The thirteenth edition of the Festival of Innovation and Science kicked off in Settimo Torinese on October 5, this year tackling the theme of balance in scientific, technological, social and ethical contexts. Organized by the Municipality of Settimo through the ECM foundation, the festival splits into two parts: during the week, the program targets schools with laboratories, conferences, shows and exhibitions, while weekend activities reach a broader audience with meetings, performances and shared experiences.
Italian Institute of Technology will participate with its researchers starting Friday, October 10: the first event will be a special educational guidance session for high school students; following that, the weekend brings a meeting dedicated to green biotechnology and a booth set up inside the Science Village.
Friday, October 10 at the Archimede Library will feature the event Science Shots: Science in small doses for a better educational guidance. A group of young researchers from various IIT Centers will gather in Settimo Torinese to meet high school classes and present their research work in a simple, engaging way. Genomics, neuroscience, robotics and chemistry will take the stage, thanks to presentations by Gaia Treves, fellow at the Center for Clinical and Computational Genomics (C3G) in Aosta, Edoardo Porzano, PhD student at the Center for Synaptic Neuroscience and Technology (CSNT) in Genoa, Giulia Pusceddu, postdoc at the Center for Human Technologies (CHT) in Genoa, and Daniele Sassone, postdoc at the Center for Sustainable Future Technologies (CSFT) in Turin. The four presentations will be followed by a Q&A session where classes can explore their interests in the disciplines and study paths presented. At the event’s conclusion, students will vote for the most fascinating discipline.
Saturday, October 11 at 2:30 PM at the Archimede Library, researchers Valeria Agostino and Annalisa Abdel Azim will talk about bacteria and microalgae abilities in the meeting When microorganisms save the planet: green biotechnology for a sustainable future. Agostino works at the Center for Sustainable Future Technologies in Turin and coordinates the European project “GoodByO,” and Azim works at Politecnico di Torino, is affiliated with IIT and leads the “MOBI – Microbial Ore Bioleaching” project. Together they will present projects developed in the Piedmont region and explain how microorganisms can transform waste materials into useful matter, thereby reducing pollution caused by human activities without resorting to environmentally harmful processes.
Sunday, October 12, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Piazza Campidoglio will be the stage of the Science Village, an outdoor village where various research institutions bring interactive experiments, laboratories, demonstrations and activities for everyone curious to experience research and innovation up close. IIT will set up a booth to showcase biotechnology research from the Center for Sustainable Future Technologies in Turin; the Center, dedicated to ecological transition, harnesses CO₂ and industrial liquid waste streams through microorganisms, transforming them into useful products, and recovers critical metals from industrial wastewater and electronic waste while producing biohydrogen.
