Italian technological excellence in the spotlight
The first-ever Italian Technological Excellence in the U.S. conference was held at McGregor Memorial Conference Center on May 9 and 10, and it welcomed a host of stars in the fields of technology, engineering, biomedical sciences, and more. The conference kicked off with a gala cocktail reception and art opening, with welcoming comments from Maria Luisa Lapresa, Consul of Italy in Detroit, Governor Rick Snyder, and Giuseppe Santangelo, who organized the event under the auspices of the non-profit Leonardo International.
Santangelo, president of Leonardo International, is the owner of Skypersonic, a research and design company that develops technology for the aerospace and automotive industries. He also teaches courses on drones for Wayne State's College of Engineering.
On Tuesday, May 10, a series of panels featured the cutting-edge research of Italian professors, engineers, and business people from companies including Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Comau, Brembo, Esaote, Magneti Marelli, and from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. Presentations ranged from discussions of autonomous vehicles to intelligent health care systems to drone-led agricultural management.
Aside from listening to the lively research presentations, Wayne State students were also invited to participate in an interactive roundtable discussion and to bring their resumes to network, and participating firms were looking to hire interns and employees.
This first gathering of important Italian companies in the Detroit metro area is only part of a plan to find zones of convergence between universities, cultural institutions, and Italian innovations. According to Prof. Raffaele DeBenedictis, a board member with Leonardo International, the "Conference-Expo has been a determining point for the development of an awareness regarding the advantages of converging academic and research endeavors in the humanities, science, and technology."
Several CMLLC faculty members in Italian, including Profs. DeBenedictis and Silvia Giorgini, are on the board of Leonardo International, which seeks to promote Italian science and technology in the U.S. The name, Leonardo, is chosen in honor of the genius of Leonardo da Vinci and speaks to the close relationship between the arts, design, and science in the Italian tradition.
Leonardo International is also actively working to cultivate academic exchanges with Italian universities and Wayne State. There are currently agreements in place between Wayne State and the University of L'Aquila, the D'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, and the University of Bergamo, which offer possibilities for student and faculty exchanges.