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Opening of the Unimore School of Engineering

Unimore is increasingly renowned as the national centre of excellence for scientific and technologic training and research. Following the creation of the Automotive Academy and Cyber Academy, the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia goes another decisive step further with the opening of the Unimore School of Engineering, a university institution established with the purpose of better meeting the increasing demand from local enterprises for highly-qualified professionals in the scientific and technologic field.

The new School will allow for best coordinating and rationalising the teaching activities of the following Departments: DIEF - “Enzo Ferrari” Department of Engineering, DISMI - Department of Science and Methods of Engineering, and FIM - Department of Physics, Computer Science and Mathematics.

After in-depth consultations, the decision was unanimously taken by the university bodies (Board of Directors and Senate) on Friday 27 July. [The Schools of the University are the connecting structures provided for by Art. 33 of the University Articles of Association“ Art. 33 “... are structures connecting multiple Departments, grouped under disciplinary affinity criteria, within the fields of education and services. Based on the proposal of the Departments involved, they may be established by resolution of the Board of Directors and subject to the opinion of the Academic Senate. The University Schools do not have a specific territorial connotation. The establishment, activation and participation in a School urge the Departments involved to provide the resources required for planning the training included in the School project, based on the means proposed each year by the School and approved by the Departments affected...”] 

The School will take care of the proposals for activating or cancelling study programmes and managing general services, in accordance with the autonomy and prerogatives of the individual Departments. In particular, it will promote the development of Engineering and basic Sciences, by offering training programmes that are exhaustive from every point of view in both areas. Unimore is one of the first Universities in Italy that have established the School of Engineering.

During the initial phase, the new Unimore institution involves 201 professors (96 of DIEF, 46 of DISMI, 59 of FIM); 6,605 enrolled between study programmes and post-degree programmes (4,263 DIEF, 1,533 DISMI, 809 FIM) and the training offered includes 27 three-year and/or master degree programmes (16 of DIEF, 5 of DISMI, 6 of FIM), plus 12 post-degree courses (master, specialisation courses and PhDs). 

The constituent bodies of the Unimore School of Engineering are three: the President, the Council, and the Joint Committee of professors and students. The President represents the School for all the aspects in which it is involved, supervising compliance with the laws, the Articles of Association and the rules, convening and presiding over the Council, and in collaboration with the Directors of the Departments and the Presidents of the Study programmes, checking that the teaching activities are carried out properly. During the initial phase, and for the entire academic year 2018/2019, the tasks of the President of the School will be carried out by the Rector of the University, Professor Angelo O. Andrisano.

The School is an institution that coordinates all the departments that involve engineering skills – Unimore Rector, professor Angelo O. Andrisano declared - It is going to be a reference for the entire organisation of the training offer and in particular for those interdepartmental initiatives requiring cross-cutting resources and skills. However, the School operations will go beyond the simple coordination, always proposing the best training offer by exploiting the resources available at the University and in line with the modern needs of a sector that is highly subject to fast and relevant innovation, as is the case of engineering”.

The Council coordinates and rationalises the educational and training activities provided by the Departments. More specifically, for each academic year it approves the general programming of the teaching activities and how they are logistically coordinated; it approves the class schedule, the enrolment procedures, the criteria for accessing the study programmes, and expresses a not-binding though compulsory opinion on the development plans of the Departments, as regards the teaching functions and the requests of the Departments for roles of university professors and researchers. Finally, the Council organises cultural and training activities addressed to students, collaborates to high-level training activities promoted and activated by the Departments, and designs and organises the guidance, tutoring and placement activities.

The Council of the School of Engineering includes: the three Directors of the Departments belonging to the School, two representatives of the Presidents of the Degree and Master Degree programmes of the Enzo Ferrari Department of Engineering, a representative of the Presidents of Degree and Master Degree Programmes of DISMI and one of FIM; a representative of the Department of the students enrolled in the study programmes belonging to the Departments coordinated by the School. The mandates of the above-mentioned components of the Council have a three-year duration, except for the representatives of the students whose mandate has a two-year duration and may be renewed consecutively only once. The representatives of the Presidents of the Degree Programmes will be elected by means of the one-man-one-vote system by all Presidents/coordinators of the Degree and Master Degree programmes belonging to the respective Department, whereas for the representatives of the students, the active and passive electorate is made of the components of the Councils of the three Departments belonging to the School.

The School of Engineering is a great result – the Director of DIEF, professor Alessandro Capra remarked -, achieved from a communication and growth desire of the Unimore departments of Engineering and Mathematics, Physics, and Information Technology. The School is a body that will allow for coordinating the teaching activities of engineering programmes, and represents a point of reference for the University and for the territory. Please remember how the disappearance of the Faculty of Engineering has disorientated the entrepreneurial, political and social activities, and the creation of the School of Engineering is now aimed to resolve the issue also as an identification name”.

The Director of the Department, professor Eugenio Dragoni, added that “DISMI welcomes the creation of the School of Engineering, in which propaedeutic sciences and Engineering characterising features are organically put together. The School will allow for rationalising the training offer, effectively using the resources available, and improving the educational planning. Until now, the educational coordination among the three Departments has been carried out sporadically and on a spontaneous basis. The School provides the perfect tool for each Department to best express its potentials, at the same time by acquiring a global vision on the educational interests of the University in training the engineers.

“The participation of FIM in the School of Engineering – the Director of FIM, professor Andrea Sacchetti, concluded - is an important acknowledgment of the role played by basic sciences in training the engineers, and will help improve the training offer for courses featuring a high number of students enrolled, and make it more accessible, ensure a level of contents in line with national and international standards, and at the same time offer specific contents based on the profile of the different Engineering Study Programmes. It is worth noting that the participation of FIM in the School of Engineering is also aimed at enriching the importance and specificity of the Study Programmes in Physics, Information Technology and Mathematics of FIM, with the purpose of providing exhaustive training paths. Graduates in Physics, Information Technology and Mathematics are an asset for the territory and its economy, as they represent a guarantee for the University to play an important role in training future scientists and professors. Students entering the School have more opportunities to find a highly-qualified job in all sectors of the territory, from automotive to ceramics, from biomedical to ICT”.

The third body of the School is the Joint Committee of professors and students, in charge of carrying out monitoring activities on the training offer and the quality of teaching, as well as on the student services provided by professors and researchers.  The Committee draws up an annual report containing proposals for improving the quality and the effectiveness of the teaching facilities, by expressing opinions on the activation and cancellation of Study programmes, and is made of an equal number of professors and students, according to the modalities set by the School Council. The students belonging to the Committee will be representing the various Study Programmes of the School.

Categorie: International - english

Articolo pubblicato da: Ufficio Stampa Unimore - ufficiostampa@unimore.it il 27/08/2018