Once again this year, several Bachelor's degree graduates from SUPSI's Department of Environment Construction and Design (DACD) and Department of Innovative Technologies (DTI) were honored, along with those who completed their degrees at the University of Lugano and professional schools in the Canton of Ticino.
The support of the PREMIOSWISSENGINEERINGTICINO Foundation is invaluable and a sign of its continued focus on young people entering the world of work.
Alessandro Plantera and Simone Ferrario were awarded the SUPSI Bachelor Prize, which amounts to 1,000 francs per graduate.
Alessandro Plantera received a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication graduating with the thesis ATLARC - Generous Interfaces for Cultural Archives with advisor Giovanni Profeta, a Researcher at the Design Institute who teaches the course “Interaction design,” and advising Roberta Martinis, an architectural historian, researcher and lecturer. Alessandro developed digital interfaces to enable the use of an archive that collects images of modern architectural buildings. He, therefore, implemented an interactive prototype both by drawing on data already in the database-archive and by generating more by resorting to artificial intelligence. The prototype was designed as a tool for architecture students so as to provide them with an overview of the architectural heritage through a series of graphical representations of the archive's metadata: a timeline, a map, a word cloud and a network.
Simone Ferrario received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science Engineering and graduated with the thesis Inside - Indoor Localization, supervised by Salvatore Vanini, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Information Systems and Networking (ISIN). The project concerns the development of a WiFi-based indoor localization system for navigation and analysis of location data. After a study of location techniques, an app was built that uses Machine Learning to mitigate WiFi issues and increase location accuracy. The system shows the location of a device in real time, with accuracy of about two meters, providing a map of space occupancy in a building.
Talenticino scholarships worth 3,000 francs each, granted to those who continue their path by enrolling in a Master's program, were awarded to Alice Mioni (SUPSI), Victoria Jabbour (USI) and David-Natanael Robu (USI).
Alice Mioni received the Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual Communication and graduated with the thesis dB(CH) - Beyond Noise with thesis advisor Antonella Autuori, teaching and research assistant at the Master of Arts in Interaction Design (which Alice is now attending). Noise pollution, although invisible, is a growing issue that requires special attention. Alice's thesis project aims to make the invisible tangible by transforming noise pollution data into an accessible, interactive, and engaging visual representation. Alice developed a series of communicative artifacts to raise awareness, inform and engage citizens on the issue of road noise pollution: a responsive pattern to road noise, a FlipBook for Swiss institutions, and two digital communication tools to raise awareness and inform, namely a digital billboard display and a prototype of a mobile application.
In addition, awards were given to the best SUPSI thesis project presentations: that of Simone Guggiari (graduate of the Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering) and Riccardo Fiorini (graduate of the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering).
Simone Guggiari presented New bicycle and pedestrian footbridge over the Cassarate River (thesis advisor Engineer Stefano Bernasconi). The project deals with the refurbishment of the existing footbridges at the entry point between the Cassarate River and the Cassone Creek in Lugano. The purpose of the new construction is to improve slow mobility traffic by evolving the route to a bicycle path, due to the insufficient dimensions of the existing one, ensuring an adequate territorial insertion and respecting formal and structural care requirements. As for the intervention on the Cassarate River, the project includes a renaturation of the banks to facilitate its accessibility.
Riccardo Fiorini presented the thesis Flexible Test Bench, with supervisor Roberto Robortella, Researcher at the Institute of Systems and Applied Electronics (ISEA). The Flexible Test Bench is a multifunction device, conceived designed and built from scratch, capable of acquiring signals by acting as an oscilloscope, generating variable waveforms, powering external electronics, controlling motors (brushless three-phase, DC, stepper), reading industrial resistance thermometers, and interpreting BUS communication protocols. It consists of a master board and slave boards dedicated to specific functions. By fabricating slave boards, it is versatile and, with little software, any electronic circuit can be tested with very little expense.
Finally, a grant was awarded for the best ongoing projects at the Startup Garage, the educational laboratory of the Department of Innovative Technologies dedicated to those who intend to develop their entrepreneurial spirit. For the 2024 edition, Ester Andreina Gonzàlez Lòpez and Samuele Di Giovanni were awarded for their projects Jinca.se and Coating with graphene aerogel spray for solar panels and cars.
The ceremony was attended by Prof. Milena Properzi, Director of the Department of Innovative Technologies at SUPSI, and Prof. Jean-Pierre Candeloro, Director of the Department of Environment Construction and Design. The award ceremony provided a valuable opportunity for representatives of partner companies, institutions, universities and universities of applied sciences to meet.