17
«
The relationship with the territory is a
matter very close to Engineer Dallara’s and
Engineer Pontremoli’s heart. In the actual
global context the challenge is no longer
among companies only, it includes
territorial systems, which will compete for
the future. These systems are built up by
people, laws and companies working on
given territories. The latter ones use the
others to better compete on the
international markets. The relationship with
universities and high schools on the
territory plays an extremely important
strategic role. In 2008 we started to host
Formula SAE at Varano, it’s a project we
will continue working on, but in 2009 we
also created free courses for unemployed
people on the territory (thanks also to the
financings of Region Emilia-Romagna and
the Province of Parma), working in
collaboration with organizations like Centri
Servizi PMI in Parma and FormaFuturo in
Fornovo».
Could you please give us more details?
«
Yes, It started with twelve young people
who finished high school but couldn’t find a
job and hadn’t the will or the possibility to
enter university. We gave them the
opportunity to get the grade in mechanical
design (given by Region Emilia-Romagna
and recognized at European level). This year
the project reached its fourth edition and
the response, in terms of number of people
taking part in it, has been really good. Last
December 4th has started the course to
obtain the grade, recognized at regional
level, of technician in mechanical products
process, with specialization in compound
materials. In addition to the 500 hours
attendance required, students will attend,
Saturday mornings, 50 hours in a
laboratory where they will learn how to
handle and use compound materials.
Together with other companies on the
territory – Cedacri, Turbocoating, A2, Acmi
(
maybe shortly Barilla will join in) – we
created the first Technical Scientific
Committee (CTS) of the Parma Province and
in collaboration with Institute Gadda based
in Fornovo di Taro. CTS is composed of
teachers and representatives of the
companies involved, it has advisory and
propositional functions regarding the choice
of the type of courses, the formative
organization and the areas offered by
schools. Its major objective is to identify an
effective link between education and the
needs of the territory with regard to the
productive requirements.
We’ve been working together with high
school teachers finding orientation activities
for junior high schools pupils. Sometimes
youngsters enter the Parma high schools
without knowing that the territory can offer
other educational opportunities. We’ve
organized an open-day at the institute in
order to help students and their families to
find guidance in their choice. Since the
companies’ common requirements are the
knowledge of English, mechanical design
and computer science, we have provided
some afternoon courses, offering the
possibility to get the English First Certificate,
the CAD design certificate and the European
ECDL patent (for the most praiseworthy
students grants will be provided)».
The CTS purpose is to become a collection
moment in the province?
«
Our idea has been to work on Formula
SAE, on courses for unemployed people and
on CTS to promote the technical scientific
culture. CTS is very important to us but also
preparatory for further initiatives. With the
2007
reform (by Fioroni-Bersani),
unfortunately not very known, Italy
borrowed from Germany the idea of
territorial poles. Region Emilia-Romagna,
assigned a pole to each province: Bologna
has the automation and mechanic one,
Modena materials, Reggio Emilia
mechatronics, Parma food and agriculture.
The poles are a net among companies, high
schools, universities and institutes and can
be created also at inter-province and inter-
regional level. Their purpose is to support a
high level educational and formation
system specialized in high technology,
integrated to the production needs on the
territory. As far as concern our territory we
would like to opt for the mechanical sector,
mainly the increasing sector of cluster, of
companies engaged in the study of working
compound materials. At the same time it
will be possible to offer to youngsters,
families and companies the possibility to
choose between high school education and
tertiary non-university education (IFTS/ITS),
vocational training and economic-
productive realities. The idea is to support
employment and development by creating
qualified workplaces and in-line with the
market requirements, maybe re-discovering
the importance and the value of manual
ability connected with knowledge, like the
“
schools of arts and crafts”. The
establishment in Fornovo of a pole for the
specialization on compound materials –
that will be the first one in Italy – goes this
way».
What is the role of these institutes?
«
Many times young people after finishing
high school do not want to or cannot keep
on studying at the university, but
nevertheless they are not skilled enough.
The IFTS institutes offer the opportunity to
get a specialization for one year (two
semesters for a total of 1000 hours
attendance), while with the ITS institutes
one can get a specialization certificate (two
years for a total of 2000 hours attendance).
Both of them have a higher value
compared to a high school diploma, even if
they do not give the same degree as
university. In this way it will be possible to
retrain the structures already in place in
Fornovo, modernizing laboratories and
implementing machineries at the
FormaFuturo organization premises.
Besides apart from the students coming
from high schools, also people who lost
their job can go to the technicalprofessional
formation pole to retrain and
have more opportunities to reinstate on the
market. Retraining ones expertise will be
important also for people who have a job
but want to be up to date: both the
companies and the single worker can
benefit from this service. It’s a very
important opportunity on the territory but
also outside it. Engineer Potremoli, for
instance, has been contacted by quite big
companies in both the aerospace and
automotive fields, attracted by the
opportunity to send to Emilia Romagna,
Fornovo, their employees in order to retrain
their technical knowledge ».
What are Dallara’s employment projects
for 2013?
«
Next year priority will be given to selection
and development. In these days we are
completing some interviews that will bring
to the company ten recent graduates
during the first semester of 2013. Next
January we will enter 5-6 persons in the
planning department, 1 in the vehicle
dynamics department and one in the
aerodynamic department. We are a steady
growing company that keeps investing
mainly in young people, and therefore in
our own future!».
Stefano Semeraro
