The commitment to the enhancement of young talents and the dissemination of the STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) are at the heart of Leonardo's participation in the Leonardo Laureae Award initiative, an association for the promotion of made in Italy in the world. The award was given today by Leonardo to Mara Tonietti, a recent graduate in mechanical engineering from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, during the Italian Quality Day. The event took place in the presence, among others, 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 Committee Leonardo, Luisa Todini, of the President of the ICE Agency, Carlo Ferro and of the President of Confindustria, Vincenzo Boccia.
"Technological innovation plays a key role in the growth of the country", underlines Alessandro Profumo, CEO of Leonardo. “It is with this objective that Leonardo is strongly committed to the dissemination, among the new generations, of scientific skills capable of feeding that fundamental human capital for companies that aim at 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 it is able to inspire other girls to follow STEM paths in a sector that currently has a predominant male presence ”.
The winning thesis focuses on the predictive analysis of the psychophysical conditions of people driving vehicles with the aim of increasing road safety. The study, functional to the definition of a method of recognition of the mental load (workload), is based on the examination of the variation of the psychophysical parameters of the driver through experimental tests. The variation of these parameters and driving performance was monitored with real-time analysis through a wearable biometric sensor, an eye tracker and the data collected by a simulator.
The study is part of a trend that has long been under the attention of Leonardo, 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 Helicopters Division, in collaboration with the “G. d'Annunzio ”of Chieti-Pescara and the company Next2U srl, with the involvement of the Army Aviation. The ISMS (Infrared Stress Monitoring System) analyzes the cognitive load of pilots and co-pilots during flight operations, through the examination of objective psychophysical indices, studying the modulation of the neurovegetative system activity. In particular, thanks to infrared technologies, with the use of a thermal imaging camera it is possible to identify the so-called "emotional variations" of an individual: measurable parameters through a set of reactions - from heartbeat, to breathing, to the release of hormones, to metabolic control - which affect the skin temperature of certain areas of the face. The thermal data detected by the thermal imager constitute an objective indicator of cognitive stress measurement. The system, which can find a wide range of applications, will be used directly on board aircraft in the near future.