The Leonardo Committee rewards young talents and companies that excel in Made in Italy. The 21 Leonardo Awards ceremony was held on 2018 March at Palazzo Barberini (Rome), awarded both to recent graduates and to companies that have distinguished themselves for quality and value.
The event took place in the presence of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, the President of the Council of Ministers Giuseppe Conte, the Minister of Economic Development Luigi Di Maio. The president of the Leonardo Luisa Todini Committee, the president of the ICE Carlo Ferro and the president of Confindustria Vincenzo Boccia also took part.
The initiative, like every year, is promoted by the Leonardo Committee, which brings together the country's companies for a total turnover of 360 billion euros.
The Leonardo prize, in the year of the 500th anniversary of the death of the genius after which it is named, goes to Elena Zambon, president of the pharmaceutical multinational founded in Vicenza in 1906 and present in 20 countries.
During the ceremony, the Leonardo Qualità Italia awards were also presented to the La Molisana pasta factory with the president Giuseppe Ferro, Tecnica Group with the president Alberto Zanatta and Venchi with the president and CEO Daniele Ferrero. The Leonardo International award to the president of the Weichai group and the Ferretti group Tan Xuguang, and the Leonardo Start Up award to Omnidermal Biomedics.
As for young talents, during the ceremony 10 Degree Awards were also presented, financed by entrepreneurs who are members of the Leonardo Committee, to young people who discussed the best theses on the excellence of Made Italy. In this context, Leonardo spa, a member of the committee, awarded the prize to Mara Tonietti, a recent graduate in mechanical engineering at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia for a thesis focused on the predictive analysis of the psychophysical conditions of people driving vehicles with the goal of increasing road safety.
A study that “fits into a trend that Leonardo has been paying attention to for some time, relating to the assessment of the cognitive load and the stress level of flight operators. In fact, the research program launched by the company's Helicopter Division goes in this direction, in collaboration with the “G. d'Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara and the company Next2U srl, with the involvement of the Army Aviation” reads the note from the company.
“Technological innovation plays a key role in the country's growth”, underlines Alessandro Profumo, Leonardo's CEO. “It is with this objective in mind that Leonardo is strongly committed to the dissemination, among the new generations, of scientific skills capable of nourishing that fundamental human capital for companies aiming for long-term competitiveness. But human capital also needs gender diversity. The prize awarded today to a young female engineer - adds Profumo - will therefore have even greater value if she is able to inspire other girls to follow STEM paths in a sector that currently has a predominantly male presence".
