Innovation proceeds with great strides and in parallel the awareness of the effects of new technologies on the economy, the world of work and daily life. A focus on these issues is crucial for a reality like Leonardo, constantly engaged in the development of high-tech products through significant investments in Research and Development and a highly specialized human capital. This is how the Company's Innovation Day was born, which took place today at the Città della Scienza in Naples.
On the occasion of the event, in the presence of the Minister of Education, University and Research, Marco Bussetti, top management, representatives of institutions and the scientific world, the importance of dialogue between different technological sectors has been at the center of the round table "Innovation for contamination". Two insights into the new frontiers of technology: the first dedicated to Roboetics, that is to say, to the ethical and social impacts connected to robotics, the second to Big Data Analytics, Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence. At the end of the event, the Leonardo Innovation Award ceremony was held, the competition that has involved the Group's employees and 2015 for fifteen years. Among the winners, the project presented by the Aircraft Division of Pomigliano d'Arco (Naples), related to an innovative study on the protection of structural parts of aircraft from oxidation processes. A common feature of the projects presented is the focus on reducing the environmental impact.
"Leonardo is a large industrial group that contributes with its technologies to guarantee the safety of citizens, that trusts in research, that wants to be recognized as an incubator of innovative ideas and that is committed to enhancing those territories and those resources that produce ideas" . Underlines the President of Leonardo, Giovanni De Gennaro. “Today's event is a way to underline the role of incubator of innovative ideas that the company represents. In Leonardo we must be open and welcoming, we must stand out, be recognized, we must attract talents, we must know how to listen, as taught by the 'Universal Genius' from which we have drawn our brand. And there is no alternative - concludes De Gennaro - because innovation is the best insurance we can take out for a future that is up to our past ”.
"For Leonardo - underlines the CEO, Alessandro Profumo - innovating means above all putting resources and creativity together inside and outside the Company in a sort of positive 'contamination': towards the outside, in a cooperation between the company, the world of scientific research and the production chain; internally, sharing the Group's ideas, skills and abilities to offer our customers high-tech, integrated and innovative solutions. IS
this is the winning key to foster technological progress, competitiveness and growth, not only for Leonardo - observes Profumo - but also for the territories and communities in which we operate ”.
Innovation Day is an event entirely dedicated to new technologies, in an industrial sector - Aerospace, Defense and Security (AD &, S) - with a high intensity of knowledge and which considers environmental challenges an essential element. The event offers the opportunity to reveal the complexity of Leonardo's products, platforms and systems: a large exhibition area has been dedicated to the technological heritage of the Company, capable of representing the effects in a tangible way, sometimes not immediately perceptible, of the innovations developed by Leonardo on daily life, with particular reference to the safety and protection of people.
At the exhibition, divided into thematic areas, it was possible to touch innovative technologies and materials such as a section of the Boeing 787 carbon fiber fuselage and a Kronos radar for terrestrial and naval applications with its radiating elements. And, furthermore, to know the new frontiers of virtual reality thanks to latest generation immersive reality systems, to deepen research projects on electric propulsion aircraft, to observe the auger that will pierce the Martian soil in search of signs of life in the Planet Red as part of the ExoMars 2020 mission.
On the occasion of the event the final ceremony of the Leonardo Innovation Award was also held, an initiative to which, from the first edition of 2004, 30.000 employees of the Group took part who gave birth to 10.000 innovative projects and patent proposals. In this year's edition, studied in coherence with the objectives of the 2018-2022 Business Plan, about 750 internal projects were presented, 8% more than 2017, of which about 40% coming from abroad. Furthermore, 24.000 contacts have been registered on the institutional website for the competition dedicated to university students, with prizes to be awarded and business internships. During the Innovation Day, the students of the universities, among the protagonists of Leonardo's activities for the dissemination of scientific citizenship among the new generations, in line with the fourth SDGs of the UN Agenda 2030, were involved in a direct confrontation with the responsible for Engineering of the various Divisions of the Group. The purpose of the meeting was to investigate the issues related to new technological trends, the centrality of the world of universities and scientific research and the need for companies to network, in line with the strategy of collaborative innovation promoted by Leonardo .
During the event, a pilot project of technological transfer was presented, a real patent marketplace, related to Leonardo's technologies that will be made available, through a concession under license, to Italian industry and research. The initiative, born from the expertise of Leonardo and carried out in collaboration with the Piedmontese Mesap technological center, allows the meeting of supply and demand to meet the needs of SMEs and others, who want to develop innovative technological paths.
Leonardo: the numbers of innovation
In 2017, the resources invested by Leonardo in Research & Development (R&D) amounted to approximately 1,5 billion euros, 13% of company revenues, compared to over 9.000 employees directly engaged in this activity (between Engineering and CTO), equal to about 20% of the Company's total employees. Of these, 6.200 are based in Italy and represent almost 7% of the R&D employees in the Italian manufacturing sector and about 10% of the employees employed in the medium-high technology sectors operating on the national territory.
Leonardo's contribution to the country's total R&D expenditure is very significant: considering only the portion of expenditure allocated in Italy, Leonardo represents 16,8% of R&D expenditure in the high and medium-high technology sectors of the country and 10,9% of the total direct investments in R&D of Italian manufacturing companies.
Leonardo's patent portfolio has recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) close to 5% in the last decade. Furthermore, about 19% of patents in the company portfolio contributed to the Innovation Award and, of these, 91% found application in Leonardo's systems, products and services.
The Company has developed a solid network with Research Institutions, Universities and SMEs in an innovation ecosystem: Leonardo has assets in addition to 200 projects and research partnerships with 93 Universities and Research Centers all over the world, of which 48 in Italy, involving about 40% of Italian universities.
The winners of the Leonardo 2018 Innovation Award
Award for university students: Established in the 2015, the Award is aimed at university students of the scientific faculties and, for the first time this year, of economics, with the aim of enhancing their talent and ideas. The competition proposed to candidates, divided into the categories of students / graduates and PhD students, the development of an innovative project, with reference to specific areas of research with impact on the business activities of Leonardo: Virtual Reality, Blockchain, Cognitive Systems, Circular Economy .
First Prize for Students / New Graduates: Matteo Sacchetti (Polytechnic of Milan), Virtual Reality, Glove Controller. The project concerns a remote control system, in the specific case concerning flight, realized in the form of a sensory glove, for the management of complex processes, such as the control of a drone. The project consists of a sensorial glove and a drone, managed through flight controllers and Arduino and a series of additional sensors. The proposed solution allows the management of more complex tasks than those managed with conventional methods (joystick) and is therefore aligned with the needs of Leonardo in the management of remote control platforms.
Second Prize for Students / New Graduates: Matteo Buffagni (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), Blockchain, Blockchain for aeronautical maintenance. The aim of the project is to apply blockchain technology to store, in an immutable and secure way, data relating to the overhaul and maintenance of aircraft in digital and distributed registers. A physical maintenance log for an aircraft can be lost or destroyed, and if it is on paper it greatly complicates inspections in terms of cost and time. It is also exposed to attempts of fraudulent activity that could damage its reliability in the eyes of outsiders. The project therefore offers greater security and accessibility of maintenance data.
Third Prize for Students / Graduates: Vincenzo Pantone, Amelita Grazia Laurenza and Teresa Pantone, (University of Bari) Circular Economy, SOBER. The current social, economic and environmental context requires an industrial approach in line with Green Chemistry, with the aim of using raw materials of plant origin. In this way, we pass from a linear economy model to a circular economy model. In this context the SOBRERO project was born, which focuses on the possibility of synthesizing bio-based binders to be used in solid propellants, which are nowadays used for aerospace propulsion. The replacement of the polyurethane binder of petrochemical origin with a similar binder from renewable sources would bring numerous advantages in terms of environmental sustainability. Furthermore, the synthesis of bio-based products as an alternative to that of naturally limited fossil raw materials supports the long-term sustainability of solutions.
First Doctoral / Phd Award: Antonino Galletta, (University of Messina), Blockchain, How the Blockchain Can Revolutionize Air Transport. The aim of the project is to create a platform based on blockchain technology that allows airport operators to quickly and reliably verify the identity of passengers, with consequent economic savings for the community. The solution will also make it possible to overcome the problem of irregular passengers who manage to evade controls and enter foreign countries without having requested a visa or even with false documents.
Second Doctoral / Phd Award: Nicola Felice Capece and Monica Gruosso, (University of Basilicata), Cognitive Systems, Use of deep learning to support security checks at airports. An approach based on deep learning is proposed to identify possible threats in the baggage check phase, with X-ray instrumentation, during boarding at the airport. The solution provides a software architecture composed of several artificial neural networks, whose cooperation makes more precise the ability to identify dangerous objects inside the baggage.
Third Doctoral / Phd Award: Paola Vesco and Gabriele Accarino (University of Venice), Cognitive Systems, An artificial intelligence tool for the migration analysis and projections. The project explores the predictive potential offered by the application of deep learning derivative mechanisms to the challenge of
forecasting in the social sciences, and in particular the forecasting of international migratory flows. An artificial neural network model is adopted to design the likely direction and timing of migration models and identify the most likely countries of origin and arrival in the medium to long term.
Employee Award
For fourteen years Leonardo has been rewarding the innovative projects of its employees all over the world. For the fourth year the projects were divided into categories: incremental innovation, which aims to bring improvement to existing products; radical innovation, ie capable of generating new products or creating opportunities in new markets for existing products and, finally, the idea category, relating to projects that do not have a business impact in the short term but can guarantee competitive advantage in the future. To these are added the award for the best patent, and, new to the 2018 edition, a recognition of the process category.
For the Incremental innovation category: Stefano Pastore, Bruno Addivinola, Augusto Albolini, Antonio Ciliberto, Lucia Cutillo and Giuseppe Stefano Gallo, Aircraft Division, Process of sulfotartar anodization for the protection of aluminum alloys. The innovation consists in the development and validation of an eco-compatible galvanic process, the Solfotartar anodization (TSA), alternative to the Chromatic Anodic Oxidation (CAA), for the corrosion protection of aluminum alloy parts. The galvanic process is the technique that allows to cover a surface with a thin layer of a metal, exploiting the electrolytic deposition. In the field of aircraft, in particular, the system is used for the protection from oxidation processes of aluminum aerostructures. By eliminating chromium from the production cycles, innovation pursues Leonardo's strategic objectives of developing technologies, materials and processes that lead to the fulfillment of the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) requirements to improve knowledge of hazards and risks from chemical products and represents a significant contribution to reducing environmental impact.
For the Radical innovation category: Filippo Rodriguez, Stefano Di Rollo, Osman Kalden, Douwe Lambers, Gian Paolo Plaia, Luca Preziosi, Roberto Ronchini and Vanessa Sicurello, Telespazio, Ionosphere prediction service for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) users. It is a platform for the prediction of the interference of solar explosions on terrestrial systems through interaction with the ionosphere. The activity of the sun produces significant effects on the ionosphere, ie the highest ionized layer of the Earth's atmosphere, which can influence the behavior of satellite navigation systems, drastically reducing their accuracy or interrupting their correct functioning. Today it is particularly interesting to predict the meteorological conditions in space: systems that help to anticipate and measure the effect of solar activity on applications and services using satellite navigation systems are therefore necessary. The beneficiaries of these forecasts include all vehicles, aircraft and vessels that use receivers based on GPS, Galileo and other systems to define and follow their route. Service delivery is based on data provided by various sensors, open source, elaborated by advanced proprietary algorithms that, also taking advantage of historical data, develop useful forecasts to mitigate the effects of magnetic interference.
For the Idea category: Marco Lopez and Eden Mei, Leonardo DRS, Quantum Weak Value Amplification (WVA) based on inertial navigation at a chip scale utilizing photonic waveguide. The aim of the project is the chip-level integration of an optical gyroscope (a fundamental sensor for the construction of inertial guidance systems, the Inertial Monitoring Unit-IMU) with potentially much higher performance than those of high-end and very large-scale IMUs. superior. The idea proposes the use of the WVA (Weak Value Amplification) methodology for the measurement of ultra-small phase displacements in the optical interferometer, which is the basis of the gyroscope.
For the best patent: Luke Alexander Pillans, Electronics Division for Land and Naval Defense, Thermal imaging calibration system and method. The patent relates to a solution capable of calibrating a thermal imaging system (infrared). Focal Plane Arrays (FPAs) consist of a matrix of pixels that often show non-uniformity of operation between them. It is therefore common to resort to calibration techniques to correct non-uniformities and improve image quality, typically performed only once, during the production phase of the thermal chamber. However, with many detector technologies it is found that pixel uniformity can change over time and performance can be improved by performing additional in situ calibrations before or during each use. The calibration system developed by Leonardo includes a shutter which, mechanically, can be moved in and out of the optical path of interest. The calibration system object of the invention can also allow a reduction in the size of the lens used in the chambers of Leonardo's FIREFLY family.
For the Processes category: Vincenzo Sabbatino, Vincenzo Arrichiello, Paolo Casanova, Alessandro Garibbo, Daniele La Rosa and Paola Savoia, Leonardo, Lunch Time Seminar. The Lunchtime Seminar (LTS) are informative presentations held every fortnight by experienced colleagues, broadcast in VDC to involve the largest number of employees. They are an innovative tool of Knowledge Management to disseminate technological know-how and promote the culture of innovation. They help to build an overview of the company's activities, thus supporting the integration of the various companies.
Special mention: Roberto Sanguini, Fabio Bello, Zaira Burlo, Alberto Clocchiatti, Salvatore D'Onofrio, Ludovica Rendine, Fabio Russo, Gabriele Tonini and Raffaele Vertucci, Helicopters Division, Support And Learning Anywhare Integrated (SALAI). SALAI is an innovative platform, which, starting from the experiences and the divisional products, aims to become the "One Leonardo" answer to the support and remote training needs of the company's maintenance technicians.