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February 6, 2013
Italian industry-academic collaboration on breakthrough innovation
Gerald Ondrey
An official ceremony took place today with Giovanni Azzone, rector of Politecnico di Milano (www.polimi.it), and Fabrizio Di Amato, CEO and chairman of Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. (www.mairetecnimont.com) for the signature of a framework agreement for a scientific collaboration between Maire Tecnimont Group and Politecnico di Milano University in Breakthrough Innovation, so-called radical innovation.
The purpose of the project, being part of a long collaboration process between Maire Tecnimont Group engineers and Politecnico di Milano professors, is to broaden the range of the Maire Tecnimont Group technologies in the Oil & Gas, Petrochemicals, Fertilizers and Power sectors.
The value of the three-year framework agreement for the first year amounts to €250,000, including both the financing to Politecnico di Milano and the internal activities of Maire Tecnimont specialists. The project will be coordinated by the Maire Tecnimont Innovation Center (MTIC), the Group reference center dedicated to innovation, research and development, which is under the responsibility of Pejman Djavdan, Technology President.
The first two research contracts kicking off this collaboration will regard: 1) catalytic processes for the production of olefins from CO2, having the purpose to recover carbon dioxide by using it as raw material for the petrochemical industry through the use of renewable energy sources; 2) processes for the efficiency improvement of fertilizers (urea) to reduce the losses caused by soil microorganisms and enzymes and to increase absorption by plants.
By this collaboration Maire Tecnimont aims at further strengthening the Group technology component in its core business.
This important project adds up to the already existing initiatives between Maire Tecnimont Group and leading Italian and foreign academic institutes. In particular, with Politecnico di Milano some research contracts have already been entered into in the framework of acid gas treatment and CO2 recovery as well as other educational projects. Overall, the Group’s commitment in research and development activities with Politecnico di Milano in the last three-year period amounts to €700,000, including the agreements signed on today’s date.
“We are very happy about the stipulation of this important agreement which marks the continuation of a long-lasting collaboration process between the Maire Tecnimont Group and an Italian academic excellence like Politecnico di Milano “ says Di Amato. “Our Group has always trusted in innovation as a key factor for competitiveness growth”.
“The collaboration with international players like Maire Tecnimont are fundamental for us," says Azzone, "as this enables us to operate in a cutting edge research context strictly related to industry. This gives us the opportunity to contribute to innovation in strategic research sectors, one of the main objectives of a technical-scientific university like ours”.
