, the shrinkage ple composed by people of different existing tools used for population in- a network of smart tools, through which Vernazza Futura, in order to realize the sustainable one. of economic resources leads to the ages and regions, who represent the volvement, evaluating and comparing a system of policies is able to involve the project within summer 2015. The team explored the evolution of the worsening in the safeguard and man- potential tourists for the area. In this alternatives in Henrique’s case studies. whole community (residents and tour- sustainability concept in the last thirty agement of natural resources. The way we discovered the real needs of

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6. Exploring paths: 7. Map of paths chosen by 8. Concept scheme of the 9. Actions and benefits of 10. Actions and benefits of 11. Sketch of totem 12. Visual concept of the “Keep 13. Smartphone 14. Smartphone 15. Smartphone 16. Smartphone sensible points to be the team for the monitoring global system designed by the programs 1 and 2. programs 1 and 2. user interface. calm and participate” program. app: login page. app: list of local app: photo upload. app: list of the monitored. program and totem location. team. agricultural paths. (Corniglia, September business. 8th, 2013. Author: Elena Richermo) by local producers, who would ac- system is oriented to guarantee to the net connection, it allows tourists to novative in terms of relations it creates BIBLIOGRAPHY quire more visibility for their products community useful information in real check the location of the businesses between technologies and communi- [1] Suzanne W. Morse, Smart Com- through the advertisements along the time, to give a space for the promo- participating to the program, discov- ties: a network of smart tools has been munities: How Citizens and Local both the local population and the tour- paths. The second one consists in the tion of local firms and products and to ering the tastings they offer. Eventu- generated by selecting the best com- Leaders Can Use Strategic Thinking ists. One of the main problems which installation of multi-functional totems in show to the users, through some sim- ally, the users can have access to the municative and interactive technolo- to Build a Brighter Future, San Fran- emerged from the analysis concerned strategic places, while the active tour- ple questions, the impact on territory image gallery where the most recent gies, integrating and specifying them cisco: Jossey-Bass, USA, 2004 the monitoring of the territory, and, in ism would favour a low-season volun- of their own life styles, recalling images pictures are posted. Interactive totems to fulfill different needs. The system [2] Public participation laboratory for this particular case, of the trails, be- teering to take charge of the environ- of recent negative events. at the extremities of the paths allow framework may be replicated in vari- development of Vernazza, Vernazza cause they represent a network which mental needs. The second program, “Active Path” tourists’ registration to the program. ous Italian and international contexts: 2015: piano di azioni condivise per connects the different communities of To find the best solution, the team car- (program 2), aims at involving the tour- The third program, “Keep calm and the last part of the project, indeed, ex- il futuro della comunità, Vernazza the Cinque Terre. At the same time, the ried out a multi-criteria decision analy- ists in the monitoring of some of the participate” (program 3), is the com- plores possibilities concerning replica- (SP), Italy, 2012 population has to be directly involved sis using the weighted sum method. At most popular paths, encouraged by pletion of the previous initiatives and tions in territories where a smart and [3] Dan Wang, Sangwon Park, Daniel in the monitoring activity in order to the end, the idea of the totem system a rewarding system (free tastings), deals with the creation of a web por- sustainable tourism could improve the Fesenmaier, An examination of In- feel as an operating part of the com- has reached the highest total perfor- which also works as promotion of tal with a double function: exchanging quality of the environment. Its exten- formation Services and Smartphone munity. Starting from this assumption mance value, especially because it the local farms. Therefore the team data with both the totems and the ap- sion to other realities is also fostered Applications, Track 1, Formal Paper we excluded the possibility of instal- directly involves the population in the created a smartphone application, plication and, simultaneously, creating by the results coming from the feasibil- Conference, Amhrest (MA), USA, lation of a network of sensors which monitoring of the paths. through which the users of the trails a platform through which the citizens ity analysis. The latter highlighted that 2011 could control the state of the slopes. will take photos in significant and deli- can group themselves in web com- the network of smart tools will be self- In fact, in this case people would be GENERATING THE SOLUTION cate points to testify the state of the munities, on the basis of similar pro- sustainable in just three years from completely passive. Therefore, in or- The designed community-based poli- paths. These images will be sent to a files. The aim of web communities is the launch of the project. As far as the der to make them active, we have pro- cies are expressed through three inter- control center and used to plan the in- the crowdsourcing for a sustainable initial project cost is concerned, it has posed three alternatives: the local re- related programs. terventions to perform. Moreover, the future of the territory. Different forms been estimated around 195.000 €. It sponsibility system, the totem system The first program is named “Cinque app supports tourists, driving them of “social volunteering” could be gen- will be totally financed by MIUR and and the active tourism. Terre and memory at hand” (program along the paths through a complete erated from these web communities, it includes material (mainly purchase The first one provides that the control 1). Using multimedia interactive totems list of maps of the hiking paths .Then, as experienced in the previously men- and maintenance of the totems), pro- of the sensitive areas is carried out installed in the center of villages, this even in case of unavailability of inter- tioned case-studies. This project is in- gramming and promotion.

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Co-ME: project 12B Community Mountain Energy

1. The location of the area. Author: Constantin Sandu Task & Skills end the results. Abstract Vittoria Camisassi [architect] han- Constantin Sandu [regional plan- The CO-ME project aims to develop dled with other mates the research ner] carried out demographic analysis an approachable method for involving of the particular context where the of the area and designed a possible people in decision making about natu- fessor and also President of a local and companies, could be successful renewable resources exploitable for team carried on the project and sup- track of the district heating pipeline ral resources management. company named Azienda Naturale in terms of peoples’ willingness and socio-economic development, it is ex- ported the work over district heating and evaluated the social along with the To reach its goal the team has focused Gestalp. The Valle Varaita resulted to global benefit. In conclusion, the fi- periencing shrinkage problems. with some technical aspects related environmental impact. on energy management in small com- be a leader in terms of efforts for en- nal intention of the team would be to The Valle Varaita is characterized by to house heating system. Participated Luca Vanoli [management engi- munities. In particular we concentrat- ergy and food production. Being built make suggestions (as a result of this an alpine landscape, lakes, ancient in Developing the strategy, in the com- neer, team controller] performed the ed on a mountain village in the Valle in Frassino, there is a new cogenera- research) for future projects related to villages, ski slopes and tasty agricul- munity involvement stage and in the preliminary feasibility analysis in or- Varaita (CN, Italy), as an example to tion power plant, for both electricity a sustainable management of natural tural products which makes it a popu- analysis of the results. der to highlight the potential weak develop a feasibility study for natural and thermal energy, fueled by local resources in which a decision making lar tourist destination during summer Sara Scaramellini [energy engineer] points of a district heating plant, de- resources management, taking into biomass (woods scraps) as well as a process should be adopted and trans- months. However it is subjected to evaluated the possibility to exploit the velop the survey for the community consideration decisional strategies wild meat factory. While electricity will formed in relation to a specific context. a complex steady depopulation that biomass source available and in par- involvement suggesting to integrate it made in the contest of local commu- be sent to the national network the continues to the present day due to ticular the chances offered by a co- with common marketing techniques. nity. This case study is an ideal oppor- thermal energy still needs a distribu- UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM a reduction of employment opportu- generative power plant fueled by bio- He helped draw the final report for the tunity to better exploit the vast amount tion project. CO-ME is a project designed to de- nities and a lack of accessibility. For mass. The focus was on the thermal stakeholders with the overall results. of natural resources in the perspective With reference to the new opportuni- velop a community decision making example, from 1981 to 2011 there has energy produced and its exploitation, Mengying Wu [electronic engineer] of a sustainable development of the ties available to the village of Frassino, process method in order to evaluate been a reduction of -5.1% in the over- according to the peculiarities of the examined the state of the art of deci- territory. this project could be seen as a fur- problems and offer the best solution all population and a rise of 4.1% in the application under study. sion making process from a theoreti- The project started with a search for a ther experiment for the valley. The for the community itself. This method over 65’s. Alice Berardo [environmental engi- cal point of view. case study in Italy that could be suit- team set a decision making process has to take into account all socio- In order to tackle these problems, we neer] found the possible stakeholders Luisa Villani [civil engineer] partici- able for the team’s objectives. After which assembled all the stakeholders economic and environmental aspects established a synergy with the CE.RI. and got in touch with them with other pated in meetings with local adminis- getting in touch with the Alpine Space and enhanced the relevant role which of the place in which the project is set GE.FAS (Centro Ricerca Gestione Fau- teammates. Obtained more informa- trators to evaluate a successful strat- Program, we learnt that there are lots should be played by local inhabitants. and includes how different ways of na Selvatica), a university organization, tion about district heating costs and egy and technical data with the aim of policies to preserve, improve and In particular, the marketing technique interaction with local people can influ- which is also focusing on researching evaluated possible solutions from a to increase community involvement develop the alpine valleys and Valle of segmentation was used to get the ence the final solution. The team de- socio economic models that evolve social and environmental point of view. and avoid problems related to the Varaita was already inserted in this best feedback from the community, cided to use as a study area the Valle sustainable development. This organi- Asked directly the survey questions to construction of new heating district in program. The team met Andrea De- showing that a good communica- Varaita (Cuneo, Piedmont), because zation operates in the villages of Fra- involved people and analyzed at the Frassino. matteis, university department pro- tion between citizens, administration even if it has a large range of natural ssino and Sampeyre, in the middle of

142 143 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 Colorado_Community-based policies for natural resource sustainable development

best method to convoke people (inter- net and websites, surveys and meet- ings, house to house visits). Working directly on site allowed CO-ME team to better understand the local reality and slightly change the strategy (from groups to individuals).

Generating a solution 2. 27 Ottobre 2013. Part of the team which 3. 27 Ottobre 2013. The biomass plant that is 4. The layout of the pipes for the district heating Bearing in mind the needs point- 5. The location and the diverse type of users makes the interviews. Author: Vittoria Camisassi being built in the area of Frassino. system. Author: Constantin Sandu ed out in the previous section, the that emerge after the interview. Author: Author: Vittoria Camisassi team’s strategy was devised in order Constantin Sandu to get the best solution. We finally ap- the valley. A result of the findings of ess, in particular the wood fibre, and This step was fundamental because proached the users individually by everyone really appreciated this deci- this organization was the creation of the construction of a district heating it allowed the team to elaborate the home interviews in order to directly sion making method, based on the di- the “Azienda Naturale Gestalp”, which for Frassino. Gestalp’s initial investment, stressing record worries and queries related to rect involvement of users from the be- has started the construction of a co- After team’s brain storming sessions the importance to have enough con- their personal needs, as well as better ginning. Unexpectedly, they showed a 6. Part of the team with the mayor of Frassino generation power plant, for both, elec- and the evaluation of all the ideas with sumers. explain the proposal. First of all, taking real interest about the possibility of the Bernardino Matteodo. Author: Vittoria Camisassi tricity and thermal energy by using Dematteis (Cerigefas president) it was After choosing how to possibly man- into consideration the cautious moun- district heating construction and al- local biomass (woods scraps). While highlighted that district heating could age thermal energy, the next step of tain attitude, the Frassino’s Mayor sent most 60% are interested in a possible electricity will be sent to the national be the best solution also taking into the process was to involve the com- a letter to possible users (around 30), connection to the new heating system, self, but especially to the binomial power network, the excessive thermal account the problem of depopulation munity in order to guarantee its ben- to inform them of the team’s presence others (11%) could do it in the future. Gestalp-citizens, demonstrating that it energy still needs a viable utilization in winter. efit, not only by the chosen solution, in the village. However a relevant amount of worries is worth to carry on a more profound project, which incorporates the local This scheme seemed to be the fa- but also by directly query the local The survey was divided into three main about management and cost-effec- study with professionals. people needs, economic advantages vored one, because it would benefit population on its needs, opinions and parts. The first was an introduction tiveness of this system were recorded, The district heating represents a very as well as environmental preservation. the community with a better heating interests. An appropriate way to com- about the citizen her/himself and her/ underling the importance to commu- good opportunity for the Municipal- Exploring the opportunities system and moreover the fossil en- municate with citizens had to be well his opinion in order to define the group nicate with final users and develop the ity of Frassino to become a competi- Once the assignment had been cho- ergy consumption would be reduced. studied before, exploring the social identity arose from segmentation and project based upon their necessity. tive area (due to the potential of future sen, the team decided to face it with From an economic point of view the context in which the valley is set. to use consequently the specific ap- From the feasibility study the team services and low cost energy) in order a community decision making proc- profits would be shared amongst the The team decided to base its strat- proach. The second section was about proposed three scenarios: the first is to develop new activities and counter ess. The first step was a meeting with community, the administration and the egy on the market segmentation and their actual use of domestic heating to the pessimistic one, in which only the act the problem of depopulation. Of Cerigefas, where it emerged that for company working on it (Azienda Natu- so examined different possibilities and get the state of art of heating manage- 60% would make the connection; the course the direct involvement of citi- the problem concerning thermal en- rale Gestalp). methods of subdivision and commu- ment and sources used. The last one second considers that in the future (in zens played a fundamental role in the ergy management there were some The team got in touch with a company nication taking into account all the was related to the heating district with three years) also the other 11% would; decision making, stressing that suc- solutions which could be taken into which constructs district heating sys- variables that play a role in this social the associated individual costs. the third, most optimistic, where both cessful policies may arise only if there account: the creation of heated green- tems, in order to have more informa- context. The most suitable combina- Finally, 22 out of the 26 house holders would do the connection from the be- is a synergy between the involved houses for agriculture production tion about feasibility and costs keep- tion which emerged was to subdivide (who represent 21 building units) an- ginning. The economic-financial analy- stakeholders. (good for this area with its climate limi- ing in mind the local climate condition citizens into groups by age and social- swered to the survey. sis demonstrated that all the scenarios tations), wood industrialization proc- (mountain valley, lower temperatures). economic status in order to choose the The results highlighted that almost may bring benefit to the company it-

144 145 Project13

BBC-I

Banking Business Customer Internationalization multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 BBC-I_Banking Business Customer Internationalization

BBC-I: PROJECT DESCRIPTION Banking Business Customer Most Small and Medium Enterprises (i.e., SMEs) hardly dare to extend their business abroad alone. In Italy only 7% Internationalization of SMEs operators are active in the international business. They often do not have a dedicated export department, re- 13 sources to analyze in depth the market, they do not speak the language and they are not fully independent in evaluat- ing potential partners. However, a good chance for Italian small companies to overcome the economical crisis started in 2008 and to Principal Academic Tutor Team A Members Team B Members ensure their future growth and development could be to Tania Cerquitelli Stefano Chianese Enrico Buggea concentrate their efforts and resources on expanding their Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Control and Mechanical Engineering, Management Engineering, Politecnico di business abroad. To achieve good results in their export Computer Engineering Politecnico di Torino Milano [team controller] activities SMEs have to penetrate foreign markets rapidly, at Chiara Ferrero Merlino Roberto Castiglione low cost and by maintaining control on core technologies Academic Tutors Industrial Production and Technological Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di and products. At the same time they are forced to adapt Paolo Neirotti Innovation Engineering, Torino product features to requirements and preferences of the Politecnico di Torino - Dept. of Management Politecnico di Torino [team controller] Lorenzo Grosso local customers. Thereby it is possible to identify several and Production Engineering Giuseppe Scapeccia Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di obstacles which companies have to face before affirming Electrical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano Torino [communication coordinator] their position abroad. Entrepreneurs have to find and evalu- Chiara Francalanci Michele Spagnuolo Giacomo Rontini ate potential partners, overcome differences in business Politecnico di Milano - Dept. of Electronics Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Milano Electrical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano cultures which may include language limitations and a lack and Information Irina Zolotukhina Arianna Scolari of knowledge about foreign accounting rules in terms of tax Management Engineering, Management Engineering, lows, banking legislation and so on. External Institutions Politecnico di Milano Politecnico di Milano Traditional services to support SMEs in their market expan- Unicredit Spa sion and internationalization decisions still continue to exist but their value and ability to satisfy companies’ needs is and efficiently support SME companies in easily extending EXTERNAL TUTOR turning to be weaker. To give to SMEs new opportunities their business abroad to: Letizia D’Abbondanza and create a global market, innovative services are needed. Provide a wide range of innovative services, covering at 360 Unicredit Spa To this aim, in the last years a great number of agencies, degrees all the needs of import/export of small companies banks and government bodies enlarge the scope of its (e.g., services for import-export transition, integration with support activities and variety of provided services. banking services, insurance assistance). UniCredit is currently active in supporting SMEs to trade Define innovative interaction models to support companies abroad by means of an Internet—based environment that to engage with a foreign counterpart (e.g., new techniques allow small companies to access a variety of services to for matching and evaluating companies). facilitate their business extension abroad, also leveraging Analyze customizations for specific application domains on the wide customer relationship franchise of UniCredit. (e.g., food and vine, fashion and clothing, interior design, The aim of the project is to propose new ideas to effectively automation and mechanical).

148 149 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 BBC-I_Banking Business Customer Internationalization

free zones; common markets; trade SMEs’ requirements, but they should agreements; etc. The internationaliza- also be implemented on a unique and Online Tool for SMEs tion process requires deep pocket, ex- innovative web portal. project 13A Internationalization Support pertise and knowledge of foreign mar- Project’s main issues and pro- kets, which often represent a major posed solution. challenge –or even a barrier– for small In order to meet the project key ob- and medium enterprises (SMEs). Un- jectives and the stakeholders’ needs, fortunately, Italian SMEs are no excep- four phases were defined: 1.Bench- tion. They often lack dedicated export mark analysis; 2.Needs investigation; departments or resources to analyze 3.Problem solving and model defini- 1. Benchmark Analysis Output: Graphical 2. Benchmark Analysis Output: Provided Task & Skills analysis of benchmarked web-sites, the foreign market in depth; they have tion; 4.Business case. This structure Representation of Provided Services Services Statistics Stefano Chianese: Explored the op- along with all types of visual materials difficulties with foreign languages and was meant to cover the whole cycle portunities of existing social networks – team logotype, charts, and tables. they are not fully independent in evalu- for an idea-generation: from the analy- and studied their integration within He supported the architectural study ating potential partners. sis of the current scenario regarding website. Moreover, the proposed so- the needs which SMEs pursue in their the proposed project solution. He de- of the portal. However, a large number of institutions services fostering SMEs’ internation- lution aims at integrating the existing internationalization process. signed the main frame of the final solu- Irina Zolotukhina: Allowed to en- are ready to provide SMEs with servic- alization, to its validation on the field portal with completely new services Firstly, a Benchmark Analysis was per- tion and analyzed solution compliance large the scope of benchmarking by es aiming at supporting their expansion through interviews; from the creation (e.g. need for permanent personnel formed to analyze best practices and with stakeholders’ needs. introducing Russian internationaliza- decisions and offering a broad knowl- of an evaluation model identifying best abroad) and introduces new interac- experiences within various industries Chiara Ferrero Merlino: team con- tion web-portals into it. Integration of edge to overcome the existing barriers. practices, to the implementation of a tive interfaces for the presentation of that could be overtaken, improved troller. Worked on the assessment the Benchmark results into the needs Government bodies and Chamber of final solution. traditional offline services (e.g. face-to- and applied in other business fields. methodology and on the creation of assessment algorithm. She verified Commerce have traditionally backed Proposed solution: face meetings). The proposed set of The main purpose was to study and a ranking system for a better under- the consistency between busi¬ness enterprises in their internationalization, The suggested solution is an integra- solutions aims at rendering business categorize different internet portals standing of customers’ needs. She and technical aspects of solutions, while the rapid ICT development and tion to the present “UniCredit Interna- abroad easier, safer, more fluid and or websites offering services to steer analyzed stakeholders’ requirements, helping in better shaping the different the massive penetration of the internet tional” website with a set of services less challenging for SMEs, also thanks SMEs’ internationalization. 23 differ- studied the economic sustainability alternatives. are setting major challenges in meet- and add-on tools to answer SMEs’ to warranty of UniCredit, which acts as ent websites were considered, the and designed the architecture of the ing companies’ needs. Technologies needs identified in the first 3 phases of mediator between the two contracting majority of which operating in the EU solution. ABSTRACT are becoming strong tools to support the BBC-I project. SMEs. In conclusion, the suggested (15). Russian internet portals (6), Ca- Giuseppe Scapeccia: Systematiza- The past 30 years gave birth to a SMEs’ internationalization and the in- Advantages: solution brings forward a novel busi- nadian (1) and Chinese (1) ones were tion of benchmarking results – devel- new phase of globalization. National tegration of online social interaction The proposed solution aims at an- ness model for SMEs to approach, es- also studied. Moreover, “Chamber of opment of broad criteria to analyze economies and domestic markets platforms into a unique online platform swering to a call for a novel and social- tablish and maintain successful export Commerce” –a worldwide commu- web-sites, alongside with their in- intertwined intimately with interna- can represent an innovative resource based approach to those traditional relations (e.g. The Export Test and The nity– was taken into account. A com- depth classification. He analyzed con- tional ones through trade, foreign di- for companies’ international growth. services already offered online for the Export-Hub). mon form of evaluation was proposed; troversial aspects of the solution mak- rect investments and short-term flows As a consequence, numerous agen- internationalization of SMEs. The prin- a macro classification of all the offered ing them converge towards a valuable of capital, workers and technology. cies, banks and state institutions are ciples of simplicity and user-friendli- UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM. services and a further sub-division into product for stakeholders. Companies have been overcoming not only focusing on helping SMEs go ness have been pursued in order to The first two phases of the project, also specific activities were performed. The Michele Spagnuolo: Always updated their geographical constraints and online, but they are also working to provide entrepreneurs with a softer referred to as “understanding the main identified macro-areas are: 1. Contact- on recent online tools that helped the exploring global opportunities, also enlarge the scope of their support ac- approach towards the more traditional problem”, were focused on analyzing raising; 2. Hard-skilling the client; 3. team to optimize project workflow and with the political support: establish- tivities. As a matter of fact, the offered services, many of which already avail- the project environment, describing Soft-skilling the client; 4. Distribution; meet important deadlines. Statistical ment of trade and economic unions; services should not only be tailored to able on the “UniCredit International” the state of the art and investigating 5. Further classification, specifying the

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An assessment methodology was then system, such as: assistance in distri- where companies can virtually meet, developed, translating the collected bution and marketing activities; full share best practices and develop a qualitative information into quantita- range of financial and law consultancy; successful strategy to bring their busi- tive data. The results of the interviews insurance and loans. ness abroad (Figure 5). The real inno- were merged together with previous Secondly, examples of best industry vation lies mainly in the Social & User investigations performed by UniCredit practices still resulted in traditional of- Friendly aspect of the portal and in its in 2011, and then integrated with the fline institutions –mainly of government advantageous accessibility through four macro-areas of services identified nature– combining the most request- tablets and smart phones. Each SME by the Benchmark Analysis. An index ed services (Figure 4). This represents will represent a user inside the plat- 3. Assessment Methodology applied of the importance that interviewed a great possibility for the development form, with its own profile, reporting in- 4. Graphical Representation of the services retroactively on the benchmarked websites SMEs gave to a particular service of online platforms, given the pres- formation relative to the company, its available on the portal was also introduced through the entry ence of a vacant niche, but also sets products and a professional timeline “Services Perceived Importance”. The a necessity for SMEs to undergo an with collaboration, successful invest- commercial paradigm of the web-site Needs Investigation offered a better educational and mind-shifting process ments and actions undertaken in for- to export, access to statistical data and its geographical area (Figure 2). In understanding of the most required and move towards digital support. eign markets (Figure 6). and market researches. SMEs will be addition, social platforms which were services among those currently avail- Finally, the paradox of social interac- The profile will be visible to the other also helped in finding and evaluating not directly dedicated to trade activities able online and highlighted new serv- tion needs. On one hand, social-based companies of the network, including their counterparts. A research engine were also analyzed –LinkedIn, Tripad- ices which had not been retrieved in platforms resulted to be of low interest the numerous enterprises with which and an automatic matching system 5. Rendering of the proposed portal visor, Kickstarter– in order to explore the Benchmark Analysis. among entrepreneurs, who declared UniCredit is in contact worldwide. A will suggest the entrepreneur-user a new sources of user-friendly and so- to see no need or practical value in chat integrated with services of on- list of companies that might be com- cial paradigms. The Benchmark Anal- EXPLORING THE OPPORTUNITIES. them. These considerations might line translation will allow entrepreneurs mercially interesting. More traditional ysis highlighted the most diffused and The results of the first two steps of have represented a barrier for the fur- to establish contacts with each other services as consultancy and financial Bibliography successful features and services that the project – Benchmark Analysis and ther development of the online para- without intermediaries. Just like in the products will be also available on the [1] Beckinsale, M., Levy, M. (2004). current internationalization-supporting Needs Investigation – became contro- digm and justified the low diffusion of most common social networks, it will portal. SMEs and internet adoption strat- websites offer and that it would be versially both a source of inspiration for the social concept among the bench- be possible to create groups among UniCredit will act as the administrator egy: Who do SMEs listen to? Pro- worth synthesizing into one unique on- the final solution and also a barrier to marked websites. On the other hand, SMEs, reflecting common areas of of the portal, while consultancy, statis- ceedings of the ECIS 2004, Turku, line platform (Figure 3). meet the stakeholders’ requirements. a wish for social interaction and physi- interest such as export/import activi- tical data and searching engines will (pp. 14–16). Finland, June 2004. Secondly, the Needs Investigation was The two main findings, which then set cal communication as a direct support ties in a certain geographical area or be outsourced. From a feasibility point [2] Colombo, G., Conca, V. (2001). In- performed, in order to explore which the guidelines for the final solution, to the internationalization process was similar commodities sector. Forum, of view, basic services like the creation ternational Acquisitions: The Key to problems SMEs do actually face in were: the effectiveness of traditional revealed, indicating that such features newsletters and dedicated pages will of the profile or the access to statisti- Success in the Experience of Italian their expansion process and which services; best practices and low rank- should be integrated into an online so- publish articles on profitable economi- cal data will be included in the regular companies. SDA BOCCONI, Re- services they judge helpful in over- ing of social-based platforms, which lution. cal initiatives, investments and events, subscription for an enterprise bank ac- search Division Working Paper No. coming such challenges. Teams A are indeed interconnected. reporting references to the profiles of count at UniCredit. Upon payment of 01-43. and B prepared a questionnaire and First of all, it became obvious that GENERATING A SOLUTION. SMEs, distributors and retailers. an additional fee, it will be then pos- [3] Mehrtens, J., Cragg, P. B., Mills, jointly interviewed 75 representatives modern SMEs look for simplicity and Most emphasis was placed in finding The portal will also offer services in or- sible to access further premium serv- A. M., et al. (2001). A model of in- of Italian SMEs who had taken part to do not require highly innovative and an innovative answer to both UniCredit der to increase SMEs’ knowledge and ices. ternet adoption by SMEs. Informa- “Matching 2012”, a fair promoting the complex services. There is still a con- and SMEs’ requirements. The result sensitivity towards export: a market in- tion & Management Journal, 39(3), creation of business networks, which sistent request for basic services for is an online platform conceived as an telligence tool to help entrepreneurs in 165 –176. was held in Milan in November 2012. the establishment of an efficient trade International Network of Enterprises finding the most favourable countries

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researches, directly involving SMEs’ entrepreneurs, emerged the idea of BBC-I: proposing an innovative integrated project 13B and user-centred package of services Banking Business Customer providing information and advisory about business opportunities abroad. Internationalization Entrepreneurs do not have to find services from each agency but servic- es are provided directly through Inter- net and new technologies. The pack- age includes also the organization of 1. Complete assessment methodology. 2. Mapping of the SMEs needs based on the Matching event. Author: Giacomo Rontini, Roberto Castiglione Author: Giacomo Rontini, Roberto Castiglione Task & Skills Abstract virtual fairs that satisfies the need of Arianna Scolari focused on the im- Italian Small and Medium Enterprises physical contact at a limited cost. The plementation of the assessment meth- have a strong presence in the socio- problem of receiving updated informa- nalization process of SMEs and then ian firms abroad since they are incom- profitable for its stakeholders. The pri- odology and on the development of economic context of the country since tion is overcome through a research furthermore the needs and require- plete and not user-centred. The SMEs mary inputs rose from the lack of inte- the final solution. many people are involved, but only centre that collects information and ments of those in the process of inter- needs were classified in four main cat- gration between services offered in the Enrico Buggea worked on the mar- 13% of them are active in the inter- forecasts from traditional channels in- nationalization. The first analysis was egories: contact raising, that means market. It became evident that modern ket analysis, on the creation of the national business. There are numer- tegrating them with those available on carried out by performing a bench- the possibility to come in touch easily Italian SMEs are looking for effective concepts and in the analysis of the ous obstacles they have to face in this social networks, through data mining mark analysis of public agencies and with potential counterparts; hard-skill- and pragmatic services. They want to economic sustainability of the pro- process: absence of dedicated export techniques and information aggre- banks focusing on their potentials and ing the client, related to professional be in the middle of the internationaliza- posed solution. departments; inadequate resources gators. The research and consulting effectiveness but also on their draw- knowledge and tools allowing the firm tion process and need to be conduct- Roberto Castiglione focused on the to analyse the market and evaluate services are available both with tra- backs and lacks. Existing agencies of- to work within its core business; soft- ed all along this tough path. Moreover collection and mapping of the SMEs potential partners; inadequate for- ditional methods and via web-based fer market statistics and information on skilling the client, connected to social, to build business strategy abroad the needs, on the implementation of the eign language skills. To be success- and smart channels: the entrepreneur other counties, legal support, financial communication and self-management information knowledge is fundamen- assessment methodology. ful exporters SMEs have to penetrate may be connected from any location services and insurances, but most of behaviours; distribution, concerning tal. Italian SMEs need a deep insight Lorenzo Grosso worked on the defi- foreign markets rapidly, at low cost, and ask operators for information and them act as intermediaries with com- marketing and logistics. on the economic environment, fiscal nition of a methodology to select the keeping control on core technologies advice on specific requests. plex and time wasting procedures. conditions, regulatory constraints and proposed solution and took part in the and products, while adapting product Understanding the problem The second analysis required a direct Exploring opportunities business opportunities abroad. These organization of conferences and meet- features to local customer require- The preliminary part of project required contact with Italian SMEs to assess The analysis of the market and the services are already offered by other ings. ments and preferences. The process a deep investigation on the context the effectiveness of existing services classification of stakeholders’ needs Italian institutions but entrepreneurs Giacomo Rontini worked on the of internationalization requires exper- where several stakeholders were in- and discover SMEs needs. This was were the starting point to design new do not perceive these information as state of the Art, on the collection and tise and resources mainly in terms of volved. Taking into account the com- realised through the participation to solutions. The aim of the project was up-to-date and user-friendly with the mapping of the SMEs needs, on the investments and knowledge of the for- plexity given by economic, technic and “Matching 2012”, an event in which it to find innovative services to combine effect of losing a lot of opportuni- implementation of the assessment eign markets, which are usually limited social aspects, the multidisciplinary was possible to interview directly Ital- with Uncredit International, which is a ties abroad. Furthermore customized methodology. in case of SMEs. So they need to be approach in this field of research al- ian entrepreneurs and following-up package of services offered to SMEs communication and distribution chan- supported in their expansion abroad. lowed to solve most of the difficulties. activities with specialists and those to help them in expanding business nels and tailored support are the pri- Traditional agencies like banks and At first, the team performed an analysis entrepreneurs. The main finding was abroad. The most attractive ideas have mary declinations of the generic need public entities provide lots of serv- of the current scenario to understand that traditional services are not able been selected in order to accomplish a of “physical contact” expressed by ices for SMEs but there is still room the role of traditional agencies and ex- to help globally the expansion of Ital- unique product customer-oriented and SMEs. Nevertheless many companies for improvement. After in-depth field isting services in facilitating the inter-

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3. Traditional agencies rank on the base of 5. The relation between Unicredit International 6. Screen shot smart app. Author: Giacomo Rontini, Enrico Buggea the fulfillment of the needs expressed in the and 4ACO company 7. Keywords of the final solution: Matching Event. Author: Giacomo Rontini, internationalization services offered by 4ACO. Roberto Castiglione Author: Giacomo Rontini, Enrico Buggea allows clients to select the country face all the problems related to the puters; the Italian exhibitors can rent 4. QFD method. Author: Enrico Buggea, Arianna and the industry concerned, the area expansion process. The innovation virtual booths with content including still perceive the huge investments in Scolari, Lorenzo Grosso, Roberto Castiglione of interest and find lots of reports of 4Aco resides not only in the serv- videos and downloadable brochures terms of competences, management about the selected combination. The ices provided but also in the chan- and also have the opportunity to and marketing activities as the highest innovative part of this solution con- nels used to deliver these services. In share and exchange business cards, barrier to overcome before satisfying sists in the combined usage of tra- particular, the research and the advi- chat with visitors and start a Skype this need. Social network and virtuali- of stakeholders’ requirements. A ditional and new sources of informa- sory services are offered with tradi- conversation with future clients. zation are great opportunities to solve multi-criteria decision tool helped in tion: the search and forecast about tional and innovative methods. The this problem at a lower cost. Thanks the selection of the optimal concept politics, economics, risks, regula- main innovative channel is the 4Aco to the advent of the latest generation consisting in a package of innovative tions and business are made mainly SmartApp. Clients are informed with technologies, smart client applications services called 4Aco that is integrat- through database analysis while the alerts when a new business oppor- have been a natural evolution from the ed with Unicredit International and market information research, that tunity matching with their business traditional architectures. The team en- tries to exploit most of the opportu- includes analysis and forecasting of profile is available and then they can hanced these opportunities by creat- nities left in the market. In particular, market/product trends, consumers’ access to any kind of report they Bibliography ing new services and communication 4Aco consists of two main services: preferences and competitors’ po- need to evaluate that business op- [1] Cedrola E., Battaglia L, Tzannis A. 8. Screen shot virtual fair. Author: Enrico Buggea channels, of which the main reachable Research Centre and Virtual Fairs sitions, is performed both through portunity. A personalised virtual con- (2009). The Italian SMEs in the Inter- benefits are rapidity, efficiency and organization. 4Aco Research Centre traditional methods (web searches, sultancy can be also offered through national context. A model to succe- cost cutting in a global network. provides Italian SMEs with deep in- online questionnaires, customer the SmartApp. Moreover, from this ed in the global arena. Università di sights about how tomorrow will differ feedback forms) and by inferring app, it is possible also the access to Macerata, Italy. Generating a solution from today in the international con- data widespread in social network the financial and insurance services [2] Von Hippel E. (1988). The sources The team, after more than one year text and from such insights comes through clustering algorithms and offered by Unicredit. The other main of innovation. Oxford, Oxford Univer- of team working, performed brain- opportunity. It offers reliable and up- association rules. The Research innovative service of the 4Aco pack- sity Press. storming sessions according to its to-date information about business Centre is also integrated with a stra- age is the Virtual Fairs organization. [3] Li Q., Wang J., Chen Y., Lin Z. members’ skills and characteristics opportunities abroad for each coun- tegic advisory team that, using the It involves the foreign counterparts (2010). User comments for news in order to generate different solu- try and each industry. Working as an information gathered during the re- giving them the possibility to con- recommendation in forum-based 9. Team composition Team B. Author: Enrico Buggea, Roberto Castiglione, Lorenzo Grosso, tions that could fulfill the wide range integrator of information, the service search activities, helps Italian SMEs nect and visit booths from their com- social media. Information Sciences. Giacomo Rontini, Arianna Scolar

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The educational path, promoted by both Politecnici, is di- Moreover, foreign graduates with a first-level degree shorter? Is the job placement permanent in terms vided into courses and projects whose substantial purpose from foreign schools may be provided with a scholar- of contract and/or is it more qualified from a profes- is also aimed at revealing the “polytechnic culture” that ship, while those who have a three-year degree from Ital- sional point of view? Or, do you believe that the dis- An evaluative reflection unites graduates of different disciplines: ian universities may be offered a one-off contribution. tinctive skills acquired compared to colleagues who did not attend the ASP are seen in the medium to on the effectiveness and a. The ASP courses, aimed at developing interdisciplinary In 2013, a seventh round of graduates has been complet- long term (beyond 10 years after the path) and that, skills, have the specific objective of creating the basis for ed and a ninth round has started. From 2005 to present, added value of the path therefore, the influence needs to be verified by assess- promoting and implementing innovation in its diverse as- there have been 818 ASP graduates, of these 101 are ing the career path in time? Can a potential gender Assessment report pects. These are intensive courses, Summer, Spring and foreign, 524 are male and 292 are female students. impact be seen (female presence is about one-third)? Winter School. The courses last one week each, use non- To develop the community experience that started dur- traditional teaching methods and are based on time for 3. Compared to a general objective to increase human ing the first ASP cycle, in 2007 the ASP Alumni Asso- reflection and discussion in restricted teams; capital quality in the country has the opportunity to ciation was founded with the purpose to create a stable attend a school of excellence help limit the “brain b. The ASP projects proposed by academic tutors and/or by network of contacts among graduates and to offer sup- migration” phenomenon? Has it been able to at- external organizations (businesses and public institutions), port to students of future ASP cycles. tract talent from other countries? INTRODUCTION are provided by multi-disciplinary and highly heterogene- At the end of the seventh cycle of activity, it seems rele- ous teams that come from different faculties/graduate 4. What effects does the active presence of a graduate The Alta Scuola Politecnica was founded in 2004 as an ini- vant to answer some questions to evaluate the effective- courses from both Politecnici. These projects enables stu- association (ASP Alumni Association) have from a tiative of excellency promoted by the Politecnico di Milano ness and added value of the ASP path, through a pre- dents to experiment with complex situations and to meas- new students point of view (peer comparison, abil- (PoliMi) and the Politecnico di Torino (PoliTo), and proposes dominantly qualitative approach that enables to interact ure their measure their skills and competencies in plan- ity to rely on a network once the path is completed, a path parallel to that of the two-year master’s degree. At with the various stakeholders who have experienced and ning, problem settings and problem solving, teamwork as etc.) and from an individual professional career the end of the two years, the graduate will obtain an ASP are experiencing this venture, in order to understand the well as multicultural and multidisciplinary interaction. point of view? (For example, having an international Degree as well as a double degree from the Politecnico di elements that make “the difference” and “the effects” of network of former classmates makes it easier to work Milano e Torino. In particular, the courses and projects aspire to give a this difference clear: abroad or have a career in a more international com- method with which they can thoroughly face complex prob- Aimed at talented and international young people, the ASP 1. What are the distinctive features of the ASP path pany, etc.). lems (problem setting, stakeholder analysis) with creativity places particular emphasis on the multidisciplinary ap- compared to the Masters degrees path of the two Po- (definition of concepts by exploring available technological 5. In relation to reference professional figures (Engi- proach as a core and distinctive concept to promote and litecnici? In addition to strengthening the multidisci- solutions) and concreteness (technical, industrial and so- neers, Architects, Designers, etc.), do job placements implement innovation in the fields of engineering, architec- plinary approach and orientation to innovation cial feasibility assessment). This method shapes the mind, show different outcomes that could be attributed ture and design. (explicit objectives of the ASP), are there are other which can be defined as “polytechnic culture” (or even, de- to attending the ASP? For example, is there a greater features that enable to acquire additional skills com- Out of the 150 students admitted each year (90 candidates sign thinking or methodological design). proportion of graduates who choose an academic pared to colleagues attending the two-year masters? for the PoliMi master’s degree and 60 for the PoliTo mas- career rather than a professional career different The students can use all the services that both Politecnici For example, do the teaching methods used enable ter’s degree), approximately 25% of these are foreign stu- than the career of reference? Are there differences offer the students as well as a series of economic advan- to better develop the analytical skills and dialogue dents. The selection procedure gives particular importance in the type of companies that the students work in tages such as: reflection? Or the ability to work in a team? Or the to the previous university career of the first degree (60% of (larger, more international, etc.)? Are there different ability to relate with approaches and colleagues ASP students graduated with honours), motivation and the effects in the three disciplines (Architecture, Engi- ■■ Exemption from payment of ASP tuition fees; who belong to different cultures? interest that the student shows for innovation and a multi- neering, Design)? disciplinary approach, as well as knowledge of English. ■■ Availability of a budget for the conduct of multi-discipli- 2. Given these distinctive features, what is the added 6. Are the effects visible in terms of innovation in the nary projects; value? What are the expected results and those The ASP has adopted English as its official language for three fields of Engineering, Architecture and Design? actually detected today by participants? For ex- educational activities as well as for internal and external ■■ Free hospitality and transfers during the Summer and What are these innovations? Are there differences in ample, is the transition path to the job market communications. Winter school. the students coming from the two Politecnici?

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It is important to remember that attending a school of ex- order to: ■■ Phase 3 - The graduates sociation), an attempt was made to interview as many cellence and being together with people who have the Objective graduates as possible with a census-type logic (also • Share the evaluation questions and the investigation common trait of being distinctively “better” (objective data) The objective of this phase was to reconstruct the transi- through the use of Facebook and the ASP and Asso- process; and more “motivated” (largely subjective data: motivated to tion to the job market or other educational path from the ciation mailing lists). This questionnaire, the results of study more? further career advancement? etc.). Compared • Define the set of results and the smile level (in respect of time of graduation to now of all young people who gradu- which have been processed and presented through a to those who are “out there” having a psychological effect these results the satisfaction level, or the expected posi- ated when the work started. set of indicators replicated over time, returns informa- that certainly effects no only the path and university pe- tive results, is achieved); The assessment activity highlighted some temporal data tion related to the entire transition process and informa- riod, but also the presentation to the job market and the • Possible strengths and weaknesses. regarding the occupational and/or training status of the tion related to the career of the first graduates (2007) professional choices made. In other words, there is an ele- graduate that was considered relevant for the transi- of the ASP, therefore, a time lapse of 6 years, which is ment that we might loosely define as strictly psychological Methods and instruments tion analysis activities and which enabled a comparative certainly enough time to establish a stable professional (perceptual) that is important to understand in order to un- 8 face to face and telephone semi-structured interviews analysis in relation to the outcomes of other training pro- status. Given the importance of the instrument in the derstand the extent attitudes and choices are influenced. were carried out with 6 professors and 2 tutors (from grams (3 months after graduation/6 months/12 months, economy of the investigation, the draft questionnaire In fact, concrete results do not necessarily and essentially both the PoliMi and the PoliTO), who were identified with for people who graduated several years ago the status was discussed with the Client and with the ASP Alumni determine the efficacy and added value of this type of path. the help of the Client. The interviews were differentiated was detected by adding 6 months stock up to the date of Association, in order to make it as comprehensive and the interview). representative of the companies surveyed as much as This report tries to point out and consolidates the two dif- in order to involve both witnesses who contributed to the In addition to reconstructing the transition to work or fur- possible; ferent levels that we assumed would emerge in the various emergence of the ASP, and witnesses who undertook their ther training programs after graduation process, particu- dimensions, or rather, perception (image and representa- partnership with ASP more recently. As well as professors • A focus group created at the ASP Foundation with 8 lar attention was given to the assessment of the effective tion) and the extent of the actual results (actual employ- coming from the three different disciplines. alumni who were strongly involved in the Alumni Asso- development of additional skills compared to traditional ment/training status). ciation (members of the Board, organizers of initiatives ■■ Phase 2 - The companies path (multi-disciplinarity, multiculturalism, innovation, involved in the courses as a mentor, etc.). Objective team experiences, etc.) and the influence of the network- METHOD The purpose of this work phase was to reconstruct: ing activities that accompanies the graduates through the The evaluation process was divided into work phases Association. ■■ Phase 4 - Assessment report aimed at internalising the different viewpoints of the main • The reasons/expectations underlying the collaboration The investigations were carried out in close collaboration This Assessment report was drafted based on the work stakeholders who, for various reasons, are/were involved (sponsorships, recruitment of graduates, participation in with the ASP Alumni Association, which has helped to phases. The Work group will be available to explain and in this training experience (instructors and company rep- projects); support not only the organization but also the content of circulate the assessment results in a way deemed suit- resentatives). As for the students, the choice, which was • The assessments of the skills of the graduates included, the questionnaire used. able. shared with the Client, was to focus attention on those who generally, and compared to traditional graduates; have already completed the path and have, therefore, been Methods and instruments THE VIEW POINT OF THE STAKEHOLDERS • Possible strengths and weaknesses. able to effectively ascertain the effects of the ASP path. Two assessment plans were used for this phase: 1. THE INSTRUCTORS These phases had a temporal sequence. The results of the Methods and instruments • A structured questionnaire given via the Internet, in Ital- The interviews with 9 teachers (coordinators of courses, different assessment plans have been reassembled and 9 face to face and telephone semi-structures interviews ian (https://it.surveymonkey.com/s/Italian_ASPers) and project tutors and teachers) from the two Politecnici offer presented in this report. were carried out with 9 companies, which were identi- in English (https://it.surveymonkey.com/s/English_AS- fied with the help of the Client. 1) Sponsor companies, 2) a more complex and differentiated view than those that ■ Phase 1 - The instructors Pers), divided into useful sections to respond to the as- ■ emerged from the discussion with companies and gradu- Objective who recruited graduates, 3) companies involved in ASP sessment questions developed in the first two phases. ates, but they basically converged. This articulation is main- The objective of this work was to reconstruct the percep- projects were interviewed in order to have a differentiated Starting from the ASP Alumni Association members ly determined by the respondents’ “ASP experience” level tions regarding the distinctive features of the ASP path situation compared to the various relationships with the (currently, about 700 graduates in approximately 20 (some respondents continuously collaborated and other in its two different expressions (courses and projects) in companies and with relation to the insertion of the three countries, 50% of which formally enrolled in the As- different graduate profiles. had a more intermittent collaboration). However, it also has

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to do with being a member (of having been a member) of the as interdisciplinarity but is currently, and more correctly, de- course, you are told that these are the best students from 1.3 Appeal and excellence Board. In deed, this position enables to have a more global fined as multidisciplinarity. both Politecnici. So, you prepare a course for your best The trainers interviewed have a substantially positive opinion and updated view of the current status of the ASP. We will students and try to create a multidisciplinary program, but In essence, the idea was to create an educational path that that is convergent with the type of students selected to attend return to this aspect in our conclusions. In this section, we you turn to people who are specialized in your field. But, the was not specialized in any of the three fields, but was not the ASP and in relation to the quality and effectiveness of the want to give a summary of the positions that emerged from audience has a very diverse background. We must learn to typical and integrative of traditional skills. In this logic, multi- selection system. Students defined as “of excellence” on the shared visions and by going over the main questions change the way we teach. We need to invent the didactics. disciplinarity was not a goal, but a useful tool to achieve the curricular, motivational and potentiality level. According that guided the assessment activities and final thoughts. Something is being done along these lines (e.g. working the purposes of having an integrative and transversal path to some, these students need to be offered services and groups instead of lectures), but it is all linked to the initiative compared degree paths. “conditions” of excellence, and abandon the “pauperism of individual teachers not the distinctive character of the 1.1 The mission of the ASP and disgracefulness” that has been gradually established in As already mentioned, this view is substantially shared, School”. recent years by chipping away the students’ perception of In general, the respondents seem to share the idea that but it is interesting to observe how each of the interviewed “being part of a privileged path” and though this decreasing the “reason” underlying the ASP experience is that of want- teachers offer “his/her personal point of view” and not This position, which is shared by some of the respondents, their level of motivation. According to some, maintaining the ing to create an opportunity for the best students of the knowledge transmitted by the organization, despite the fact could also be affected by, as we mentioned earlier, the dif- exclusivity of the path is an essential condition for the success two Politecnici and to give them the opportunity to experi- that, over the years, there have been some events aimed at ferent level of the “ASP experience” in addition to the differ- of the ASP.1 ment with “something” that is different from the normal uni- socializing, spirit, mission, teaching methods and a peda- ent “levels of participation” in the initiatives that the School versity path. According to some, without giving the ASP gogical approach that were more consistent with the pur- has in place to try to socialize the pedagogical approaches a particular mission or a particular identity and finalization poses of the ASP. and teaching methods as much as possible. However, from 1.4 Internationalization of the path (even if, in truth, it is, there was a clear and implicit idea that the interviews it is clear also that this could also be attrib- it was to form different professionals, more “holistic” and uted to a lack of communication on the part of those who Again, in relation this aspect, the respondents show a dif- without those professional barriers that characterized and 1.2 The educational path work daily to improve and refine the training offer. We will ferent degree of knowledge regarding the recruitment sys- tem. According to some, much of it is left to chance in the characterize the traditional profiles of Engineers, Architects There is a somewhat shared opinion that the ASP offers return to this aspect in the final comments. and Designers). However, for others the mission was en- sense that there is not a structured system of external re- students a very interesting path based on the size of the However, according to others this problem is not as signifi- tirely clear even if the path and methods for implementing lations for which foreign students coming to the ASP are “community” instead of the multidisciplinarity. Through the cant. The “ASP methods” are additional and complemen- it were brought into focus progressively (e.g. motivational the result of individual and somewhat random choices. In ASP, students are not given a training aimed at reinforc- tary, and do not change or create new professional sets. It interviewing for admission that certainly represents a key truth, the applications of foreign students are filtered by the ing “vertical specialization”, but they are given an education was simply stated “we have tried to give something extra moment for clarifying those distinctive and founding fea- Internationalization Offices of the Universities. The names that is more complex, transversal and more articulate. to the best student to prevent them from leaving”. Moreo- tures of the School that were introduced only a few years provided (approximately 10% of applications) are selected ver, according to these other respondents, over the years after the foundation of the ASP). The socializing element, the belonging to a community through subsequent interviews. the teachers who managed the ASP have constantly moni- of peers, is among the most interesting elements of the A respondent affirms that “developing transversal skills” tored and raised the bar (especially in courses, rather than According to some of the trainers interviewed, in the begin- ASP, together with the opportunity to work with a real client was the mandate on which the ASP began to work and this projects) in order to create a high quality path. ning, they stated that they imagined the ASP could become (through projects), which is considered quite rare in regular meant deciding what were the soft skills of the Engineers, a centre of attraction for the Master Program of the Politec- university courses. It is interesting to note how this position In summary, according to some, the ASP serves to “keep” Architects and Designers. This respondent said, “we fo- nici, but this has been minimal. The ASP does not have is not only sustained, as we will see later, by former stu- some good students in school and to add some elements cused on the design capacity” and, with respect to this, we the ability to change the choices made by master’s degree dents but is also recognized by the interviewed instructors of innovation in their educational path. It does not serve to have tried to understand what skills were to be developed. students because it offers only 30 credits in two years. The who see the “community” as an essential instrument for attract new students and to train new professionals. For financial incentive has a greater role in the ability to change Therefore, according to the respondents’ opinion of this consolidating the multidisciplinary approach. others, however, the transversal skills acquired are useful to choices, especially those of foreign students and, for this initial input, over time the ASP has defined a training offer train non-traditional professionals with good problem set- reason; the selection process for these students was and that offers basic social and economic preparation, a strong However, according to some, from a training point of view, ting skills, which are even higher than the problem solving focus on the management of innovation and design proc- the teaching dimension should still be improved. A re- skills. These skills are very appealing to the companies. 1 In this respect see the part of paragraph 3.2 relative to the reasons esses and attention to something that was initially defined spondent states, “when you are asked to teach an ASP that graduates have to enrol in the ASP.

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is more severe. However, it is stated the amount given to However, some of the respondents believe that “more at- straints. “It was a pilot experience with few tensions and to attract new students, it should be structured internally. them should be maintained in order to guarantee the in- tention” should be paid to the future of the graduates. The conflicts and with a great ability to interact with staff and What is needed to attract an engineer is different that that ternational nature of the School. For this reason, foreign transition path is not followed and, basically, nobody knows different cultures. It worked fine because it does not belong needed to attract an architect, and so on”. students should be better supported, particularly in the uni- much about what actually happens, however there are no to the game of power, discussions and professional identi- Other respondents, however, argue that, from the point of versity path, even before the ASP path. placement problems. In truth, during the path, students ties. However, this strength is currently a limit because the view of content, there could be a “lighter” path for students, come into contact with companies through projects and ASP counts for little”. According to some, it is for this rea- This last point is widely shared among the respondents. but it needs to be kept high and needs to maintain its obvi- through meetings with a more informative purpose and son that the articulated strategy of the two centres should It is said that there is awareness of this problem, but it is ous element of exclusivity. with mutual knowledge, but, in fact, as we shall see in the be reintroduced. not easy to solve due to cultural reasons (for example, the chapter on graduates, the data on placements gathered by There is a shared opinion that the multidisciplinary project is foreign students have little understanding of the “rejection Apart from these positions, a point shared by everyone the Politecnico do not keep in mind ASP attendance and it the major innovation introduced by the ASP path (especially of the grade”, necessary when the constraint of a “27” av- is that the relations between the ASP colleagues and be- is difficult to obtain differentiated information compared to for Engineers) and, therefore, ways to further enhance this erage is not satisfied), and due to the basic preparation re- tween the ASP and the two Politecnici, and also between regular graduates unless ad hoc surveys are carried out. part of the educational path need to be identified. Regarding ceived in the various countries of origin. the PoliMi and PoliTo should be consolidated. According the issue of links and connections among the courses and However, according to other respondents, the ASP path is to some of the respondents, these relations had some in- projects, the respondents have different options, probably very effective since it accelerates the career process. This tensity at the beginning (also with meetings for socializing 1.5 Relationships with companies due to their imperfect knowledge of the overall framework is because the interfacing with “qualified diversities” that innovative teaching methods and instruments), but they that characterizes the ASP training offer. In other words, According to some, companies are mainly interested in the are being trained in a special and protected environment have weakened over the years. In particular, the exchange this connection between courses and projects is one of the ASP because “they trust in the School’s selection process”. such as the ASP is highly anticipated. between the teachers who rune the ASP and those who main points on which the school has invested and has pro- In general, however, there is a shared view that this dimen- are responsible for a part of the path should be strength- Even the highest percentage of doctorates generated by duced a gradual and steady improvement over the years. sion of the relationship with companies is underrated and ened in order to develop a consolidated set (or, a set used the ASP (see the chapter on graduates) is judged in differ- However, this improvement is not a heritage known to all underused by the ASP, even because of the low ability to by everyone) of methods, instruments and contents that ently. According to some, this is quite justifiable (although those who have a less intense relationship with the ASP (or relate with these companies. It is said that the main problem are different from those used in normal paths. Because, it should not be considered an added value) since the ASP rather, who are not board members or who have not col- is to translate the needs of companies (that are always too it is not sufficient to make the lessons more complicated. has a concentration of top students. According to others, laborated in the last few years). specific or too vague) into projects that may have an educa- They need to be “different”, otherwise some students will the output is not desirable for a school of excellence that tional value. follow and other not given the diversity of the profiles in the The positions on the possible evolutions of the ASP are should have a privileged partner in the companies. On this classroom. articulated. On the one hand, it is claimed that these dis- Moreover, it is also believed that it would be useful to count aspect, there is a certain degree of difference between the tinctive skills that the ASP provides should become a “little on stronger private funding, not only for economic reasons two Politecnici. While, for the PoliMi this opportunity imme- In addition, it is believed that the ASP diploma must acquire more curricular”. Also because it is difficult that a course but also for reasons of greater finalization of the ASP mission. diately proved to be an output that was not fully consistent, greater reputation (especially international), otherwise it is this short, even if it is intense and accompanied by residen- for the Politecnico di Torino, it seems that the doctorate not recognized as a distinctive element of the two Politec- tial experience, could substantially modify the profile of a represents one of the career opportunities. However, eve- nici. However, this situation also depends on the fact that 1.6 Expected Results and occupational outcomes person. On the other hand, other respondents insist, how- ryone agrees that it has never been a specific and explicit the ASP does not have a particular legitimation within the Thanks to the proposed approach, ASP graduates have ever, on the need for the ASP to maintain its exclusivity that objective of the ASP. two Politecnici and does not have an institutional role. access to unconventional career paths: for example, entre- gives it its feature of “excellence”. preneurial, managerial or focused on integrated design. For If, in its initial reason, the ASP was intended to retain good years, opportunities in multinational consulting companies students in the two Politecnici, currently, according to some 1.7 Elements of the path’s efficiency that need 2. THE COMPANIES have been considered one of the major and successful out- improvement respondents, the main problem is attracting new students. puts. Then there are the fields of engineering and a small However, to do this, the ASP needs to use new strategies 2.1 The contribution and rationale behind corporate proportion of graduates who have goon to work in the field Despite the articulated positions on the various issues ad- within the University and needs to be heavily modified. It support of research. All of these opportunities are consistent with dressed, the ASP is widely considered to be an important is currently “a light structure (30 credits in two years) that experience, which has enjoyed great freedom and few con- As previously noted, the assessment activities carried out the initial spirit of the ASP works closely with the curricular path. Instead, in order through telephone and face to face interviews, involved 9

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of the companies that contribute, or have contributed in the Among the motivations behind corporate sponsorships, events and other specific initiatives. However, it is difficult to with the students involved regarding the orientation activi- past, to the Alta Scuola Politecnica path. there is, first, the recognition of the high quality of the path, achieve collaboration on projects due to some of the con- ties during the execution phase of the project. the interest in developing innovative projects and the ability sultancy characteristics: strong mobility of staff that would These companies operate in different sectors (It and com- However, if we exclude consulting firms that have a strong to recruit graduates with the best profiles. If the first reason, make it difficult to successfully follow an ASP multidiscipli- munication services, financial activities, business consult- interest in recruiting students, for some of the other com- the quality of the path, is common among all companies nary project with a long duration compared to consulting ing services, construction and manufacturing industries panies surveyed there would be a willingness to develop surveyed regardless of the type of collaboration activated, projects (with a average life of between 3 and 6 months). with a strong differentiation of activity), mostly based in the projects for identifying young people to be hired by the the second and third reasons are, however, closely related These are companies that sponsor the path from its incep- Milan area. company (in recent years some of the companies have to the field in which the company operates. tion, in one case with full continuity, and in another case hired young graduates), but the economic crisis has re- The role of companies within the path differs depending on with a break of a couple of years. For example, the ability to recruit graduates with the best duced, if not zeroed, recruitment, and internal dynamics the type of cooperation that they have chosen to activate profiles is relevant in particular for consulting firms (com- For other corporate sponsors (I) – even in the case of a (such as the mobility of corporate tutors who change role with the ASP, if they participate in the educational path as a pany B and D) that, as a sponsor, may provide a contri- company that was a sponsor in the past (A), and for corpo- or office) do not ensure work placement of the students at sponsor, project tutor or through the recruitment of gradu- bution to support ASP activities, opportunities for the or- rate tutors of projects (C, E, F, G, H), the rationale underly- the end of the path. ates (or through a mix of these roles). ganization of events for the presentation of the company ing support to the path arises mainly from the interest to For almost all companies surveyed, the corporate support In fact, some of the companies surveyed collaborate with or marketing activities aimed at identifying students (mostly develop innovative projects “with the purpose of a specific to the ASP path stems from previous relationships with pro- the ASP in the dual role (e.g., as a sponsor and project tu- engineers) with the right skills and who are interested in the application in the industry, although, in reality, this may not fessors of the Politecnici of Milano and Torino, with which tor or as sponsor and hiring graduates at the end of the world of business consulting. Although company presen- effectively be applied”. they already had project or master forms of collaboration. path), while more than half of the companies surveyed are tation events are organized with the Politecnico and other These are companies that have experience rooted in col- exclusively engaged in corporate tutoring activities in the universities, the difference here is that while the latter are These companies work in different sectors (IT and com- laboration with the academic world, not only with the Po- multidisciplinary projects. The majority of company repre- addressed to thousands of students participating in one munication services, financial activities, construction and litecnici, and who began working after they were invited to sentatives interviewed are currently corporate tutors within of the many business presentations, with the ASP there is manufacturing industries with a strong differentiation of be involved in the project by the teachers. Beyond these the 9th cycle of the ASP, some have, however, experienced the possibility, in addition to the implementation of orien- activity), and they are all interested in the development of relations, it seems that the ASP path was not well known by active and continuous collaboration by participating in the tation during the school (Spring Summer and Winter), to innovative research projects aimed at bringing academia to the corporate world (“I do not know how many in the busi- development of projects, even in previous cycles. directly contact students by organising targeted recruiting industry, convinced that this collaboration will, on the one ness world actually know about the ASP, before starting hand, support the teaching method and, secondly, extend Table 2.1 – Type of collaboration with the ASP our collaboration we did not know about it”). or strengthen relationships between companies and cen- Type of collaboration No. Companies Business Sector Campus tres of higher education. Sponsor Tutor Recruiting 2.2 Distinctive elements of the path 1 A Financial activities Milan X* X As part of the corporate tutoring, the advantage given by 2 B Consulting activities Milan X X the sponsor “status” given to a company who collaborates Among the distinct elements, companies immediately rec- ognize the multidisciplinarity of the path that allows stu- 3 C Manufacturing Forlì X exclusively on projects, this is more nuanced and material- izes, from what emerged from the interviews, into a greater dents to take courses and to consider different aspects 4 D Consulting activities Milan X X influence in the definition of project themes, while there was that go beyond the specific skills of Engineers, Architects 5 E Manufacturing Milan X no evidence of other aspects relevant to the company with and Designers. The main interest, if not the only interest, 6 F Manufacturing Rome X respect to the role of sponsor. of the companies surveyed seems aimed at Engineers of 7 G Construction Milan X X the ASP path who seem to offer opportunities to develop Specifically, the contribution of company tutors within multi- 8 H Manufacturing Milan X transversal skills and prepare well-rounded, more flexible disciplinary projects consists of a connection with teachers and dynamic profiles. In the opinion of those interviewed, 9 I It and communication services Milan X X on issues that are then developed in the projects based facing technological, economic and environmental, etc. Total 4 7 2 on the participation of students. Once the group of 12-13 themes transfers to the disciplines seems to be the element * Corporate Sponsors in the past, but not currently students is created, the tutor periodically holds meetings

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of greater interest that gives added value to the master’s tance; it is considered an added value that enables the ex- correctly, soft skills as personal capacities and features). the Politecnico rather than those from Bocconi Univer- degree course path. change between profiles and cultures, and encourages the sity, and I believe that it is easier to detect the ASP stu- Compared to traditional graduates, ASP students show development of non-specific projects, but complex projects dents”. Another distinct element that emerged in many of the in- great attention to detailed issues, have more of an open in which different approaches and skills come into play. Be- terviews was the selection of students that produces a mind as well as better analytical and problem solving skills. yond the creation of multidisciplinary projects, group work high-profile basin and that allows companies to work on It is expected that the students have better features in terms is also particularly appreciated by consulting firms who see The “doubtful” multidisciplinary projects or to contact better prepared and of soft skills, and this expectation seems to be widely met: it as an opportunity to enhance the interpersonal skills of motivated students for recruitment activities. The compa- For this group of respondents, the profiles of the ASP stu- the students (“the ability to immediately work in a group “In my sector you need to be resourceful, have a certain nies expect that ASP students have a slightly higher level dents less responsive to the needs of companies that, in- allows you to develop the ability to communicate and inter- mental agility, good dynamic characteristics, and these based on the initial selection process that intercepts stu- volved in the projects, expect to meet young people with act with others, something that not all graduates are able are exactly the features of ASP students”. dents with a high average, good knowledge of English and skills superior to those of traditional graduates, especially in to do”), the internationalization of the ASP path is also good motivation, essential for supporting a path that all re- “I find them to be prepared [...] also in terms of relation- light of an environment of excellence in which they develop favoured because it allows students to dialogue with other spondents considered to be very challenging. ships, the ability to introduce themselves and talk about their own training. realities, both on a cultural and a technical level. their experiences, which is something that Italian stu- As has already been pointed out, most of the company “Our expectations were very high because we imagined dents usually lack”. representatives interviewed are involved in developing 2.3 Skills of the students and the needs of the finding young people that were one step ahead since multidisciplinary projects. Therefore, their focus is particu- companies The companies recognize that the students have good abil- they came from a selection from the two Universities larly aimed at the implementation of projects that, in parallel ity to manage workloads, since the ASP educational path, Excellencies. They are well prepared and come from a to teaching, are considered as the element of innovation, In relation to the skills of the students and how they re- in addition to the standard of universities, is particularly good training background, but I did not feel that they albeit with different degrees of opinions, conditioned by the spond to the needs of companies, from the interviews two burdensome in light of the multiple commitments provided. were one step ahead”. main view points emerged, which could be identified as: Some believe that the ASP graduates benefit from a signifi- specific focus of the work done, the company’s expecta- In one case, it was noted that, in the implementation of the 2 “persuaded” and “doubtful”. Among the “persuaded”, cor- cant load of activities in work environments where a good tions regarding the final result of the project and the pres- project, there were expectations to work with students with porate consulting companies play an important role; these dose of “resistance” and a good ability to manage multiple ence of the “right people” in the work group. What emerges special technical skills or special problem solving skills, but is that innovation is not something that is taught, but it de- are the more active companies, among those interviewed, commitments is needed. in terms of hiring. The “doubtful” are some companies of at the moment there seems to be no particular differences pends very much on the people involved and if they have The respondents also assess the linguistic skills as be- with respect to educational collaborative relationships im- good ideas or not. Of course, a multidisciplinary environ- the manufacturing sector that collaborate as corporate tu- tors in multidisciplinary projects. ing mostly above average and are considered important plemented with master’s degree students. ment such as the ASP can give exciting stimulation and for entering the job market, if not essential for working in This opinion was based on a short-term collaboration (at produce results of some value, but by itself is not sufficient business realities (such as corporations) that operate on a the time of the interview the project was not yet in its final to produce innovation (“you’re not innovative just because global scale, and in particular in some sectors, such as that The “persuaded” phase) and so it is important to point out that this could you went to ASP”). of the consulting firm, where the project allocation system The respondents assessed the overall skills of the students change in future months when the team work goes live. In this sense, the group work assumes significant impor- is often done on a global scale. as very good. These respondents acknowledge a good Moreover, the impression of the respondent is that the technical preparation and good ability to work in a team. This group of respondents believe that the profile of the project has a very applicative nature, but that perhaps ex- 2 In relation to the company’s expectations on the projects, two different As previously noted, the selective nature of the path means graduates respond well to the needs of their company, with ceeded this start-up phase does not meet the expecta- approaches were highlighted by the respondents. The first collabo- rates in the multidisciplinary projects more aimed at the production of that ASP profiles are excellent at the beginning (the origins greater belief by those who address the ASP for recruiting tions, there may be opportunities for students to express specific and enforceable contents. In this sense, as will be seen later, of these students is mainly two prestigious universities such activities, who also highlight a good recognition of the pro- their skills by highlighting the potential of a graduate from a the expectations are never satisfied. In the second case, the collabo- as the Politecnico di Milano e Torino) and that, compared to file compared to traditional graduates: highly specialised school. ration is more aimed at collecting general ideas for the company, with a more educational approach towards the students. In this case, the traditional graduates, the articulation of the path, the multi- “It is easier for me to remember ASP students compared It would be appropriate to better meet the needs of com- expectations seem to be more satisfied; however, there is awareness disciplinary nature allow to develop academic and more to the others. I attended the Politecnico and so I have a panies: “creating profiles that are not only academically ex- that the company’s training approach towards the students might be “classic” skills (technical, analytical, logical), and relational more beneficial for everyone (companies and students) if job place- special focus, I find it easier to remember students from cellent, but that are prepared to be equally excellent in the ment could be guaranteed at the end of the ASP path. transversal skills (that some prefer to identify, perhaps more

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area that they will work in, this is what the reference indus- opinion of some of the corporate tutors, there seems to 2.5 Company offers On the other hand, the second group of offers is more try requires and should be the joint goal of a collaboration be a real possibility to hire some profiles that are deemed relevant to the organization of the path, and particularly to At the end of the interviews, company representatives were relationship”. particularly interesting as well as, maybe, different offers in multidisciplinary projects. These proposals arise from some asked to identify possible areas for ASP path improve- terms of project ideas and commitments by companies to difficulties and identify possible solutions. What emerges is that the companies believe that the skills ments in order to respond more adequately to the needs develop more targeted skills when implementing multidis- of students are too theoretical and that, overall, there of companies. Some proposals emerged regarding im- ■■ There was a fairly high turn over in work groups (people ciplinary projects. is a very didactic approach to the implementation of the provements in the placement of students and others going abroad, or people working on their thesis). It takes projects. Moreover, the “time” factor is problematic: the If the ASP profile does not have a preferential outlet with on improving the implementation of multidisciplinary time to amalgamate the group and bring it to a common time that students dedicate to projects is considered insuf- partner companies (for some, as we have seen, it is, or at projects. goal. At this time those available are not always sufficient ficient and too extensive to obtain results, while companies, least, was before the crisis), some respondents believe that to achieve good results. The proposal is to activate a path The first group of offers came from not only companies by contrast, have a diametrically opposite approach, more this is narrower among other companies: “I do not know how to prepare the companies for the projects that allows the interested in recruiting but also from a company convinced applicative and centred on a minimum amount of time. many in the business world actually know about the ASP, company to define the proposal in time. This could hap- that it is essential to support APS student employment, before we started collaborating we did not know about it and pen starting 6 months before the release of the invitations even outside of the nation. we were not able to assess the weight of the path”. in order to perfect it 3 months before and to be ready 2.4 Graduates and the employment market ■■ There should be more work on soft skills as well as tech- right away so that there is enough time to implement For everyone the focus is on Engineers, there is little if no In the opinion of many of the companies, the ASP path nical transversal skills because this could further enrich something concrete (on this issue we should highlight attention on the other professional figures (Architects and allows to get closer to the working world, unlike other de- a profile that is already of high quality. It would be useful that there are constant adjustment and that, therefore, Designers). In the opinion of the companies, the profession- gree courses (through projects and collaborations with the to work on the development of skills that could help to the ASP is fully aware of this problem). al outlet for ASP graduates is non-diversified, but closely companies), and to have a privileged view (participation in establish the best graduates in the job market (ability to linked to the experience of the master’s degree. The multi- ■ A greater balance between teaching activities and presentation of companies as part of the path). speak in public, know how to make offers to companies). ■ disciplinary approach is considered an added value from projects is needed. The students often spend their spare The proposal is to take into account these aspects that However, in most cases, this proximity to the companies which an ASP engineer compared to a traditional engineer time on the projects, very often there is not enough time are very attitudinal during the selection process. that collaborate with the path does not seem to guarantee can benefit the most because it offers a more “all-round” to develop the project, as the company would like. In real employment opportunities for the students, irrespec- profile. Obviously much depends on the personal skills of ■■ The relationship with external companies could be im- many cases, it was necessary to press the ASP tutors to tive of the experiences of some of the sponsors who openly the graduate since the ASP path is not sufficient to ensure proved, in terms of managing students and projects, re- have the work results assigned to the students. Among have recruiting purposes. In the past, some of the compa- successful employment; on the other hand, it is believed lationships with companies and the opportunities for the the various meetings, often 2-3 months pass before busi- nies interviewed had the chance to hire some of the gradu- that much also depends on the ability of the selector to students. The ASP prepares excellent students that, how- nesses have contact with the students. The proposal is to ates after an internship, but currently state that they are not understand that an ASP student can offer better results. ever, the market does not recognize, as it should. This organize the path so that the commitments (didactics and in a condition to offer working opportunities. The possibility would be useful for improving the placement of gradu- projects) of the students are not constantly overlapping. For consulting firms that have the opportunity to select the that some companies could host students for placements ates (which is already fairly good), identify non-traditional The number of months available for the project could be ASP graduates, this added value is visible not only when or internships is still present, but seem mostly to be occa- transition paths and better enhance the distinctive skills reduced and the activities concentrated in order to obtain entering the job market, but also in terms of career devel- sional situations and not structured collaboration between acquired during studies in the ASP path. better results in terms of work continuity and in terms of opment. ASP and businesses. greater applicability (very desirable for some companies). ■■ The path could be more internationalized, also providing “History has taught us that ASP students do not do bet- Therefore, the path does not seem to have particular spe- knowledge on foreign job markets and the differences As in the previous case, this aspect also shows constant ter on average in the selection process or, at least, have cific features in terms of occupational opportunities deriv- that exist between these and the Italian job market. The developing activities. features more in line with what we are looking for (it is not ing from the collaboration between ASP and businesses. proposal is to offer lessons that will guide the students ■ The students have a certain distance from the business said that they are better suited to all realities), but they ■ This could happen if companies were to use this relation- in various career opportunities, giving them a real and world. It has been seen that the approach used to imple- also have a career path, not only entry into the career, ship to recruit people, but, as we have seen, the reasons concrete vision of the possibilities that exist in the world, ment the projects is too theoretic and not applicative; this that is respected”. of most companies are different, especially in light of the and explaining how to prepare and present themselves limitation is considered quite common in Italian universi- difficulties arising from this period of economic crisis. In the abroad. ties. The proposal is to engage students in activities that

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have a more applied nature, not only in terms of projects, Net of graduates of foreign citizenship (assuming that they Table 3.1 – Alumni based on disciplinary area and the University of origin (%) but also more generally within the path. A second propos- have in fact already chosen a foreign path and decided to al emerging from the consideration that there is a signifi- attend the ASP), if we take into consideration the Italian ASP From which Politecnico do you come from? cant gap between students and companies is to organize graduates, more than half of these have had one or more Disciplinary area Politecnico di Milano Politecnico di Torino Total No. more events that remove the students from the academics study experiences abroad during their studies (Erasmus, Engineering 71.8 71.6 71.7 193 (company visits, participation in trade fairs etc.). Athens program, internship or dissertation period abroad, Architecture and planning 19.3 23.9 20.8 56 etc.) and 35% participated in these experiences specifically ■■ Finally, focus was placed on the patenting of ideas that during their ASP studies (see Tab. 3.4). Design 8.8 4.5 7.4 20 may arise during the project. There is not enough clar- Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 269 ity and there are also different rules for patent protection On the contrary, the share of ASP graduates who during the in the two Politecnici that can be very problematic. The last two years of their degree course have carried out work No. 181 88 269 proposal is to define, at the very least, clear regulations to activities probably because of the “double” load of com- refer to if it is not possible to standardize the rules.3 mitments deriving from the contemporary frequency of the Master’s degree lessons and the carrying out of activities offered by the Alta Scuola Politecnica (ASP courses and Table 3.2 – Alumni based on gender, disciplinary area and the University of origin (%) 3. THE GRADUATES projects, seminars, summer schools, etc.): 47.8% of Alumni From which Politecnico do you Gender 3.1 Results of the survey have never worked during the two year period of the mas- Disciplinary area Total No. come from? M F 3.1.1 Features of the Alumni involved in the survey ter’s degree and 39.9% have only carried out occasional or seasonal work, compared to just over 12% who have Engineering 73.8 26.2 100.0 122 Over two-thirds of the respondents are from the Politecnico continuously carried out commitments, which, in more than Architecture and planning 26.5 73.5 100.0 34 di Milanoo and, for both Universities, there was a significant half of the cases, were part time activities (see Tab. 3.5). Politecnico di Milano Design 6.2 93.8 100.0 16 preponderance of Engineers compared to Architecture For the few who worked continuously during the last two Total 58.1 41.9 100.0 172 and Planning graduates and, even more, those of degree years before graduation (around 33 people) it was almost courses in the Design disciplinary area. always activities that were completed prior to ASP gradua- No. 100 72 172 Without particularly significant differences between the two tion (72.7%) or protracted only for the months immediately Engineering 81.7 18.3 100.0 60 Universities, about 60% of the ASP graduates who took following graduation (18.2%); only 3 ASP graduates out of Architecture and planning 15.8 84.2 100.0 19 part in the survey were male (see Table 3.2.), with a quite 33 (less than 10%) still continue to carry out the employ- Politecnico di Torino Design 25.0 75.0 100.0 4 small presence of women among the alumni who have ment that started before graduation from the ASP (1 from Total 63.9 36.1 100.0 83 the V and 2 from the VI cycle, who respectively graduated completed a master’s degree in Engineering and much No. 53 30 83 more consistent for those who have done their studies in in 2010 and 2012). Engineering 76.4 23.6 100.0 182 Design and Architecture and Planning. Therefore, it is possible to assess the job placement prob- Architecture and planning 22.6 77.4 100.0 53 ability and the actual attractiveness of the ASP diploma for Total Design 10.0 90.0 100.0 20 For both the Universities, about 10% of the total involved in the companies, net of distortions related to the maintenance of survey were foreign ASPers, with high levels among Design existing occupations. Total 60.0 40.0 100.0 255 and Architecture and Planning graduates (see Table 3.3). No. 153 102 255

3 the issue has been designed by both Politecnici showing differences * In 14 cases there was no indication of the gender. in the two statues, which complicates the regulation of intellectual property. In the past, the two Politecnici developed a proposal; how- ever, the sponsor companies did not share it since it did not provide for the transfer of intellectual property, but only a priority to the pur- chase.

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Table 3.3 – Alumni based on citizenship, disciplinary area, and the University of origin (%) Table 3.4 – Italian alumni based on disciplinary area and the University of origin and participation in study programs abroad (%)

From which Politecnico do you Citizenship Study programs abroad Disciplinary area Total No. come from? Italian Foreign At lease one From which Politecnico do you No study expe- Engineering 95.4 4.6 100.0 130 ASP cycle study experience Total No. come from? rience abroad Architecture and planning 80.0 20.0 100.0 35 abroad Politecnico di Milano Design 75.0 25.0 100.0 16 I-II-III cycle 62.3 37.7 100.0 53 Total 90.6 9.4 100.0 181 IV-V cycle 32.5 67.5 100.0 40 No. 164 17 181 Politecnico di Milano VI-VII cycle 43.7 56.3 100.0 71 Engineering 92.1 7.9 100.0 63 Total 47.0 53.0 100.0 164 Architecture and planning 95.2 4.8 100.0 21 No. 77 87 164 Politecnico di Torino Design 25.0 75.0 100.0 4 I-II-III cycle 39.1 60.9 100.0 23 Total 89.8 10.2 100.0 88 IV-V cycle 45.2 54.8 100.0 31 No. 79 9 88 Politecnico di Torino VI-VII cycle 48.0 52.0 100.0 25 Engineering 94.3 5.7 100.0 193 Total 44.3 55.7 100.0 79 Architecture and planning 85.7 14.3 100.0 56 No. 35 44 79 Total Design 65.0 35.0 100.0 20 I-II-III cycle 55.3 44.7 100.0 76 Total 90.3 9.7 100.0 269 IV-V cycle 38.0 62.0 100.0 71 No. 243 26 269 Total VI-VII cycle 44.8 55.2 100.0 96 Total 46.1 53.9 100.0 243 Since the participation level observed among graduates No. 112 131 243 was not very high, the survey coverage rate (see Tab. 3.6) does not enable to consider the survey representative from a statistical point of view; however, in our opinion it is inter- esting for the discussion of some issues. On the other hand, the participation level detected is inter- esting if the features of the Alumni involved are analysed on a disaggregated level; in fact, the participation rate is inversely proportional to the time elapsed since graduation with graduates of the VII cycle and ASPers of the V and VI cycle superior to the average. It is also interesting to take not of the higher involvement in females and among Italian graduates compared to foreign graduates.

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Table 3.5 – Alumni who have carried out occupational activities during the degree course by disciplinary area and the University of origin (%) 3.1.2 Transition from the ASP path to employment The number of offers received by VI and VII cycle gradu- Did you carry out working activities during the two years of the master’s degree? ates is lower than those of the Alumni of previous courses In general, ASP graduates seem to elicit good interest From which Yes, I carried out Yes, with Yes, with (see Tab. 3.8). No, I never from the production system. In fact, more than two-thirds Politecnico do Disciplinary area occasional or part-time full-time Total No. worked received job offers after completing their studies. How- Finally, the gender gap is considerable (77.8% of the males you come from? seasonal work continuity continuity ever, there were marked differences based on the degree versus 54.9% of the females received job offers). This is not Engineering 54.3 31.8 7.8 6.2 100.0 129 obtained, with higher appeal among Engineer graduates so much related to the different performance in path, but Architecture and 34.3 60.0 5.7 0.0 100.0 35 (more than 80% received job offers) compared to Archi- rather to the educational choices made ​​upstream, with a Politecnico planning tecture and Planning and Design graduates (approximately much lower proportion of women in the field of Engineering di Milano Design 31.2 43.8 12.5 12.5 100.0 16 one out of three, as is highlighted by Tab. 3.7). compared to those in architecture and design (see Tab. 3.9 ). Total 48.3 38.3 7.8 5.6 100.0 180 No. 87 69 14 10 180 Table 3.7 – Job offers received after ASP graduation based on disciplinary area and University of origin (%) Engineering 47.6 39.7 6.3 6.3 100.0 63 Architecture and 47.6 52.4 0.0 0.0 100.0 21 Job offers received after ASP planning From which Politecnico do you Politecnico Disciplinary area graduation Total No. come from? di Torino Design 25.0 50.0 25.0 0.0 100.0 4 No offers Offers received Total 46.6 43.2 5.7 4.5 100.0 88 Engineering 19,2 80,8 100.0 130 No. 41 38 5 4 88 Architecture and planning 74.3 25.7 100.0 35 Engineering 52.1 34.4 7.3 6.2 100.0 192 Politecnico di Milano Design 62.5 37.5 100.0 16 Architecture and 39.3 57.1 3.6 0.0 100.0 56 Total 33.7 66.3 100.0 181 planning Total No. 61 120 181 Design 30.0 45.0 15.0 10.0 100.0 20 Engineering 17.5 82.5 100.0 63 Total 47.8 39.9 7.1 5.2 100.0 268 Architecture and planning 57.1 42.9 100.0 21 No. 128 107 19 14 268 Politecnico di Torino Design 75.0 25.0 100.0 4 Table 3.6 – Survey coverage rate Total 29.5 70.5 100.0 88 No. 26 62 88 ASP Graduates Graduates who participated in the survey Survey coverage rate Engineering 18.7 81.3 100.0 193 Cycle Italian Iternational Total F M Italian Iternational Total F M N/A Italian Iternational Total F M Architecture and planning 67.9 32.1 100.0 56 I 127 2 129 35 94 13 0 13 8 5 0 10.2 0.0 10.1 22.9 5.3 Total Design 65.0 35.0 100.0 20 II 101 15 116 40 76 29 3 32 20 10 2 28.7 20.0 27.6 50.0 13.2 Total 32.3 67.7 100.0 269 III 98 15 113 40 73 34 1 35 22 12 1 34.7 6.7 31.0 55.0 16.4 No. 87 182 269 IV 99 12 111 36 75 31 3 34 23 9 2 31.3 25.0 30.6 63.9 12.0 V 93 24 117 49 68 40 6 46 26 18 2 43.0 25.0 39.3 53.1 26.5 VI 100 16 116 47 69 42 3 45 27 17 1 42.0 18.8 38.8 57.4 24.6 VII 99 17 116 47 69 54 10 64 27 31 6 54.5 58.8 55.2 57.4 44.9 TOT 717 101 818 294 524 243 26 269 153 102 14 33.9 25.7 32.9 52.0 19.5

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Table 3.8 – Job offers received after ASP graduation based on cycle and University of origin (%) Table 3.9 – Job offers received after ASP graduation based on disciplinary area and gender (%)

Job offers received after ASP graduation Job offers received after ASP graduation From which Politecnico do you From which Politecnico do you ASP cycle Total No. Gender Total No. come from? One or more come from? One or more No offer No offer offers received offers received I-II-III cycle 29.1% 70.9% 100.0% 55 M 16.5 83.5 100.0 139 IV-V cycle 32.6% 67.4% 100.0% 46 F 20.9 79.1 100.0 43 Engineering Politecnico di Milano VI-VII cycle 37.5% 62.5% 100.0% 80 Total 17.6 82.4 100.0 182 Total 33.7% 66.3% 100.0% 181 No. 32 150 182 No. 61 120 181 M 75.0 25.0 100.0 12 I-II-III cycle 24.0% 76.0% 100.0% 25 F 63.4 36.6 100.0 41 IV-V cycle 14.7% 85.3% 100.0% 34 Architecture and planning Total 66.0 34.0 100.0 53 Politecnico di Torino VI-VII cycle 51.7% 48.3% 100.0% 29 Total 29.5% 70.5% 100.0% 88 No. 35 18 53 No. 26 62 88 M 100.0 0.0 100.0 2 I-II-III cycle 27.5% 72.5% 100.0% 80 F 61.1 38.9 100.0 18 Design IV-V cycle 25.0% 75.0% 100.0% 80 Total 65.0 35.0 100.0 20 Total VI-VII cycle 41.3% 58.7% 100.0% 109 No. 13 7 20 Total 32.3% 67.7% 100.0% 269 M 22.2 77.8 100.0 153 No. 87 182 269 F 45.1 54.9 100.0 102 Total Total 31.4 68.6 100.0 255 By analysing in more detail the origin of job offers, even Among the graduates who have received job offers, 16.5% No. 80 175 255 if the highest percentage comes from companies not in- never refused these offers while 83.5% refused the offers. volved in the Alta Scuola Politecnica, approximately 14% Among the reasons for refusal, a prevailing fact is that the of the ASP graduates received job offers from ASP spon- job proposed was not deemed interesting, with a decid- on the one hand there is a positive result since there is a and training) for Engineers (around 90%) compared with sor companies ASP or otherwise companies who were edly marginal assessment of the economic dimension of reduced time lapse (consistent with the offers received), Architects, Planners and Designers (approximately 60%, project partners implemented in the various cycles, and the offer.4 but on the other hand there is also a very strong incli- as shown in Tab. 3.10). this is consistent between the two Politecnici. Even the nation to pursue academic studies that is higher among More than 57% have found employment and another 25% In most cases, those who continue to study continue with graduates who received job offers from universities, insti- graduates of the last few cycles (see graph 3.3). 5 are still studying in comparison with a share of Alumni a PhD program , and the main reason is to further improve tutions, public institutions and professional firms are also seeking employment equal to about 17% within three There is a quite significant difference relative to the differ- backgrounds – increase of skills (28.8%) and increase of significant (more than 20%). months immediately following ASP graduation. Therefore, ent types of Master’s degrees obtained, with much higher professionalism (18.2 %) – compared to about 22% that success rates (employment and reinsertion in education choose to study for reasons related to the employment 4 Among other reasons, there is the fact to have been able to choose other offers deemed better, regardless of whether the offer received 5 On average, 77.3% (81.8% of students from the PoliMi and 68.2% from was not less interesting or poorly remunerated. Moreover, in some the PoliTo) of those who continue studies, there is a much lower aver- cases the ASP graduates refused the offer because they had inten- age of those who continue with master, another specialty or studies tions on working elsewhere (mainly abroad). abroad.

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Graph 3.1 – Job offers received after ASP graduation based on University of origin Graph 3.2 – Job offers received after ASP graduation based on disciplinary area and gender

Total Politecnico di Torino Politecnico di Milano Total Politecnico di Torino Politecnico di Milano

21,6% 17,0% Job offers from other subjects 27,3% Other reasons 12,9% 18,8% 19,2%

48,7% 51,1% Job offers from other companies 51,1% The job offer was not interesting 50,0% 47,5% 51,7%

4,1% Job offers from companies that are partners 3,4% in ASP projects The job offer was not stable enough 4,4%

9,7% 28,0% Job offers from ASP sponsor companies 9,1% The job offer was not sufficiently remunerated 29,0% 9,9% 27,5%

11,5% 16,5% Job offers from Poliplacement 5,7% The graduate did not want to work at that time 12,9% 14,4% 18,3%

0,0% 10,0% 20,0% 30,0% 40,0% 50,0% 60,0% 0,0% 10,0% 20,0% 30,0% 40,0% 50,0% 60,0%

field (especially to secure the best career opportunities) decided to enter the job market (with specular reduction and an approximate 15% that deem continuation of stud- of people seeking employment) and, by contrast, a certain ies as an intermediate step because they want to pursue tendency to return to studying. an academic career. There is a very strong willingness to If we exclude those who have not yet held a job (because continue studies abroad, which is even more pronounced their ASP studies have just ended or because they have among ASP graduates from the Politecnico in Torino (see immediately entered a new study path), the percentage of Tab. 3.11). those who have maintained their first job is quite substantial However, if we analyse the progression of the employment if we exclude graduates of the first three cycles for which status of ASP graduates over time, we see a trend towards many years have lapsed since their graduation from the gradual integration into the job market by those who have Alta Scuola Politecnica.

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Graph 3.3 – Employment conditions right after ASP graduation based on cycle Table 3.10 – Work conditions right after ASP graduation based on disciplinary area and University of origin (%)

Employment conditions right after ASP graduation 100,0% Did not study, Students Employed (all 23,1% 15,6% 17,1% 26,5% 26,1% 33,3% 25,0% 24,5% did not work (including Did not study, From which contractual and was not Still looking Unemployed those enrolled did not work Politecnico Disciplinary forms, for first still looking for in PhD and was not Total No. 90,0% looking for work do you come area including employment employment programs and looking for from? those with VAT scholarship work registration 3,1% holders 80,0% Student Engineering 63.1 7.7 0.8 28.5 0.0 100.0 130 9,4% Architecture and 57.1 22.9 8.6 11.4 0.0 100.0 35 planning 3,3% Politecnico di 2,9% 4,7% 2,2% Milano Design 43.8 18.8 12.5 18.8 6.2 100.0 16 70,0% 17,1% Unemployed 5,9% Total 60.2 11.6 3.3 24.3 0.6 100.0 181 2,2% 14,1% 14,1% No. 109 21 6 44 1 181 17,4% 60,0% Still looking for Engineering 60.3 9.5 3.2 27.0 100.0 63 17,8% first employ- Architecture and 33.3 47.6 4.8 14.3 100.0 21 ment planning Politecnico di 50,0% Torino Design 25.0 25.0 0.0 50.0 100.0 4 Total 52.3 19.3 3.4 25.0 100.0 88 Employed No. 46 17 3 22 88 40,0% Engineering 62.2 8.3 1.6 28.0 0.0 100.0 193 Architecture 48.2 32.1 7.1 12.5 0.0 100.0 56 and planning Total 30,0% Design 40.0 20.0 10.0 25.0 5.0 100.0 20 Total 57.6 14.1 3.3 24.5 0.4 100.0 269 No. 155 38 9 66 1 269 20,0% Table 3.11 – Place of studies right after ASP graduation based on University of origin (%)

10,0% Where were you studying right From which Politecnico do you come from? Total No. 61,5% 71,9% 60,0% 64,7% 52,2% 46,7% 56,3% 57,6% after ASP graduation? Politecnico di Milano Politecnico di Torino 0,0% Politecnico di Milano 63.6 4.5 43.9 29 I Cicle II Cicle III Cicle IV Cicle V Cicle VII Cicle VIII Cicle Total Politecnico di Torino 0.0 27.3 9.1 6 Other Italian university 2.3 13.6 6.1 4 A foreign University 31.8 50.0 37.9 25 Other organization/institution 2.3 4.5 3.0 2 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 66 No. 44 22 66

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Graph 3.4 – ASP graduates employed in the various Graph 3.5 – ASP graduates employed in the various Graph 3.6 – ASP graduates not employed in the various moments based on cycle moments based on cycle moments based on cycle

100,0% Three or more I cycle II cycle III cycle IV cycle I cycle II cycle III cycle IV cycle V cycle VI cycle VII cycle V cycle VI cycle VII cycle 90,0% Two 90 40

80 35 80,0% One 70 30 60 25 70,0% None, I am still 50 working at my 20 first job 40 60,0% 15 30 10 20 50,0% 10 5

0 0 40,0% Right after After 1 year After 3 years After 5 years Right after After 1 year After 3 years After 5 years

30,0%

20,0%

10,0% Once again, the analysis of the motivations shows a certain “strength” of ASP graduates on a whole in the job mar- ket since, in half of the cases, the change of job was the 0,0% result of a choice because in the meantime these gradu- I Cicle II Cicle III Cicle IV Cicle V Cicle VII Cicle VIII Cicle Total ates found a job with more career opportunities (31.1%), better paying (almost 13%) or more coherent job (5.3%) or because the graduate decided to return to school (13.6%), compared with 1 in 4 who had to find work at the end of a fixed term contract.

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3.1.3 The main features of employment right after graduation: against predominantly self-employed Graph 3.7 – Coherency of the work performed right after ASP that the ASP graduates are struggling to express an opin- workers who work as freelancers and consultants, among graduation with an ASP diploma and a master’s degree based on ion on the consistency of employment, not knowing how to A large majority (87.7%) found employment immediately employed workers, more than 13% of the graduates are disciplinary area relate the “additional ASP skills” to the defined professional after ASP graduation, with significantly higher amounts of hired for executive positions, even if the most widely used opportunity. those who entered self-employment among graduates in No Partly Yes qualification is that of high-and medium-skilled people (al- Architecture and Design compared to Engineering gradu- Moreover, as we will see later (Section 3.1.4) the respond- most 40% of employees). with the profile when leaving the master’s degree program ates (see Tab. 3.12 ). ents do not have doubts that these additional skills have The perception of the congruence in employment found actually been achieved. They also do not have doubts The percentage of permanent employment is just over 27% 100,0% right after ASP graduation compared to the skills acquired 90,0% about their choice for a qualified occupation and that they of total employment, compared to just under one-third with as part of the path compared to those acquired with a mas- 80,0% will have better career opportunities in the future. a fixed-term employment contract and lower amounts of 70,0% ter’s degree is of great interest. In fact, in face of a low over- semi-subordinate and atypical employment (18%), and 60,0% all proportion of occupations deemed entirely inconsistent, 50,0% formative contracts (about 10%, to which another 10% of there is a significantly higher sense of coherence compared 40,0% formative experiences in work environments such as intern- to the Master’s degree path. In other terms, it seems more 30,0% ships and work placements, which are often carried out 20,0% difficult for a job to “perfectly” adhere to the skills matured abroad, must be added). 10,0% during the ASP path, which may partly be due to the fact 0,0% However, if the attainment of a more stable position seems that the ASP allows to acquire transversal skills related to Engineering Architecture Design Total and planning to require more time, we also need to point out that in some what has been defined as “polytechnic education” and soft cases positions of some importance have also been offered skills (relational and behavioural transversal skills). with the skills acquired with the ASP diploma

Table 3.12 – Type of work right after ASP graduation based on disciplinary area and University of origin 100,0% 90,0% 80,0% From which What type of work did Disciplinary area 70,0% 60,0% Politecnico do you carry out right after Total No. Architecture and 50,0% you come from? ASP graduation? Engineering Design planning 40,0% 30,0% Employee 96.3 60.0 42.9 86.2 94 20,0% Self-employment 3.7 40.0 57.1 13.8 15 10,0% Politecnico di 0,0% Milano Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 109 Engineering Architecture Design Total No. 82 20 7 109 13.8 and planning Employee 94.7 66.7 100.0 91.1 41 Politecnico di Self-employment 5.3 33.3 0.0 8.9 4 In both cases, these are skills that do not allow to identify Torino Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 45 professional opportunities specific to the ASP diploma if No. 38 6 1 45 8.9 not, maybe, relative to management and strategic consult- ing (as highlighted by the analysis of strong and weak ele- Employee 95.8 61.5 50.0 87.7 135 ments for the ASP path presented below). Without doubt, Self-employment 4.2 38.5 50.0 12.3 19 Total this makes it more complicated for ASPers to reason in Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 154 terms of consistency of the found job with the competenc- No. 120 26 8 154 12,3 es matured during the ASP path. In other words, it seems

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Box 1– Some comparison data Out of the total specialised graduates of 2007, at the “work force” (employed + unemployed and those look- 3.1.4 The distinctive features of the ASP path time of the interview the percentage of those employed ing for their first job), of 93%. While, the ASP graduates In order to better interpret the information collected with re- was equal to 88.3% compared to 5.7% of the subjects of the IV cycle, who completed the path in 2010, at 1 The placement data emerged from the survey shows spect to the transition to employment and employment fea- looking for their first or new employment and 5.5% of year from graduation the percentage of students jumps that it seems interesting to try to contextualize the data tures, we considered it useful to examine the distinguish- the students. When taking into consideration the sole to 35.3% and the occupation rate, calculated according relative to job placement and the training choices of ing features of the ASP path and the added value offered component that really entered the job market, net of the to the same criteria, is equal to 100%. ASP graduates that emerged by referring to all gradu- compared to the master’s program and if there is really a students and inactive subjects, the percentage of em- ates from the Politecnico di Milano. professional file (what it consists of) when graduating from ployed people jumps to 93.9%. The survey data on ASP Finally, we should make a note of the stable employment the ASP. It is important to note that we are not able to make a real graduates from the I cycle (who concluded the path in found: among the specialised/master’s degree gradu- Compared to the reference professional figure of the de- comparison for several reasons: the surveys6 were not 2007) show 73% employed subjects, 3.2% of the sub- ates from the PoliMi, those employed with a permanent gree course (Engineer, Architect, Planner or Designer), always carried out at perfectly equivalent time intervals, jects looking for their first employment and 23.8% stu- contract on the total number of workers employed are about 80% of the students (regardless of relevance to the the number of graduates in Engineering, Architecture dents. Again, in this case, if we remove the amount of 45% among graduates in 2007, 38.8% among those of University of origin, disciplinary area or cycle of reference), and Design compared to the total population of gradu- students and inactive subjects, the employment rate 2008, 42.2% among those of 2009 and 36.4% among it is believed that the ASP has given added value (in terms ates may not be homogeneous in terms of discipline ori- jumps to 95.8%. those of 2010; while the survey of ASP graduates from of different skills). gin of the ASP graduates (with possible consequence in the first three cycles shows that the overall amount of terms of placement) and there are many different “ab- If we take into consideration the total amount of special- those with stable work is equal to 62.9% for graduates of The Alumni see this added value mainly as the acquisition solute numbers” involved (which becomes much more ised/master’s degree graduates from the PoliMi of the the I cycle, to 73.9% for the II cycle, 33.3% among those of transversal skills (the ability to working teams, ability to subsequent year, 2008, 7.2% continues to study (74% of the III cycle, and about 40% among those of the IV significant when referring to all graduates of the Politec- 7 solve and analyse problems, etc.) and in the multidiscipli- nico). However, it is an interesting activity that enables are enrolled in a PhD) and the total number of people cycle. nary approach (respectively 92% and 85% approximately), to confirm some results that emerged from this survey. employed in the labour force is 92% (98% engineers, while only slightly more than half of the graduates believe 88% architects, 91% designers), while among the grad- Therefore, all the methodological limitations already ex- that the ASP offers added value in terms of an international The most “objective” benchmark data seems to be the uates of the II cycle, 32.6% are students, and the em- pressed, the comparison proposed seems to show, on the and innovative focus.8 possible comparison between the survey data and the ployment rate is equal to 96.8%. one hand, confirmation of the absence of significant prob- In particular, it was found that the ASP graduates believe follow up carried out on the graduates of the first 3 ASP lems for ASP graduates to enter the job market compared (with no significant differences according to the cycle of cycles (with reference to only the PoliMi Italian citizen The 2009 specialised/master’s degree graduates from to their colleagues who graduated from the Politecnico (in reference) that having attended the Alta Scuola Politec- graduates) and those on the total of Italian specialised/ the Politecnico of Milan, 8.3% continued with their stud- terms of the probability of inclusion, and with respect to nica was (somewhat or very) useful, compared to their master’s degree graduates from the Politecnico di Mi- ies (8 out of 10 cases continued with a PhD), while the employment stability), and, on the other hand, it shows colleagues who completed the master’s degree at the Po- lano inferable from the placement surveys included in employment rate (only compared to the labour force) is a much stronger propensity to pursue university studies litecnico but that were in the same university course (Engi- the Reports produced by the Assessment group of the 94% (98% Engineers, 88% Architects and 91% Design- compared to their colleagues, probably in part related to neering, Architecture and Planning, Design), primarily due University (carried out one year from the degrees ob- ers). The results of the ASP graduates of the third cycle, the input selection made on​​ ASP graduates. to the acquisition of additional skills useful for enhancing tained in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and approximately 1 and which concluded the Alta Scuola Politecnica in 2009, employment opportunities of their profession (over 75%), a half/two years for the 2010 graduates), while reference again with reference only to the PoliMi components, but, in fact, did not represent an added value for finding to the results of this survey was made for data relative to 21.2% are students and there is an employment rate of a job consistent with the professional figure (Engineer/Ar- ASP graduates from the IV cycle. 97.6%. chitect/Planner/Designer) graduating from the respective On the other hand, if we refer to the 2010 graduates, the degree courses (approximately 30%). 6 these are census-type surveys that involved only Italian graduates, last for which information from the university is available, among which ASP graduates could be included (the variable was not the placement survey shows a share of students equal 8 Less than 2% of graduates make reference to another value added, originally detected), but this would be a very small number of subjects 7 In this case, it is recommended to always use caution when interpret- mainly linked to the size of the elitist school (the guarantee of being compared to the total number of respondents, that does not invalidate to 8.8% and an employment rate, if we only consider the ing the data, because of a relatively small number of ASP graduates “top student”), the relationship with the business world and network- the overall data. involved in the survey. ing.

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Table 3.13 – Added value of the ASP path compared to the professional figure of the master’s degree program based on disciplinary area Graph 3.8 – Compared to colleagues who obtained the same master’s degree in the same university course from the Politecnico, and University of origin (%) attending the ASP was useful because... based on University of origin

Total Politecnico di Torino Politecnico di Milano Disciplinary area Added value University Total Architecture and Engineering Design planning Politecnico di Milano 92.3 93.3 91.7 92.5 Working abroad Transversal skills Politecnico di Torino 95.9 82.4 66.7 91.3 Total 93.5 89.4 86.7 92.1 Politecnico di Milano 51.0 56.7 41.7 51.4 Greater focus Better career prospects in the medium to long term Politecnico di Torino 53.1 58.8 66.7 55.1 on innovation Total 51.6 57.4 46.7 52.6 Politecnico di Milano 59.6 46.7 58.3 56.8 More international Politecnico di Torino 49.0 35.3 100.0 47.8 Obtain skilled job approach Total 56.2 42.6 66.7 54.0 Politecnico di Milano 83.7 83.3 91.7 84.2 Multidisciplinary approach Politecnico di Torino 89.8 88.2 66.7 88.4 Find work that is consistent with the professional Total 85.6 85.1 86.7 85.6 figure master’s degree course Politecnico di Milano 1.9 6.7 0.0 2.7 Other (specify) Politecnico di Torino 0.0 0.0 33.3 1.4 Total 1.3 4.3 6.7 2.3 Obtain stable employment

57% of the Alumni believe that the additional skills acquired fession (from a professional position point of view), work Additional skills that are useful for ente- from the ASP path (evidently different from the skills ac- abroad and better career prospects in the medium to long ring the work force right away quired from a master’s degree study) are needed for a term (more than 10 years after graduation). quick transition into the job market once school is complet- When faced with an item that explicitly asked if they felt that ed (with a lower perception of this usefulness in Architects the professional opportunities for the ASP graduate was Skills to enhance employment opportuni- and Planners), while the proportion of graduates who con- different than that of the master’s degree of reference, we ties for the professional figure sider that the ASP can offer added value in finding stable found that there was differentiation in the positions of the employment was significantly lower (on average less than various Alumni: 43% feel that there is a difference com- one-third, with rates much lower for Architects, Planners 0,0% 10,0% 20,0% 30,0% 40,0% 50,0% 60,0% 70,0% 80,0% 90,0% pared to the approximate 20% who do not see differences and Designers, as shown in Tab. 3.14). in career opportunities or, instead, believe that, in fact, there is a preference for ASP graduates. Finally, approximately half of the graduates give the ASP path additional usefulness in order to obtain skilled pro-

190 191 multidisciplinarity and innovation asp projects 8 The alta scuola politecnica

Table 3.14 – Compared to colleagues who obtained the same master’s degree in the same university course from the Politecnico, attending Table 3.15 – You believe that the privileged professional opportunities for the ASP graduate are… based on disciplinary area and University the ASP was useful because... based on disciplinary area of origin

Disciplinary area From which You believe that the privileged Disciplinary area Total Politecnico do professional opportunities for the Total No. Architecture and Architecture Engineering Design you come from? ASP graduate are: Engineering Design planning and planning Skills to enhance employment opportunities The same that can be achieved 74,6 82.1 80.0 76.6 16.9 28.6 43.8 21.5 39 for the professional figure from a master’s degree A different opportunity compared Additional skills that are useful for entering 41.5 42.9 43.8 42.0 76 60.6 44.6 60.0 57.2 to the master’s degree the work force right away There are not privileged opportunities 25.4 20.0 6.2 22.7 41 Obtain stable employment 40.4 8.9 15.0 32.0 Politecnico di Milano Don’t know / prefers Find work that is consistent with the professional 16.2 8.6 6.2 13.8 25 31.1 25.0 40.0 30.5 not to give an answer figure master’s degree course Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 181 Obtain skilled job 54.9 32.1 45.0 49.4 No. 130 35 16 181 Better career prospects in the medium The same that can be achieved 54.4 53.6 60.0 54.6 17.5 28.6 0.0 19.3 17 to long term from a master’s degree Working abroad 51.8 58.9 45.0 52.8 A different opportunity compared 47.6 33.3 75.0 45.5 40 (No.) 193 56 20 269 to the master’s degree Politecnico di Torino There are not privileged opportunities 17.5 19.0 25.0 18.2 16 Don’t know / prefers 17.5 19.0 0.0 17.0 15 not to give an answer Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 88 No. 63 21 4 88 The same that can be achieved 17.1 28.6 35.0 20.8 56 from a master’s degree A different opportunity compared 43.5 39.3 50.0 43.1 116 to the master’s degree Total There are not privileged opportunities 22.8 19.6 10.0 21.2 57 Don’t know / prefers 16.6 12.5 5.0 14.9 40 not to give an answer Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 269 No. 193 56 20 269

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Table 3.16 – You believe that the privileged professional opportunities for the ASP graduate are… based on cycle and University of origin 3.1.5 The expectations and satisfaction level of the guarantee good career prospects. Approximately one alumni out of five wanted to attend the Alta Scuola Politecnica to develop their education on topics of interest, while a From which You believe that the privileged ASP cycle At the time of enrolment, the expectations of the future Politecnico do professional opportunities for the Total No. much lower number (10% of responses) were attracted Alumni were quite diversified: more than one quarter be- you come from? ASP graduate are: I-II-III cycle IV-V cycle VI-VII cycle to the ASP simply for the purpose of placement. Finally, lieved of the prospect of attending a path that was more approximately 5% enrolled in the school for other expec- The same that can be achieved “international” compared to the master’s degree and 30.9 19.6 16.2 21.5% 39 tations related to the desire to attend a “different” path from a master’s degree a similar proportion aimed to choose a path that would A different opportunity compared 36.4 41.3 46.2 42.0% 76 to the master’s degree Graph 3.9 – Satisfaction level of expectations at the time of enrolment at the ASP based on the type of There are not privileged opportunities 21.8 23.9 22.5 22.7% 41 Politecnico di Milano expectation Don’t know / prefers 10.9 15.2 15.0 13.8% 25 not to give an answer Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0% 181 No. 55 46 80 181 The same that can be achieved 20.0 17.6 20.7 19.3% 17 from a master’s degree A different opportunity compared 48.0 50.0 37.9 45.5% 40 to the master’s degree Politecnico di Torino There are not privileged opportunities 20.0 14.7 20.7 18.2% 16 Don’t know / prefers 12.0 17.6 20.7 17.0% 15 not to give an answer Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0% 88 No. 25 34 29 88 The same that can be achieved 27.5 18.8 17.4 20.8% 56 from a master’s degree A different opportunity compared 40.0 45.0 44.0 43.1% 116 to the master’s degree Total There are not privileged opportunities 21.2 20.0 22.0 21.2% 57 Don’t know / prefers 11.2 16.2 16.5 14.9% 40 not to give an answer Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0% 269 No. 80 80 109 269

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Table 3.17 – Main expectations at the time of ASP enrolment based on disciplinary area and University of origin (%) instead of the master’s degree (“to broaden my horizons”, that offered something in addition to my basic course”), “attend a school with a broader perspective and that was or due to the ASP networking (“get in touch with inter- multidisciplinary compared to a normal degree”) and that national students”, “get to know smart people who are From which Disciplinary area What were your main expectations had excellent features (“attend a school of excellence motivated and full of passion”, “to meet and make friends Politecnico when you enrolled at the ASP? Total No. do you come (indicate the prevailing expectation) Architecture from? Engineering Design and planning Table 3.18 – Satisfaction level of expectations at the time of enrolment at the ASP based on disciplinary area and University of origin (%) Attending an international course 31.5 22.9 37.5 30.4 55 Further education on topics of interest 17.7 28.6 25.0 20.4 37 From which Disciplinary area What were your main expectations Politecnico Good career prospects 27.7 31.4 12.5 27.1 49 when you enrolled at the ASP? Total No. do you come (indicate the prevailing expectation) Architecture Guarantees of job placement 9.2 8.6 6.3 8.8 16 from? Engineering Design Politecnico di and planning Milano Other 4.6 5.7 12.5 5.5 10 Very 30.5 20.6 13.3 26.9 45 Doesn’t know/No answer 9.2 2.9 6.3 7.7 14 Fairly 44.9 61.8 53.3 49.1 82 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 181 Politecnico di Little 17.8 14.7 26.7 18.0 30 No. 130 35 16 181 130 Milano Not at all 6.8 2.9 6.7 6.0 10 Attending an international course 19.0 19.0 75.0 21.6 19 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 167 Further education on topics of interest 28.6 19.0 ,0 25.0 22 No. 118 34 15 167 Good career prospects 30.2 23.8 25.0 28.4 25 Very 31.0 22.2 25.0 28.8 23 Politecnico Guarantees of job placement 9.5 23.8 0.0 12.5 11 Fairly 48.3 44.4 50.0 47.5 38 di Torino Other 4.8 ,0 0.0 3.4 3 Little 12.1 16.7 25.0 13.8 11 Doesn’t know/No answer 7.9 14.3 0.0 9.1 8 Politecnico Not at all 6.9 16.7 0.0 8.8 7 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 88 di Torino Doesn’t know/No answer 1.7 0.0 0.0 1.3 1 No. 63 21 4 88 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 80 Attending an international course 27.5 21.4 45.0 27.5 74 No. 58 18 4 80 Further education on topics of interest 21.2 25.0 20.0 21.9 59 Very 30.7 21.2 15.8 27.5 68 Good career prospects 28.5 28.6 15.0 27.5 74 Fairly 46.0 55.8 52.6 48.6 120 Guarantees of job placement 9.3 14.3 5.0 10.0 27 Total Little 15.9 15.4 26.3 16.6 41 Other 4.7 3.6 10.0 4.8 13 Total Not at all 6.8 7.7 5.3 6.9 17 Doesn’t know/No answer 8.8 7.1 5.0 8.2 22 Doesn’t know/No answer ,6 0.0 0.0 0.4 1 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 269 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 247 No. 193 56 20 269 No. 176 52 19 247

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Table 3.19 – Strong points in the ASP path based on cycle and disciplinary area (%) Table 3.20 – Weak points in the ASP path based on cycle and disciplinary area (%)

Peer group compo- Not well Not well known Not very effective for in- Organisatio- Poor quality Limits in the Focus only on Interna- Elitist envi- Contacts Other No. Multidisci- sition (multicultural, Team known in Italy abroad sertion into the job market nal limits of courses ASP projects Engineers tional Net-working Projects Innovation ronment of with com- Other No. plinarity different Universities work approach excellence panies and degrees) Cycle

Cycle I-II-III cycle 12.5 2.5 7.5 10.0 21.3 10.0 8.8 5.0 80 IV-V cycle 7.5 1.3 13.8 15.0 16.3 5.0 12.5 6.3 80 I-II-III cycle 38.8 20.0 12.5 18.8 5.0 10.0 2.5 7.5 7.5 6.3 80 VI-VII cycle 8.3 7.3 10.1 16.5 18.3 7.3 11.0 4.6 109 IV-V cycle 38.8 21.3 8.8 23.8 6.3 5.0 6.3 20.0 5.0 3.8 80 Total 9.3 4.1 10.4 14.1 18.6 7.4 10.8 5.2 269 VI-VII cycle 33.0 15.6 7.3 22.0 9.2 19.3 7.3 18.3 6.4 6.4 109 Total 36.4 18.6 9.3 21.6 7.1 12.3 5.6 15.6 6.3 5.6 269 Disciplinary area

Disciplinary area Engineering 11.9 4.7 11.9 14.5 20.7 8.3 3.6 4.1 193 Architecture Engineering 32.1 17.6 9.8 21.8 6.2 11.4 5.7 18.7 5.2 4.1 193 0.0 3.6 7.1 14.3 8.9 5.4 33.9 3.6 56 and planning Architecture 46.4 17.9 5.4 19.6 3.6 14.3 5.4 10.7 8.9 7.1 56 Design 10.0 0.0 5.0 10.0 25.0 5.0 15.0 15.0 20 and planning Total 9.3 4.1 10.4 14.1 18.6 7.4 10.8 5.6 269 Design 50.0 30.0 15.0 25.0 25.0 15.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20 Total 36.4 18.6 9.3 21.6 7.1 12.3 5.6 15.6 6.3 5.6 269 University of origin Politecnico di University of origin 7.2 2.8 10.5 15.5 19.9 9.4 11.6 6.1 181 Milano Politecnico di 38.7 18.8 11.6 25.4 8.8 13.3 5.5 12.2 7.2 5.5 181 Politecnico di Milano 13.6 6.8 10.2 11.4 15.9 3.4 9.1 3.4 88 Torino Politecnico di 31.8 18.2 4.5 13.6 3.4 10.2 5.7 22.7 4.5 5.7 88 Total 9.3 4.1 10.4 14.1 18.6 7.4 10.8 5.2 269 Torino Total 36.4 18.6 9.3 21.6 7.1 12.3 5.6 15.6 6.3 5.6 269 Among the strengths of the ASP path, in the perception and others believe that the courses are too generic, etc.) of the students who attended,10 is the multidisciplinary that are limited in terms of organisation (primarily related with people who have a high profile and with a different these expectations were satisfied overall (very or fairly), approach of the ASP path, followed by the networking to the conciliation of lessons with exam sessions of the background than mine”), and partly for “practical” reasons with a more positive perception for those who enrolled capabilities and the international tendency of the path (evi- master’s degree and, in any case, the presence of exces- (“take advantage of the scholarship”, “have support of the with the believe that they would find a path that was more denced also by the decision to study the path in English). It sive and bureaucratic rigidity), the lacking effectiveness residence”), with no significant changes over time (and international than the master’s degree and that would en- is also significant that approximately 15% of the graduates of the School in terms of placement, such as concrete among the graduates of different cycles) and with a more able to enrich the skills more specific to their profile with have attributed the elitist path of excellence to the image support to graduates entering the job market and an im- marked attention to employment (probability of inclusion other aspects of interest, the expectations in terms of the of the ASP especially in terms of its ability to select talent balance for Engineering and consulting, with obvious dis- and quality of the work) among graduates in Engineering, added value on the professional level with respect to ca- who are offered the opportunity to concretely collaborate advantages in terms of the usefulness of the school for Architecture and Planning compared to Designers, who reer prospects (70%) was low and, this was even lower, with each other on projects of interest (see Tab. 3.19). Architects, Planners and Designers (especially in relation were more focused on the international dimension.9 in relation to the guarantees of job placement (less than ASP corporate sponsors and project partners). In contrast, the items of greatest weakness seem to be On average, for 76% of the Alumni involved in the survey 60%). the poor quality of the courses (for some these are too Another factor of great importance is that more than one The greater level of satisfaction is found among by Engi- theoretical, others believe that they are not interesting, out of three graduates deem that a weak point of the ASP neers, followed by Architects and, in last place, by De- 9 However, it should be noted that the disaggregated data for the is its scarce recognition both Italy and abroad. Indicating signers, while there is not a significant difference based mater’s degree needs to be interpreted with some caution given the 10 ASP graduates were asked, in the form of an open question, to ex- that there is an absence of a “brand” or a strong “brand” numerical imbalance highlighted in the introduction and, in particular, on the Politecnico of origin (see Tab. 3.18). press the strengths and weaknesses of the ASP path, which were then the low number of Design graduates. retrospectively recoded based on the answers. of the ASP.

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3.1.6 The alumni network sociation is considered a useful network when entering the Table 3.22 – Interaction with the ASP Alumni Association based on the phase of the ASP path and University of origin work world and to find jobs abroad or in an international The interaction with the ASP Alumni Association seems company (see graph 3.10 and Tab. 3.22). From which University do to acquire meaning and motivation gradually while one you come from? progresses the ASP path. In fact, the Association does not Total No. Moreover, the assessment of the usefulness of the Asso- Politecnico Politecnico seem to be a reference point for those who have decided ciation at the various stages also confirms this: the average di Milano di Torino to enrol at ASP before this decision is final (less than 10% rating assigned on a scale of 1 to 10 is lower than sufficient No contact 92.0 87.3 90.4 170 have occasional contacts) or as soon as the path starts before and right after enrolment, equal to 6.7 during the two (approximately 25% have had contact, almost always oc- Occasional contacts 8.0 11.1 9.0 17 years and grows to 7.5 right after graduation (see Tab. 3.21). Before enrolling to the ASP casional), while it acquires a greater role during the two Frequent contacts 0.0 1.6 0.5 1 years (as an occasion for dialogue amongst peers, to have Overall, only one quarter of the ASP graduates have never No. 125 63 188 specific information and to resolve organisational problems interacted with the ASP Alumni Association, never regis- No contact 74.1 73.7 74.0 165 11 Right after enrolment to the but also as a professional network) and, especially, right tered to the website or never had other direct or indirect Occasional contacts 23.8 26.3 24.7 55 after graduation when choices regarding the professional contact. After all, only a small group of Alumni, as already ASP (approximately during the Frequent contacts 2.0 0.0 1.3 3 or learning future of the graduates since the reasons that shown in the table above, has a more active participation in first 3 months) lead to contact are mainly related to the fact that the As- the Association, while the majority is limited to more spo- No. 147 76 223 No contact 49.1 38.4 45.5 115 Table 3.21 – Average rating assigned to the usefulness of the ASP Alumni Association based on the phase of the ASP path, disciplinary During the ASP path (excluding Occasional contacts 43.7 45.3 44.3 112 area, cycle and University of origin the first months) Frequent contacts 7.2 16.3 10.3 26 For those thinking about No. 167 86 253 Newcomers to the ASP For ASP students For ASP graduates enrolling to the ASP No contact 28.1 27.3 27.8 74 Politecnico di Milano 5.66 5.80 6.60 7.50 Right after obtaining the ASP Occasional contacts 53.9 50.0 52.6 140 Politecnico di Torino 5.98 6.30 7.00 7.52 diploma Frequent contacts 18.0 22.7 19.5 52 Engineering 5.81 6.01 6.82 7.54 No. 178 88 266 Architecture and 6.06 6.20 6.67 7.45 planning Design 4.58 5.00 6.11 7.32 I-II-III cycle 6.21 6.31 6.97 7.58 radic interaction: 49% participated in some events, 44.6% dents from other disciplines (92.7%) and other universities IV-V cycle 5.96 5.95 7.00 7.19 had contact by e-mail, 7% through Facebook and social (79.5%), which is less with foreign ASPers (62.5%) or other VI-VII cycle 5.32 5.74 6.37 7.69 networks, and only 3.7% participated in all (or almost all) cycles (51.3%), even though the ASPers with which the Total 5.77 5.97 6.73 7.51 the events offered/organized. graduates have remained friends and have constant con- tact in real life is not very many (on average, less than 10). However, apart from the ASP Alumni Association, the ASP path leaves a “a legacy of contacts”, especially with stu-

11 In the majority of cases, those who did not register on the website do not give a reason for not doing so. Students of the last cycle who thought about enrolling and the small number of Graduates who do not feel that this type of networking is not useful or who have not thought about registering because of a lack of time or who, for logistic reasons, were not able to participate in the network are excluded.

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Graph 3.10 – Reasons for contacting the ASP Alumni Association based on phases of the ASP path Box 2 – Foreign ASP graduates Right after the conclusion of the ASP path, 53.8% are al- ready employed and 27% are looking for a new or their first Out of the 101 ASP graduates of a nationality other than job, compared to 19.2% who decided to continue studies Italian, 26 participated in the survey by filling out the ques- Before enrolling to the ASP Right after enrolment to the ASP During the ASP path Right after ASP graduation with a tendency to enter the job market immediately af- tionnaire. Although this is a proportion of graduates that ter the end of higher studies compared to their Italian col- is not representative of foreign ASPers, we considered it leagues, without a difference between the two Universities. appropriate to provide key information with specific refer- Those who continue to study (Engineers more than others) ence to the “international” component of the graduates do so mainly with a PhD and, in 3 out of 4 cases, remain in order to account for any differences in the results, at- at either the Politecnico di Torino or in Milano instead of titudes and behaviour of this subgroup with specific char- choosing another university abroad. acteristics.

Table 3.23 – Employment conditions of foreign students right after ASP graduation based on disciplinary area

Employment conditions right after ASP graduation Disciplinary Total No. area Still looking for first Unemployed still looking Employed Student employment for employment

Engineering 54.5 - 9.1 36.4 100.0 11

Architecture and 62,5 12.5 25.0 100.0 8 planning

Design 42.9 28.6 14.3 14.3 100.0 7

Total 53.8 11.5 15.4 19.2 100.0 26

No. 14 3 4 5 26

As reported regarding the total respondents of the survey, All of these graduates are employed: 42.9% of the for- the majority of the respondents (10 out of 25) are graduates eign graduates with permanent employment, 28.6% have from the VII cycle12 and graduates from the Politecnico di fixed-term employment and another 14.3% have a foreign Milano (17 vs. 9 from Torino); 11 are Engineers, 8 Architects contract (in one case this contract was for permanent em- and 7 Designers, more than half (15 out of 25) are women, ployment and in another it had permanent duration), while mainly distributed in master’s degree courses in Design (7 another 14.3% of the cases were on the job training. The out of 7), Architecture (6 out of 8), while the Engineer gradu- functions carried out mainly pertain to design (one-third), R ates are mostly men (9 out of 11). & D (one-fifth) and commerce (one-fifth), with a strong pres- ence in the areas of Information and Communication and 12 the other participants in the survey are: 3 from the II cycle, 1 from the Professional, scientific and technical activities in the private III cycle, 3 from the IV cycle, 6 from the V cycle and 3 from the VI cycle.

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sector rather than in the public sector (especially in im- ciation, more than half of the graduates had contacts 3.2 An in-depth study with the Alumni a full-time MBA course, at the conclusion of which there portant companies). Half of the foreign employees found during the two-year attendance or right after obtaining will be a shift to senior management. On the other hand, The viewpoint of graduates was investigated through a fo- work abroad and just over one-third remained to work in the diploma, but these were mainly occasional contacts one of the young people with an apprenticeship contract is cus group organized in collaboration with ASP Alumni (As- Lombardy or in Piedmont, compared to a lower number via e-mail or by registering at the Alumni website. attending a postgraduate specialisation course at the Po- sociation of Former Students of the Alta Scuola Politecnica) that remained in Italy and moved to other regions. 30.8% litecnico di Torino. founded in June 2007 and that currently has more than 700 for the work is fully congruent with the skills acquired members in approximately 20 countries around the world. Moreover, it is interesting to see that 7 out of 8 graduates with the ASP Diploma and for 53.8% it is at least in part work in important companies with more than 250 employ- congruent with these skills, while the coherence with the ees, and only 1 graduate works in a small company (less professional profile upon graduation from the master’s The group of respondents than 50 employees). From the point of view of employment degree course is respectively 61.5% and 15.4%. Before entering discussion, it is appropriate to address some sectors, 5 work in “professional, scientific and technical Among the reasons that led foreign students to attend of the master information in order to contextualise the con- businesses”, 2 work in “Manufacturing” and 1 works in “IT the ASP, there is, especially, the desire to follow a path siderations below. The 8 graduates who participated in the and communication services”. that offers a good possibility of a career (30.8%), but Focus Group (5 males and 3 females) strongly participated in The places of work are Lombardy (5), Piedmont (2) and also the willingness to enter an international course and the Association (5 of them were members of the Board) and another EU country (1). In none of the 8 cases are these strengthen the training on topics of interest (both 26.9%), therefore, it is a rather homogeneous and coherent group in companies of which these graduates were aware during while almost nothing pushes to find a job through the terms of internal relations, although not from the point of view the ASP path. In fact, 4 cases were found through an inde- ASP. Overall, 73.1% have satisfied (very or somewhat) of the ASP vision, as will be seen below. pendent initiative, 2 cases were intermediated by the ASP their expectations, recognizing in almost all cases the Alumni network of contacts and only in 2 cases was there ability of the Alta Scuola Politecnica to offer an added Half of there are 27 years old, one is 25 years old and the direct contact from the companies. value, in terms of skills, compared to the reference pro- other three are respectively 39, 30 and 32 years old. They fessional figure of the relative degree courses (engineer, are Italian, except for one foreign graduate. Almost all of architect, planner or designer). For 9 out of 10, the added them (7 graduates) attended the Politecnico di Milano (5 Why choose the ASP? value is represented by the multidisciplinary approach, Engineering, 1 Architecture and 1 Design). The one gradu- The reasons behind the choice of the ASP are fairly ho- for 8 out of 10 by transversal skills, while just over half ate who attended the Politecnico di Torino is an Engineer- mogeneous among the respondents, but not considered refer to innovation. ing graduate. As will be seen below, the strong represen- tation of Engineers is not casual, but may be considered to be representative of the majority of ASP aspiring stu- The strengths indicated by foreign graduates are quite in explanatory of the particular impact that the ASP has on dents. If, in fact, for the respondents the main reason is line with those of the overall Italian colleagues (multidis- graduates in this area. due to the opportunity to enter into a “more elite” course ciplinary, international approach, networking and team of study, it is clear, however, for some of them, the eco- work), while among the elements of weakness, in ad- From the job placement point of view, this is a very diversi- nomic dimension is of importance (“I had a considerable dition to the already seen criticism of the excessive fo- fied group. Except for one person who graduated 5 years economic advantage: the fact of having housing was what cused attention on engineers and consultants and some ago and another who graduated 1 year ago, the others all made me decide to study at the ASP”). To some, this di- organizational limits, foreign graduates complain of the graduated from the ASP 2,3 and 4 years ago. That said, mension represents the main element of attraction for the fact that there is a penalty for foreign students (includ- they all have a job as employees: 5 with permanent employ- majority of the students who decide to enrol at the ASP. ing the use of Italian rather than English in the working ment and 3 with an apprenticeship contract. The positions The motivational interview, which was introduced a few groups) and the limit of an international approach that covered are quite good: 1 manager, 2 middle managers, 1 years after the foundation of the ASP, has equalized, to should actively promote international relationships and highly qualified technician and 4 highly qualified employees. some extent, the importance of this factor, which remains, not just “recruit” students. This should be emphasized because the path of the gradu- according to some, predominant or at least very relevant ate that we have classified as “manager” is quite explana- (particularly for foreign students). Finally, in terms of contacts with the ASP Alumni Asso- tory. In truth, this is a highly qualified employee attending

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It should be emphasized that within the group of respond- enrol in the ASP, but it does not count during the transi- in the network and the community, it cannot appreciate the into a managerial path. However, it should be mentioned ents the importance attributed by some to the economic tion to work. path. According to others, the dissatisfaction is related to that this opinion (as well as that relative to the difficulty in dimension (and by some, as mentioned, considered pre- the lack of interest in the multidisciplinarity. Some are very defining the “ASP product”) seems to belong more to the The discussions show that among students who prefer the vailing for ASP aspirants) has crated some confusion (“I good in their course of study, but do not appreciate con- participants of the first cycles than those of more recent “elite” dimension of the studies there is a large percentage, did not expect to find people who did it for money in this taminations. cycles, when motivational interviews were not carried out the so-called “specialists of schools of excellence”: young room” / “I would not want to convey a message that for- and some of the distinctive features of the ASP were not people who enrol in all programs of excellence plausible and This representation seems to be the result of a very “pushed” eigners come here only for money”) and disorientation, adequately communicated to those who wanted to reg- then chose the one offering the best possibilities. ASP is conception of the community, influenced by the active role as if the presence of an economic motive could spoil the ister. not considered one of the latter, not because of an adverse that almost all Focus Group participants have in the Asso- image and the idea of ​​a path of excellence. In other words, opinion of the school (quite the opposite), but because the ciation. By simplifying, this means that if a graduate does On this specific aspect, there is a clear difference between in our opinion there should not be a relation between the ASP does not have the “classic” profile of schools of excel- not recognize and does not participate in the community, the Engineers and “the others”. An opinion that is shared two factors: regardless of whether or not one appreciates lence. We will return to this important aspect below. then he did not understand and did not appreciate the ASP by the participants of the Focus Group is that the ASP the economic benefits associated with such registration, path. path is particularly useful for Engineers, especially Man- the fact that a young person has been accepted to the agement Engineers (which facilitates, among other things, ASP because it has the requirements should prevail. Therefore, according to the respondents, it would seem that The expectations a managerial type path), less accustomed to working in the opportunity to participate in a multidisciplinary commu- teams and to interact with other disciplines. This particu- Thus, if the two aspects (the possibility of elite studies and As can be imagined, since the choice of the ASP was not nity of peers within a dimension considered elitist (or rather, lar added value of the ASP for Engineers did not emerge economic opportunities) are parallel, prevailing one or the dictated by a precise knowledge of the course and its po- not for all students) would implicitly represent (and currently only here, as will be remembered, and certainly should be other depending on the more or less “elite” vision of the tentialities, the expectations were not very precise at the represents) the substantial expectation related to attending taken into account in the logic of the general discussions ASP, none of those present claims to have chosen the time of enrolment. Let’s say that everyone agrees on the the ASP path. on the school. However, we will return to this discussion ASP depending on their previous widespread knowledge fact that they expected “to learn something new and to below. of an attractive “brand” or “good reputation” at their Uni- have a competitive advantage in the job market” and “to be versity or among their friends, even if this is also attributed part of an environment linked to excellence and multidisci- The identity of the ASP and the profile of the ASP On the other hand, others believe that the ASP does not to the “young age” of the School. plinarity”. graduate have and should not have anything to do with schools of excellence in the traditional sense, but it is characterized According to the respondents, the arguments submitted When explicitly asked about satisfaction (opinion at the time One of the issues that became important in the discus- (must be characterized with more force) as an opportu- to support these two visions are based on the existence and current opinion) of the initial expectations, articulated sion has to do with the identity of the ASP. The opinion nity to address issues and multidisciplinary settings and of two main groups of students. It is said that the “elitist answers were given. Those present stated that they were that “the output target is not clear” is shared: according to “network” with peers who have the same transversal dimension” is prevalent in people who are already study- completely satisfied, but this is a non-representative group to some this was a specific choice of the ASP setting. Ac- interests. In other words, it is not used and should not be ing at one of the two Politecnici, while the attraction of stu- (as we have shown, from the beginning the group of partici- cording to others this is because there was not adequate used by those who want to become the best Engineers dents from other regions or from abroad is driven primarily pants in the Focus Group defined themselves as “unique”). thought or that it was unclear. In essence, it has been (Architects and Designers) and who, therefore, want to by the opportunity of scholarship and related facilitations, In other words, according to the respondents, a good part stated that it is not clear if the “ASP product” exists and further investigate their discipline of reference on a techni- albeit accompanied by a course of study of the highest of the ASP graduates do not express the same level of sat- what it is if it does actually exist. It is interesting to note cal level. It is used (should be used) by those who want to level. The possibility of a double degree, compared to isfaction expressed by the latter. how this lack of clarity seems to be very much in line with become “contaminated”, compete, and create networks “only a few more hours of study” is a third dimension that the findings in the survey regarding the difficulties detect- This representation is sufficiently shared by those present, that continue to exist after graduation. The ASP Alumni can help motivate the choice of the ASP, even if wide- ed when forming an opinion of the coherency between even if the reasons put forward to explain the (alleged) dis- is the evident result of this vision, even if graduates who spread scepticism of its actual value prevails. In one case employment and skills acquired with graduation. satisfaction of many of the graduates are different. Accord- also have opposing views and a critical opinion of the ASP it was stated that knowledge of the double degree is not ing to some, the dissatisfaction of the ASP path is due to In particular, some have criticized the choice of not mak- path participate in this. widespread and appreciated by companies and so this the fact that the value of the ASP should not be sought ing the ASP a “business school oriented towards innova- was “omitted” during job interviews. Almost everyone in the content (“what is taught”), but in the community (of tion”; a profile that is believed would have been much ap- It seems that the multidisciplinary dimension and the net- agrees that it may be a factor that supports the choice to students) that helps to create it. If a person is not interested preciated by the companies that would facilitate insertion work and are not just values recognized​​ by all, but are

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the main distinguishing features, even compared to other The educational path the possibilities offered by the ASP to implement projects tion, on the other hand it is believed that this synergy is not dimensions such as innovation and creativity. in multidisciplinary teams is certainly shared and that they exploited adequately. On the subject of educational contents the participants in- hope for reinforcement of this. It was stated that it is more During the interviews it was clear that there was some dif- terviewed seem to have a shared opinion that is somewhat There is also a shared opinion that the ASP is not suffi- difficult to convey theoretical content to students belonging ficulty in “profiling” the ASP graduate and in summarising critical. ciently known among Italian universities and even less so to different disciplines, while the real problems facing the the additional skills acquired. Basically, in the end they all abroad. In general, there seems to be agreement on the statement multidisciplinary dimension takes on obvious features. The had a shared opinion that the ASP graduate: that the ASP was designed “to measure for Management courses should tap into issues affecting everyone because On this dimension of the international positioning of the ASP, Engineers” and that “Technical Engineers serve to compete very transversal and should be less attached to the three on the one hand, the different viewpoints of the stakehold- ■■ Is more capable of working in a team; with the Management Engineers”. disciplines. ers who respond are highlighted. On the other hand, the ■■ Is more capable of working with different professionals; “communication” problems mentioned above are evident. It is worthwhile to discuss this issue, which emerges implic- In essence, the content covered in ASP should be very ■■ Is more curious and open-minded; itly from the survey, in order to dispel some important mis- different than those that are treated in the courses at the There is no doubt that when the graduates (those who conceptions. The history and evolution of the ASP does not participated in the survey and those who participated in ■■ Has more negotiation skills and articulacy; Politecnico. In this sense, we seem to understand that the at all seem to confirm the idea that the school was designed “elitist” expectation that led some to enrol in the ASP could the Focus Group) responded to this question they had in ■■ Is more capable of managing complex situations; “for” Engineers. On the contrary, the strong and consistent also be interpreted. The excellence of the path and content mind the entry into the job market rather than the quality of ■■ Is more aware that the success factor is not only skill emphasis placed by the school on all those dimensions that, of these statements can be assimilated into the request to the educational path. Or rather, since the companies with however, bring attention to interdisciplinarity, contamination do things very differently. Certainly innovative and creative, which they came in contact after graduation do not know and the basic polytechnic education is evident. Probably, as the ASP, they are geared to think that the ASP is well posi- and that these more significant additional skills are due to but, different from what is done in normal university paths. stated by one respondent, on this issue graduates tend to tioned nationally and internationally. This statement reflects the so-called “soft skills”, even if they are not exhausted. Moreover, we should better stress the fact that the ASP al- confuse the added value of the ASP with the “adjacency” lows to acquire good teamwork skills. subjective data (determined by the experience of individual Let us dwell a moment on this particular issue because it of skills already acquired during the university path. Archi- respondents), but also objective data. In fact, we need not It is important to emphasize that the opinions summarized was repeatedly discussed during the Focus Group, and tects and Designers are “adjacent” to the participation mod- forget that this School is quite young and, therefore, the above regarding these important issues (connection be- also emerged in some interviews with instructors and com- els proposed by the ASP compared to the Engineers that, relative number of ASP graduates who entered the job mar- tween courses, connection between courses and projects, panies. According to some of the instructors interviewed, therefore, are “more distant”, and they tend to have a better ket in these last few years (818 young people graduated 13 educational content) are affected by and reflect the evolu- reference to the “soft skills” is an understatement with re- view of the advantage and the added value of the School. from the 7 completed cycles, but an important number re- tion matured over the years. If we take into consideration spect to the nature of the transversal skills that are ac- mained in the university circuit). quired during the ASP path; the importance given to those In particular, it is stressed that the courses taken were not al- the substantial “young age” of the ASP, we could say that Obviously, the instructors’ answers to this question reflect transversal skills of a relational and behavioural nature ways well connected with each other and that it is difficult for each cycle experienced constant and progressive interven- an opinion relative to the “academic” placement of the that, to be precise are defined as complementary to “hard people attending them to understand the added value of a tions aimed at overcoming this type of problems. School rather than the knowledge that the job market has skills” (technical skills) should be explained. The relational course compared to their discipline. More specifically, it was Of course, since the respondents refer to their specific of the ASP. However, the differing opinions shown here and behavioural transversal skills enhance and strengthen believed that not all instructors have the same ability to deal experience, this development has not always been under- reflect a more or less updated knowledge of the relations the spirit of collaboration (teamwork), the sense of belong- with the themes of innovation, creativity and to highlight the stood and observed. that the School has activated in these last (few) years. In ing, creative aptitude and flexibility to change. They are transversal features and added value of the contents. fact, there have been important initiatives activated on the developed and are the unavoidable basis to operate in At times the connection between courses and projects is internationalisation level in the last few years14 and there is a multicultural environment. As we have seen, these are The positioning of the ASP in the university commu- considered weak. In this respect, it is interesting to note evidence of appreciation from foreign realities with which nity the transversal skills to which our respondents attribute that the emphasis placed by the instructors interviewed on particular importance and towards which the companies An opinion that is strongly shared by the respondents is show appreciation, obviously, by offering more qualifying 14 For example, the Como Innovation Summit (a forum that involves the 13 In this regard, we believe that the metaphors used by one of the re- that the ASP is not sufficiently appreciated by both Politec- innovators in the industry), of which two editions were held (2012 and jobs and jobs with the best opportunities. spondents are quite explanatory. “If a group of people enrol in a skiing nici even though these established the school. If, on the 2013). In addition, the international advisory board of the School is course, the greatest benefit is for those who could not ski at all, rather made up​​ of leading figures from a variety of American, Chinese, Japa- than for those who already knew something about skiing”. one hand, it emphasizes the importance of this collabora- nese and other academic institutions.

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the ASP has activated relationships. In our opinion the fact Again, we are faced with shared answers: the Association placement surveys of the two Politecnici in order to better in terms of its mission, in the structuring of its training path, that this position is undervalued by academic graduates and enables to maintain a certain level of updating (with the monitor and asses the transition path at the end of studies. the number (somewhat higher) of the students involved, the relatively well known by those who have daily contact with various initiatives organised), it is a useful network at a pro- costs (somewhat lower than other realities of this nature) the ASP is a matter worth discussion. On the one hand, this fessional level and also provides an opportunity to maintain and with which it is able to implement its activities. can be attributed to communication activities and reinforce- and develop that dimension of community that was experi- OUR POINT OF VIEW Finally, substantially, in our opinion the ASP seems to be ment of the not very structured and systematic brand. enced and that, during the path, was seen as a fundamen- In this section, we will summarize the elements of greater a very positive reality that works. Beyond the critical tal ASP experience. interest to the evaluative thought on the experience gained observations that have been highlighted and that we men- by the ASP thus far, and we will try to explain our “third” On the other hand, of course, increased support from the Moreover, it is interesting to note how the participants at- tion here as possible areas for improvement in the future, tribute, not so implicitly, the Association with the mission of point of view and our interpretation of all aspects that have the objective data shows us that the ASP graduates have two Politecnici would contribute to better disseminate the been put on the table by the various stakeholders inter- actual position of the School. giving the students the School’s “sense of identity”. That better performances than the already first-rate performanc- sense of identity that poorly transmitted by the ASP has viewed. es of the Politecnico in terms of occupation, the occupation been created by gradually through the experiences of those found (which is contractually more stable and more quali- Relationships with companies First, we find tat prodding critical thinking of what this ex- who attended the school. fied). And, the positivity does not lie so much in the 3 or 4 perience currently represents (and what it could represent As mentioned above, according to respondents, the ASP is percentage points in favour of ASP graduates (although this We are not talking big numbers, but a solid core of Alumni in the future) was a very suitable temporal choice. Not only not a brand that is recognized by the companies. It is inter- is significant), but in the fact that these higher percentage motivated to keep alive and enhance the experience, and because there is a change in the direction of the School esting to note that, during the interview, the corporate di- points show that there is a specific and distinctive product who are motivated to enter the educational process of the that, obviously, suggests the development of new strate- mension was always left to the side, as if the participation in acknowledged by the job market, regardless of the aware- school; it is worth reflecting on how to better “exploit” these. gies and policies (not necessarily different), and because the ASP path did not have (should have) a particular impact ness of the stakeholders involved. Sure, we did not assess the “right” number of years have lapsed in order to consider in the transition and entry into the job market. This is not sur- the counterfactual impact and we cannot be certain that if the ASP is currently what it was expected to become prising since one of the initial motivations for enrolment was these results would not have been equally achieved since ...In the end when it was founded. Or if, regardless of the expectations, not the easier or more interesting entry into the work world. the ASP collects the best students of the two Politecnici. if the ASP is currently liked by the three stakeholders in- According to respondents, the ASP is not used to facilitate However, the set of data and information gathered helps us All respondents are greatly satisfied with their current pro- volved: students, companies and universities. transition to the job market, but enables to acquire transver- in formulating this opinion. As already highlighted in the pre- fessional position and everyone acknowledges that “at sal skills (“soft skill”) that enable to work better. Even though Before entering into discussion, there are three aspects vious pages, it would be important for the placement moni- least some merit” should be given to the ASP. Not so much there are profiles (Managerial Engineers and Technical En- that need to be taken into consideration when read- toring and assessment of the two Politecnici to highlight the because the ASP “has churned out a winning product,” but gineers) that obtain more benefits from the ASP in terms of ing the discussions below. attendance of the ASP in order to give certain evidence for because once graduates enter the working world they were skills that can be used on the job market. this opinion. able to exploit the additional skills that gave them a per- First of all, the ASP is still too “young” for some ef- fects to be fully evident (this applies to the job market’s As mentioned above, the respondents believe that this is not formance that was probably better than their colleagues That said, we review some considerations that emerged knowledge of the “ASP product”, or rather, of graduates an “ASP product” (or is not an obvious product) and that this who did not attend the school. from the interviews with the three stakeholders involved: that enter the companies, which is still too few in terms of conditions the relationship with the companies. students, companies and universities, in order to highlight As seen in box 1, which attempts to make a comparison numbers, in order to have an image that is open and in or- some possible areas for improvement. Once again, we between the placement of graduates from the Politecnico der to develop a debate on the distinctive character). di Milano and ASP graduates, in the years considered there emphasize that the different “levels of ASP experience and ASP Alumni are constantly a few percentage points in favour of the ASP Secondly, the ASP seems to be an atypical subject updating” of the respondents (the years in which they at- As mentioned in the introduction, all Focus Group partici- graduates in terms of job placement and in terms of the in the framework of Schools of excellence and its tended, the among of time that they have been involved, pants have a pretty tight relationship with the Association quality/stability of employment obtained. Therefore, that “bit “uniqueness” is also, maybe the reason why various re- their position outside of the School or the Board) may have and, therefore, the ideas that emerged during the interview of merit” to which the respondents refer is not only subjec- spondents still find it difficult to delineate a clear picture of affected their perception of problems and their degree of should be interpreted to understand the reasons for this in- tive recognition, but also an objective fact, and perhaps at- the school. We did not carry out in-depth analysis along relevance. However, it seems important to give them im- volvement. tending the ASP should be systematically internalised in the these lines but, in short, the ASP seems somewhat atypical portance because we believe that it is “a problem” if the

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degree of ASP experience and updating prevent them from companies. This is definitely of lesser interest for those who should be clear that it is not enough to want to be “in an a relationship that needs to be improved. There may having a correct image of the School. want to pursue a university career. To this we add that the elite and exclusive environment”, but the carrier motivation perhaps be too much emphases, but it certainly does ASP students have good knowledge of English, and this is should be identified in the output, in “what they want to do not seem that the two founding Institutes fully exploit Back to us, the order in which we cited the stakeholders is a very important added value for all companies interviewed. in life”. This does not mean, that we need to necessarily their creation. A school of excellence should be the flag- not accidental: defining a “product” by assuming the stu- exclude a young person who wants to pursue a university ship product of the University that promotes it, it must be As can be seen, there is consistency between the “addi- dent as the first final beneficiary could lead into a direc- career from attending the ASP, but certainly this young per- acknowledged by all and it should have a national and in- tional skills” referred to above (and with respect to which tion that is not necessarily identical to what would result if son must clearly understand the contribution that the ASP ternational image. It should be a spendable brand to attract there is substantial sharing of views among all stakehold- the companies were identified as the final user of the “ASP path has on its occupational choice. If this is the case, the students from other regions, countries, etc. In short, we do ers interviewed) as well as on the emphasis that educators product”. motivational interview (the fundamental importance not think that this is the image that emerges. Some (not put on the issues of multidisciplinarity and networking (“the of which is recognized by everyone) should be used only the graduates) believe that the School “is given a bad And, this is the first aspect that we have paid atten- conditions are created so that students from different disci- to clearly communicate the mission of the ASP, the vision”, either because it removes energy from the students tion to. In the specific case of the ASP, we believe plines enter into relationships and maintain a network even “ASP product”, the ASP “expected result” as well as who attend, or because there are differences between the that the effort of putting the research of results that after the completion of studies”). are equally interesting for both the students and the the impact that attending the ASP has in relation to two groups of teachers (teachers who teach outstanding Therefore, we would like to say that the experience of the businesses “on the same level” is interesting and, the frequency of a university course rather than for students in a School of excellence are by definition excel- ASP could be much more appreciated if it’s mission were therefore, it would be useful to focus, more precisely, the insertion into a company. We believe that this is lent), or because, in the end, what is taught “counts for lit- clearly defined (and, more importantly, communicated): a on an “ASP product” that, in this case, may provide exactly what is happening since throughout the years the tle”. School of Excellence (because it enables to acquire motivational interviews were increasingly defined. What we an (explicit) added value to the students and busi- Thus, we note relationships that certainly hinder the various and additional skills compared to those at- want to emphasize here is that this aspect must be given nesses. A “product” that forestalls and facilitates the very idea of programming the two paths (the “nor- tending the traditional university path) and a school maximum and constant attention in order for the picture to “match” both in the path of transition to the job mar- mal” path and that of the ASP) in order not only to geared to train profiles that are professionally more be clear to everyone. ket and during work experience. enhance and connect what is taught by both parties attractive to companies because there is the guar- This last aspect is fairly nullifying because dealing with it to the most (thus entering into the discussion of con- The placement data tells us that the companies have prob- antee that the graduates have a good grasp of Eng- could better define a “priority system”, so to speak, in the tents), but also useful so that the burden of commit- ably perceived the distinct features of the ASP graduate. It lish, have acquired the soft skills required to move educational path. The interviewed companies all ac- ments and deadlines do not fall on the individual stu- is important to have greater awareness of this in the gradu- well within a company from the start, have had the knowledged the value of the experience and of the dents (organization). We understand that this certainly is ates and increased communication of this distinctiveness chance to experience of concretely implementing ASP students. However, almost all have expressed not easy, but we believe that it is an issue that needs to be on the job market. It is equally important that the ambigu- projects, they have better abilities in problem setting different opinions about the commitment of the stu- addressed and investigated. ity that is occasionally “spread” relative to the issue of the as well as problem solving. They also have better ca- dents with whom they worked. And, all have posed “business school” be definitively resolved. The ASP is not reer opportunities. Mind you, the educators (coordinators, teachers, tutors) do the problem of where the ASP project is placed with a business school and it never intended to be. This is one their best. This is recognized without a shadow of a doubt. However, the sharing of this paradigm entails some adjust- respect to the university path and the organisation of of the choices that define the atypicality referred to above. However, it is correctly translated as a much more “person- ments. the company. The problem is that, almost always, the re- However, the above brings us to another important issue al” commitment of the individual, rather than a result of an To start, it would be useful to clarify the ambiguity that sur- alization of the project “collides” with a substantial number regarding the identity of the ASP that the attention of the in- organizational decision. One of the companies interviewed rounds the existence of schools of excellence (not only the of university commitments to which students give priority terviewed graduates focused on. As we have seen, in their sated, if the “purpose of this collaboration is to introduce ASP). Schools are of excellence if they provide a service (exams, Erasmus programs, etc.). Furthermore, even the opinion, the “profile of the ASP graduate” can be summa- these young people to the management of a product or of excellence and make an excellent product, which is graduates have complained about a significant overlap of rised in the ability to work in a team, to work with different technology development process, this process is split up acknowledged by the recipients of the product. It is not commitments between ASP and University. professional competences, to be more curious and open into tasks, deadlines, outputs, than the tutors cannot write enough to bring together a group of talented students by minded, have negotiating skills and articulacy and a great- This leads us to the very important issue of the rela- me and inform me that these young people are not coming offering something different from what they normally would er awareness that the success factor is not only in having tionship between the ASP and Politecnico of refer- to meetings because they have exams. The companies do have and something that is exclusive from what their “non- good grades. Al skills that are greatly appreciated by the ence. The previous sections make it clear that this is not operate and projects are not done like this”. ASP” colleagues have. Also, with regard to the students, it

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This position is reinforced by the fact that many of the traceable to what has been defined as “polytechnic edu- best students, or if the subsequent selection process 6. Improve internal communication. We know that you respondents (both graduates and trainers) complain cation”. However, it also helps to acquire the relational and procedure can be further improved; should never “close” a conclusion with a criticism, but we of a “connection” between courses and projects that and behavioural transversal skills (soft skills); will make an exception. There is a consistent finding that 4. Integrate and consolidate the group of ASP instruc- is not always full and understandable, as if they were has emerged in the course of this work that there are few 2. Reorganizing the ASP contents by strongly focus- tors. Or rather, integrate the group with more instructors two parallel paths that have a life of their own and to people who have the whole picture of the situation. From ing on the projects, by increasingly “containing” and who are not part of the two Politecnici and with instructors which the other “life” of the normal university path the instructor point of view, those who are not a member “aiming” the courses to the implementation of projects. who belong to different disciplines as well as those who is added. As we have already noted, these problems are of the Board find it difficult to be firm in what they do and In other words, defining the courses to some extent as belong to the corporate world. This is already done, but it known and have been the subjects of constant and gradual in the thought underlying what they do. From the gradu- “instrumental” to the implementation of projects that are seems important to emphasize the opportunity to give pri- improvement over the years. However, evidently, this is a ates’ point of view, if a graduate is not part of the Alumni expected to become the “core” of the ASP. Which also ority attention to this “external” dimension. It is important, path that is not finished and on which it is important to Association and are not an active part of the network, it is implies a different focus to the organizational dimen- in particular, that all instructors have high coordination maintain the pressure. difficult to them to have a serious thought on the path they sion (to be determined with the companies beforehand) and/or project mentor skills. The role of course coordina- have undertaken. In terms of the companies, all of them All of the opinions referred to here lead us to a series of in order to reconcile the maximum activity of university tors and project tutors is considered invalidating by all: the talk about their specific experience and their specific rela- discussions. First of all, it would be good to deal with students and their more “professional” activities related success of a course or project depends on the abilities of tionship with the ASP, but it does not seem that they have this problem of the relationship between the ASP and to the project. The interviews with the companies were the coordinator or tutor. There are excellent teachers who ever participated in a group. In short, this seems to be the the reference Institute. We believe that this should be very explanatory in highlighting how the item considered cannot do neither one nor the other. Therefore, it would be classic situation in which a lot is done, it is done well but a concern particularly for the two Politecnici, even before a priority in the relationship with the ASP is not so much, useful for the ASP to select the “best” coordinators and little is known. To say that there is a lack of communication the ASP. It is true that the two Institutes have a more than and only to be found in, easier selection of personnel (a tutors. We suppose that the results of assessments that that should be improved considerably may seem trivial, affirmed brand, and that there graduates do not have par- motivation that, in recent years, has progressively dimin- the students make at the end of each course are along but if the defect did not exist, many of the somewhat criti- ticular placement problems. However, changes in the job ished and is, in any case, linked to the consulting com- these lines. Finally, strengthening the instructor group cal comments that emerged during the interviews would market are not cyclical, competition is high, and having a panies and Engineers), but the opportunities provided identity through “training socialisation” that strengthens not have had reason to exist as they would have been School that offers a lot of skills requested by the companies by the project to set up a team with company staff and the relationships and exchanges, urges the use of spe- surpassed; (data supported by the best placement results as well as young people who are fresh from studies to work on re- cific instruments and methodologies, active monitoring by stable and qualified employment) means being able to search and innovation teams (technological and product systems and systematic assessment of the results and so 7. Improve external communication. The ASP, as we communicate that the two Institutes are able to form pro- innovation, in particular). For the companies, these are on. Once again, we know that there have been initiatives have had the chance to highlight, is a somewhat unique fessional figures that are “different” from those normally occasions that are dominated by the daily difficulties and along these lines that have not always offered the hoped- and atypical product in the framework of Schools of excel- produced. This is, as has been seen, a diversity that is well increasingly reduced and difficult in terms of implemen- for participation. However, this may also be a teaching se- lence. The two Politecnici, whose important synergy gave appreciated by the companies, even if not all instructors in- tation; lection element; rise to the ASP, should foster this experience by making terviewed agree on the existence of this result. In our opin- it grow and making it known to other universities, busi- 3. Activate a communication campaign that will help 5. Reinforce the role of the ASP Alumni Association in ion, facing this problem means, in summary, the following nesses, potential users (young people and their families). consolidate and communicate a brand applied not the ASP path. In our opinion, the dimension of network (some of which are already being implemented): Thus, an activity of external communication that strength- only in Italy but also abroad. An opinion that is wide- that the ASP has been able to develop is a very important ens the brand of the School in the mind of the large audi- 1. Giving a firmer profile to the role and mission of the spread among instructors and the graduates interviewed and interesting result that the School could further im- ence that, while not contributing directly to determine the ASP by greatly directing it towards the business system is that the number of foreign students have a “skill” level prove to the benefit of future graduates, by offering initia- nature and quality of education, helps spread the fruition, and with “product” that enriches Engineers, Architects that is significantly lower than that of the Italians (often tives that become an integral part of the ASP educational use and fame. In this logic, and given the special features and Designers, so that the two Politecnici, through the also for linguistic problems) and that the attractiveness offer. A comparison between “almost” peers seems quite of the ASP, it would be useless to a carry out an in-depth ASP, give the market “also” professional figures that are a of the economic benefits more than the quality of the interesting starting from the dual experience: having been investigation aimed at comparing it with other Schools of bit different than those usually trained: This means giving School is invalidating for these young people. Perhaps it ASP students and being, currently, people in qualified po- excellence that operate at the national and international a clearer explanation that the ASP allows to strengthen is worth reflecting on whether the channel used to iden- sitions in the working world. level. Not so much to position the ASP in a best or worst and consolidate those transversal skills recognizable and tify foreign students is the most suitable for securing the ranking, but in order to highlight its distinctive dimensions.

214 215 Alta Scuola Politecnica (ASP) is a school for excep- tionally talented students who wish to develop their capabilities for leading and promoting innovation in a multi-disciplinary environment. Founded in 2004 by Politecnico di Milano and Politec- nico di Torino, ASP is attended by students who at the same time pursue a Master of Science Program (Lau- rea Magistrale) in Engineering, Architecture and Design offered by the two Universities. Therefore, ASP is char- acterised by a multidisciplinary and multicultural com- munity of students, and by an equally diverse Faculty.

The ASP cultural program complements the disciplinary knowledge achieved in the Master of Science course with multidisciplinary knowledge that aims to provide methods and conceptual tools for designing solutions to complex problems and to enhance cognitive capaci- ties, aptitude to learning, and talent for interpersonal relations.

This book presents the results of the multidisciplinary projects of the eight ASP cycle. These projects are developed by teams of students coming from very dif- ferent disciplinary backgrounds, in cooperation with professors and with external institutions such as com- panies and governmental bodies. The book provides a snapshot that illustrates the variety and creativity of ASP contributors, as well as an inside view of the work and life of this unique community.

The illustration of project results is preceded by a short presentation describing the ASP program at its tenth birthday, complemented by testimonials from ASP Sponsors and Alumni.

For further information on ASP: Web www.asp-poli.it YouTube www.youtube.com/asppoli E-mail [email protected]