Linking University

ACADEMY AND INDUSTRY A platform for exchanges, capable of furthering the dialogue between representatives of science and industry. The objective of the Linking University project is clear: open a constant communication channel between working bodies so that innovation, which is nourished by different skills, becomes a real business driver for the automation industry. Ideas and opportunities to be seized.
L.G., D.B.

On 17th November last Messe Frankfurt gathered around the table representatives from the world of science and industry to promote the "Linking University" (undertaking that substantiates the contents of the technology show SPS/IPC/Drives Italy).

The round table discussion "The academic world meets the companies" was certainly a valuable and stimulating opportunity to take stock of the research projects fielded by numerous Italian universities (the engineering scientific didactic sectors closest to the world of industrial automation, namely measurement, electronics, automatics and mechanics).

But also, and above all, the encounter constituted a significant moment to clarify the possible ways in which to build a much needed and ever closer relationship between the academic and the business worlds. Hence the topics broached included research, innovation, but basically new business opportunities for all, focusing on enhancement of skills and resources.

Supporting research?
A common asset
The experts gathered together started off with a few known facts, first and foremost discussing the reality of Italian universities, that suffer from a congenital lack of funds for sponsoring projects and people; and secondly, the difficulties encountered aboveall by Italian small and medium enterprises (bone structure of Italy’s industrial tissue) in structuring R&D sections within the same companies in order to invest in the development of products and services.

Considering that innovation is a must in sectors like automation, finding a balanced solution today is all the more necessary in order not to lose competitiveness. And the active contribution of the academic world here can turn into that added value also capable of opening up new possibilities for businesses and concerns.

In practice, observers feel it is essential that the scientific world and industry establish and consolidate a closer and more balanced relationship, which would bring undoubted mutual advantages: with the conclusion of research contracts or activation of scholarships, the universities would find new impulses to further research, while companies could create real innovation, projecting themselves towards the future.

During the round table discussion, the professors in the engineering science sectors closest to the world of industrial automation thus had the opportunity of presenting the offer of their universities to an audience made up of potential customers and the main exhibitors at the second edition of SPS/IPC Drives Italia (scheduled at Parma, 22nd to 24th May 2012). And indeed the mode of financing scholarships for engineering graduates was also gone into, by which the latter can be taken on by the companies at the end of their three-year research period. Spotlight on the value of research doctorates (PhDs), still little known in Italy to date, emphasising their properties as a tool for gaining greater mental flexibility and honing excellent problem solving skills, basic features for future managers and leaders of tomorrow

When research is ad hoc
The encounter between science and industry may initially occur because a company needs to solve a problem. Investing in a three-year scholarship can cost around 60 thousand euro, a figure that not all companies can afford. But it should be considered that, banding together, companies can share this financial burden, also by exploiting the very characteristics of their PhD: committed to study topics of general interest, they can also be "exploited" by non-competing industries and with common interests in the field of automation.

The "famous" Italian creativity has also infected the offer of various universities, that have developed ad hoc and differentiated solutions to facilitate relations with industry. One only has to for example think of the "co-funded" scholarships and "shared responsibility" of the parties involved in the project established by the University of Cassino, or the action fielded by the Milan Polytechnic, that for a couple of years now have been offering a part-time four-year PhD - an executive Phd - which allows the students to both work in a company as well as dedicate time to their scholarship and finishing their thesis.
 
What the industry asks for
The discussion with the companies involved in the roundtable offered considerable food for thought.
Decisive the talk held by Ennio Franceschetti, the Gefran president being a convinced advocate of the need to collaborate with the university (his company has successfully worked for many years with the University of Brescia). And he has no doubts: research pays and creates innovation. But he took the opportunity to invite the scientific community to "speak the language of business" so as to enable more direct communication and, consequently, more effective collaboration.

Emilio Cavazzini, innovation VP of Sidel (the company that has been working with the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), urged the universities to be less aggressive and competitive with each other, and perhaps also to incentivate research on the software, evermore a key element for machine builders.
The words of Giuliano Busetto of Siemens (who has worked with the Polytechnic of Milan on specific projects to improve energy efficiency) bore a tinge of controversy. In fact, while stressing the need to have trained young people among ones ranks, he recommended them to show a little more humility in dealing with the world of work.
 
In conclusion - That of November may be considered a first step towards an intensification of the relations between the academic world and industry. The debate will continue at SPS/IPC/Drives Italia, where universities and technical schools that are part of the "Linking University" undertaking will have the opportunity to present their projects in a common area along with those of the derived consortia that have activated local spin-offs.                                   

Automation: topics under research in Italy
The Italian universities are working on numerous lines of research; of those presented by the Linking University we will only cite some (reiterating though that the university websites give detailed accounts of work underway).

The University of Cassino is concentrating on metrology, instrumentation, methods of measurement, sensors, measures and methods for the quality and process administration.
Brescia University is dealing with self-powering, sensor networks, contactless sensors, means of vision for robots.

The University of Pisa is moving in several directions: automotive, logistics, DC/DC converters. Padua is not only carrying out research in the field of power electronics and electromagnetic compatibility, but also in mechatronics and functional and industrial robot engineering design.

The University of Trieste is among other things working on industrial vision techniques. Alongside the above undertakings, a number of associations have been set up that carry out specific studies in the field of automation, like the “Gruppo italiano di elettronica” (GE), that carries out research where companies can also participate. Many the topics of interest: integrated electronic systems, micro devices and nanoelectronics, sensors, micro systems and instrumentation, power electronics, optoelectronics and photonics.