€8 million awarded to the Politecnico di Torino for research infrastructures

The projects submitted by the Politecnico di Torino, co-financed by the Piedmont Region with a €8 million grant disbursed as part of the “INFRA-P Support to projects for the implementation, strengthening and expansion of public research infrastructures” call for tender, against an investment of the same amount by the University, cover almost all fields of Industry 4.0. The Politecnico is the sole partner in 4 projects, while it cooperates with the University of Turin, the INRIM (the public research centre acting as Italy's national metrology institute) and Italy’s Institute of Technology for the other 4 projects.

The call for tender, which is aimed at public research centres, focuses on the set-up and upgrading of research infrastructures (“RI”) open to several users and functional to the development of research activities which may result in industry-relevant applications and be of interest for companies.

“This remarkable achievement goes hand in hand with the equally important goal achieved through the Excellence Departments selected by ANVUR (Italy’s National Agency for the Evaluation of the University and Research Systems) and enhances the University’s investments in research of the past few years. Specifically, these projects are used to finance the strategic lines and the direction of research followed by our Interdepartmental Centres which remain an effective tool to implement joint initiatives, including with other strategic players, in the development of the local area”, says the Rector, Marco Gilli.

The projects’ abstracts are given below:

IAM@Polito – Integrated Additive Manufacturing@Politecnico di Torino

Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques from metal and polymer powders (Net Shape Hot Isostatic Pressing (NSHIP)) are emerging as reliable, economically sustainable and highly flexible production methods which can be used in several industrial sectors, such as aerospace, biomedical and automotive (high end, racing), thanks to their ability to meet industry requirements, including product and material customisation, decrease in weight and superior performance and energy efficiency.

However, in order to integrate these processes in industrial production, some issues must first be resolved, such as project optimisation, process control and standardisation. The aim of this investment project is to resolve these issues by upgrading the equipment of the Integrated Additive Manufacturing (IAM@PoliTo) Interdepartmental Centre, which is the heart of the offer of the Piedmont Region’s Competence Centre, in order to improve the services provided to companies.

Total cost of the project: €3,912,000

Grant to the Politecnico di Torino as part of the INFRA P call for tender: €1,965,000

DynLab4JMat – Laboratory for the Structural Integrity of Joints and Materials under Dynamic Loads

The aim of the RI is to set up a reference structure to assess the structural integrity of joints and innovative materials under dynamic loads.

As confirmed by the expressions of interest from companies and institutions, the RI will play a fundamental role in international research and will be a useful and necessary tool supporting the industrial fabric’s shift towards the development of innovative joints and materials for structural application in several fields related to mechanics in general, such as automotive, aerospace, mechatronics, railway, marine, energy and defence.

The non-destructive testing of the internal fault of joints and materials and the assessment of their experimental response in the event of cyclic and dynamic extreme loads will be the essential features of the RI which, over the years, will become a hub for financing from collaborations with companies and research projects.

Total cost of the project: €2,970,000

Grant to the Politecnico di Torino as part of the INFRA P call for tender: €1,485,000

FIP – Photonic Technologies for Industry 4.0 in the Piedmont Region

FIP’s aim is to strengthen PhotoNext RI’s services to companies – specifically, SMEs – in order to exploit the potential of photonics in the Industry 4.0 field. PhotoNext is an interdepartmental centre which covers the full chain, from materials, to lasers, sensors and transmission systems. The specific goal is the provide the RI with the tools necessary to develop new laser sources for material processing purposes and to manufacture sensors to monitor the process and smart structures.

Total cost of the project: €1,991,000

Grant to the Politecnico di Torino as part of the INFRA P call for tender: €995,500

TEST-eDrive – New e-DRIVE test infrastructure for automotive and aerospace applications

The aim of the TEST e-DRIVE project is to strengthen the testing of electric drives for automotive and aerospace applications, using a next-generation test bench equipped with sophisticated acquisition systems and safety devices. The test bench will cover part of the Enertronics Lab of the Energy Department and the PEIC Interdepartmental Centre. The infrastructure will benefit the local area, offering development and testing opportunities which are not currently available in the Piedmont Region or in Italy.

Total cost of the project: €700,000

Grant to the Politecnico di Torino as part of the INFRA P call for tender: €350,000

CCL - CO2 Circle LAB

Management of anthropogenic CO2 emissions into the atmosphere is undoubtedly a current challenge but is also a potential and extraordinary driver of innovation, at both research and technological and industrial development level. With a view to sustainable economy, IIT and the Politecnico di Torino propose upgrading the existing laboratories at the Politecnico di Torino and the Environment Park, by setting up a RI that fosters cooperation between fundamental and applied research, while activating and consolidating major scientific and technological collaborations with several industrial sectors. The RI will focus on the development of innovative biotechnological, electrochemical and thermochemical processes to obtain high-added value products from renewable raw materials (CO2, biomass), ensuring sustainable process management and using the modelling of scenarios for a solid analysis of energy strategies.

Total cost of the project: €3,596,180

Grant to the Politecnico di Torino as part of the INFRA P call for tender: €1,221,811

Project in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Technology (as the head)

PiqueT - Piemonte Quantum Enabling Technology

As part of enabling technologies (KET), the emerging quantum technologies, the evolution of nanotechnologies and of photonics are an important source of growth and innovation for the industry in a wide range of segments, with a strategic role for Piedmont’s S3. PiQuET is a technological facility which streamlines and enhances the existing facilities, makes them available to the local area and acts horizontally on the strategic industrial chains to increase competition and productivity. The RI focuses on synergic sectors: development of materials, devices and micro/nanostructured sensors, microphotonic and optical-based quantum communication, developing innovative systems for the industry and enabling sophisticated and secure sensor networks. The research centres share their tools, complement them with a new significant investment and place them in a new lab equipped with cutting-edge systems based at the TNE in Turin, Corso Settembrini 178. This RI will be unique in Italy as it introduces a new state-of-the-art infrastructure, creates a critical mass of skills and tools of research centres and launches a permanent collaboration between research centres and the industry, promoting industrial take-up, patents and a business plan which creates new employment.

Total cost of the project: €6 million

Grant to the Politecnico di Torino as part of the INFRA P call for tender (co-beneficiary): €900,000

Project in collaboration with INRIM (coordinator) and the University of Turin (co-beneficiary)

HPC4AI – High-performance computing and Artificial Intelligence Centre of Expertise

The aim of the project is to set up a high-performance open and scalable centre of expertise for artificial intelligence with applications based on the S3 strategy: health, agri-business, mechatronics, automotive, aerospace. The centre is made up of a distributed federation of research centres which complement the enabling technologies for the operation and sustainability of the centre. These include, for example, High-Performance Computing (HPC), IoT, Machine Learning and Big Data Analytics.

The RI, which is comprised of 4 federated green data centres, will be made easily accessible through cloud-based services. In order to maximise the technology transfer, the centre will operate through the co-design of applications and technological solutions. It will provide highly-specialised support to promote innovation and develop the skills of local companies, thereby triggering the expansion of market opportunities.

Total cost of the project: €4.5 million

Grant to the Politecnico di Torino as part of the INFRA P call for tender (co-beneficiary): €750,000

Project in collaboration with the University of Turin (coordinator)

SAX – Advanced instruments for complex systems

The SAX project envisages the extension and upgrading of the services offered to the companies and the research institutes of the UniTO NIS Interdepartmental Centre (www.nis.unito.it), in partnership with PoliTO DISAT (www.disat.polito.it) by acquiring multiple accessory FEG-SEM tools for digitalised microtomography RX and RX diffractometry to build an innovative set of regional and domestic tools to study materials and systems relevant to the innovation areas of the production system identified by the S3 regional strategy.

The implementation of this project expands the networking opportunities already in place among Turin universities and their business incubators and creates new ones for a future regional competence centre.

Total cost of the project: €2.5 million

Grant to the Politecnico di Torino as part of the INFRA P call for tender (co-beneficiary): €200,000

Project in collaboration with the University of Turin (coordinator)