Department of ENGINEERING “ENZO FERRARI”, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

July 6, afternoon

UNIMORE has a longstanding tradition (it was founded in 1175) and is considered one of the best universities in Italy for teaching and research. It is ranked 2nd among public universities according to Italy's leading financial daily, 4th place among the research conducted by the best custom writing service https://bestwritingservice.com/ and among the top 8 medium-sized Italian universities by the Times Higher Education Ranking 2011-2012. UNIMORE, which has just over 19,000 students including 3,500 postgraduates, is large enough to offer all the facilities one would expect from a major university (well-stocked libraries, computer rooms, free internet connection and study support services) but small enough to retain a personal and friendly learning environment. UNIMORE is composed of 14 Departments, offering a wide range of degree programmes at undergraduate level, right up to doctoral studies in most disciplinary areas, from the humanities and social sciences to engineering and technology, and from physical and natural sciences to medicine and life sciences.

The Department of Engineering "Enzo Ferrari" was founded in 1990. It is located in the heart of one of Europe's wealthiest and most dynamic regions, which is world-renowned for its production of mechanical parts, engines, sports cars (e.g. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Pagani, Maserati, etc.) as well as for its agro-food sector, ceramic tiles and manufacturing industries. Its main building, which covers more than 160,000 sqm, meets the highest teaching and research requirements. The Department regularly cooperates with renowned firms in the car manufacturing, chemical, mechanical, ceramics and biomedical fields, as well as enterprises in the sectors of information technology, telecommunications and industrial electronics. The Department has benefited from this productive network, and over the years it has improved and has further developed the high quality level  of its research and technological application. Its graduates can easily find employment, thanks to the training opportunities offered (apprenticeships and work placements). These experiences offer students the chance of further developing the knowledge acquired during the academic program and of taking a closer look at the job market.

The Department has recently launched also a new international course about automotive engineering, taking part to the Motorvehicle University of Emilia-Romagna (MUNER). This is an association which was strongly advocated by the Emilia-Romagna Region, and it was created thanks to a synergetic connection among universities that are synonymous with advanced training – University of Bologna, University of Ferrara, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and University of Parma - and the automakers that represent the excellence of Made in Italy in the world and are historically rooted in this territory: Automobili Lamborghini, Dallara, Ducati, Ferrari, Haas F1 Team, HPE Coxa, Magneti Marelli, Maserati e Toro Rosso. 

The visits will make you enter in some of the most advanced Labs where academic and industrial researchers as well as PhD students work together to develop outstading research on the most significant topics in automotive and mechanical engineering.

Visits at LABS:

1. ViPLab - Virtual Prototyping Lab

ViPLab focuses on Human-Centered Design and Simulation for Industry 4.0, thanks to the use of Virtual Reality technologies and Human simulation - Human monitoring tools. Research at ViPLab is focused on putting HUMANS at the centre of the design process and facilitating the adoption of DfX methods. The Lab offers an immersive 3D experience for viewing complex systems and simulating their behaviour within an interactive virtual environment, promoting collaborative approaches. The main applications are: High-quality aesthetic rendering with high level of realism and immersion, Advanced animations to optimize product-process behaviours, Usability analysis according experimental evaluation protocols, Analysis of physical and cognitive ergonomics, Motion tracking and post-processing of user actions, Virtual assembly / disassembly / maintenance, Virtual training, Simulation of the production line and optimization of tasks, layout, and flows, Simulation of human-robot collaborative tasks.

2. AImageLab

Research at AImageLab covers topics of Computer Vision, Pattern Recognition & Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Multimedia applied to optical images and videos as well as data from different sensors. Among the others, the main application fields are Vision for Automotive, Video surveillance, Machine vision and robot vision, Medical imaging, Human-centered Multimedia, Content-based retrieval, People detection and tracking, Human behaviour understanding.

3. MilleChili Lab

MilleChili is a Academic Lab working in the field of the automotive chassis design, optimization and innovation. It was founded in 2009 by the machine design group of DIEF (Dep. of Engineering "Enzo Ferrari") and Ferrari S.p.A. with the objective of effectively transferring and linking the technology and know-how from the world of research to the world of industry. It represents a cross-project in which students are working on light-weight car design. The Millechili vision is based on the principle that there is no innovation without research. During the years, a competent and dynamic working group has been developed and has succeeded in gaining the trust of many important companies in the automotive field and in the advanced mechanics. Millechili Lab has considerable longstanding and recognised expertise in the understanding and modelling of structures and mechanical components by advanced numerical and experimental techniques. Specific areas of interest are: Materials characterization and FE correlation, Composite materials, Crash simulation, Structural and parametric design optimization, Validation testing and failure analysis.

4. Vibration and Powertrain Lab

The main topics of research are referred to mechanics area, from modelling of mechanical transmissions, to finite elements analysis (deformation, stress, evaluation of the transmission error) until dynamic models and optimization. The scientific research is about shell structures, gear modelling, perturbation methods, moving loads, dynamic absorbers, including the definition of setups for vibration measurements on spur gear pairs and setups for stress analysis and endurance tests on medium power gear boxes, and development of software for gear analysis. It also offers services for modal analysis, typical modal testing and dynamic testing.

5. OPTOLab

The Optolab Laboratory (Laboratory of Optoelectronics) is focused on measurement science and in particular it is focused on the development of measurement methods and measuring systems for biomedical and industrial applications.he laboratory has decades of experience on the design and validation of electronic and optoelectronic measuring systems ranging from optical techniques such as interferometry, fluorescence spectroscopy, absorption spectroscopy and, dynamic light scattering to electric and electrochemical techniques such as impedentiometry and voltammeter.

FASiM – Formazione Avanzata e Simulazione Medica (Advanced Training and Medical Simulation)

July 6, late morning

FASiM is an avant-garde Lab for the preparation of future doctors and professionals working in the field of Medicine and Health Professions.

It adopts active and student-centered training methodologies thanks to simulators, mannequins and trainers, to acquire numerous skills necessary for health professions safely. The advanced simulation allows to recreate realistic clinical scenarios, even complex skills, such as facing emergencies and working in interdisciplinary and inter-professional groups. These teaching methods therefore contribute to safeguarding patients, guaranteeing them reliable and safe treatment and reducing the clinical risk. The Lab also has a wide range of instruments, including an advanced adult simulator mannequin, an advanced ultrasound simulator mannequin, and numerous low fidelity and skill trainer mannequins.