2nd edition of the prize “Technology for human beings”

“Technology for Human Beings”: the 2^nd editionof the prize for the thesis competition promoted by Prysmian and Human Foundation has ended

Six young students awarded for their degree thesis on new technologies for sustainable development

The second edition of “Technology for Human Beings”, the degree thesis competition aimed at students of Bachelor’s and Master’s degree courses in engineering, physics and materials science launched by Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, in partnership with Human Foundation, which operates in the social innovation field, has ended.

Developed within the framework of Prysmian’s Sustainability Plan and inspired to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the contest focuses on the applicability of new technologies for sustainable development.Out of the 43 theses received, assessed on the basis of criteria of their originality and quality of research, six (three Bachelor’s degree and 3 Master's degree theses) received awards today during the Annual Meeting of Human Foundation, held in Rome at FondazioneExclusiva. The theses have been selected by a Commission made up of Attilio Citterio, Professor at the Polytechnic of Milan, "Giulio Natta" Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering; Marcelo Andrade, Prysmian Group Research & Development SVP; Roberto Galimberti, Vice President of Human Foundation and electronic engineering expert, and former lecturer of IT and telecommunications at the Polytechnic of Milan.

The young winners of the competition come from universities throughout Italy: for the Bachelor degree category, the winners were: Natalia Scarcelli (first place, University of Calabria, Cosenza), Eugenio Roberti (University of Tor Vergata, Rome) and Luca Longoni (University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan); for the Master degree’s category, the winners were: Simone Ghio (first place, Polytechnic University of Turin), Nicola Viafora (University of Padua) and Luca Buono (University of Palermo). All six of the students selected received a cash prize, and the top students in each category were also offered a six-month internship at Prysmian.

“After the success of the first edition, we are extremely satisfied with the results achieved this year, in terms of both the number of candidates — nearly twice last year’s level — and the quality of the submissions,” commented Lorenzo Caruso, Business and Corporate Communications Director, Prysmian Group. “This edition of the competition was extended to a greater number of disciplines, so as to offer opportunities to more students and thus recognize innovative studies of sustainable technologies related to the fields of application in which we operate.”

Bartolomeo D’Agostino, among the winners of the first edition of the competition, now works in Milan on the Cable Design team based at the Research and Development headquarters. “This competition represents an important opportunity to put our skills and abilities into practice,” he commented, “as well as a path towards employment at a company that has a strong international and multicultural orientation, but that above all is a model in terms of corporate sustainability practices.”

“We are particularly proud to have continued this important project for the second year together with Prysmian,” stated Giovanna Melandri, President of Human Foundation. “Technology for Human Beings allows us to provide Italy’s most talented graduates not only with recognition in the tangible form of a prize that they can invest in their futures, but also a chance at a learning opportunity at a major company of the calibre of Prysmian.”