SPECIALIZED TRAINING
University and the Industry Join Forces to Build a Bridge to a Sustainable Future A closer relationship between the industry and academia can help build the foundations for a more sustainable future: an example of this is the seminar held by Alessandro Soba from Verind Spa for the Advanced Organic Coatings course of the Politecnico di Milano.
J
une 2021 saw the end of the second semester at the Politecnico
they asked numerous questions both during and at the end of the
di Milano, Italy’s leading university for technical and scientific
lesson. Some of them even stayed in class after the seminar to learn
education and one of the top twenty universities in the QS World
more about the automatic colour change operations and the transfer
University Rankings, in the Engineering & Technology category .
efficiency achievable with the EcoBell electrostatic technology for the
During this period and despite the pandemic, the students of the
coating of aluminium wheels.
Master Degree course in Materials Engineering and Nanotechnology,
Such collaboration between the academic and industrial worlds was
which aims at training new technicians with a broad spectrum of
made possible by PoliEfun, an association of Politecnico di Milano that
knowledge in the fields of production, processing, and application
promotes business culture in the surface treatment sector2.
of materials and the more innovative nanotechnology, had the
PoliEfun has always encouraged the involvement of professionals with
opportunity to meet some companies from the surface finishing
academia, including through in-person and online master’s courses.
sector. The seminar held in English for the Advanced Organic
Two examples of this are ISM8, the Industrial Short Master now in
Coatings course by Alessandro Soba, manager at Verind S.p.A. (Dürr
its eighth edition, and TST2021, the digital conference that this year
Group), was a concrete example of interaction between students and
covered topics such as the circular economy and the development
enterprises.
of sustainable bio-derived coatings obtained by recycling industrial
Through videos showing surface painting and coating lines and
agricultural waste, including tomato skins. Thanks also to the support
plants for the automotive and general industry sectors and the
of PoliEfun and the School of Industrial and Information Engineering,
presentation of specific equipment for automatic and manual
the Advanced Organic Coatings course will increase the number of
coating, Soba addressed several current issues related to application
hours devoted to workshops already from next year (academic year
eco-technologies with a focus on sustainability, eco-design, and
2021-22), in order to further reinforce the skills and technical-scientific
process digitalisation. Guided by Raffaella Suriano, a lecturer at the
knowledge of future engineers with practical experiences and
Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical Engineering “Giulio
experimental tests.
1
Natta” of Politecnico, the students were particularly engaged and 1
https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2021
© ipcm
© lorenzo_bigatti and matnano_polimi
Alessandro Soba, manager at Verind S.p.A.
120
Raffaella Suriano, lecturer at the “Giulio Natta” Department.
N. 70 - JULY/AUGUST 2021 - international PAINT&COATING magazine
2
https://www.poliefun.com/
© Verind
The EcoBell electrostatic technology.
