The deadline for submitting applications for admission to the Master’s Degree Program in “Paper Technology and Production “Paper and Paperboard Engineering” organized by the University of Pisa opens July 27 and closes Dec. 31. To date, applications from students from non-European countries number nearly six hundred, testifying to the interest produced by the Specialized Course, unique in Italy and among the few in the world.
The Course was born from a need expressed by the paper and mechanical manufacturing sector and welcomed by the Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering of the University of Pisa, the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, and the Fondazione Lucchese per l’Alta Formazione e la Ricerca. The intent is the training of engineers with strong specialized skills and attentive to the issues of energy, sustainability and Industry 4.0 to be included in the production clusters of the paper supply chain and completing an educational cycle that traces from high school to university an offering strongly oriented to the needs of businesses. And with the aim of providing the Lucchese district with a university research hub entirely at the service of the industry to increase and speed up innovation and technology transfer in the entire supply chain.
The Course is funded by the University of Pisa, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, Assocarta, Sofidel, Celtex, Fosber, DS Smith, Toscotec, Lucart, Lucense, Andritz and Oradoc.
Confindustria Toscana Nord, Aticelca and other companies participated in the development of educational needs and offerings.
Classes are in-person in classrooms at the San Micheletto complex in Lucca. It will be possible to take advantage of the video recordings to facilitate the training of students already at work in the company.
“With this degree program, a highly specialized professional figure is created,” says Marco Frosolini, professor at the University of Pisa and president of the course, “equipped with interdisciplinary training in the processes, plants and products characteristic of the paper industry. This is why we have also chosen to confirm the substantial presence of faculty/managers who come from the industrial world. Great attention will be paid to the study and research on processes, materials and enabling technologies for the new models of Industry 4.0 and circular economy, to which the paper industry is also directing its attention. Finally, it is important to remember that the course was born with a decidedly international vocation: courses in English, contacts with European universities and institutions, with a view to arriving, in the not too distant future, at a joint course with important European universities.”
The President of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, Marcello Bertocchini, thanks “the University of Pisa for the long work of preparation necessary for the ministerial recognition of the Course and for the attention to the territory which, already manifested over the years in the scientific organization of the Master of Paper, is now expressed with the didactic and organizational commitment of the realization of a Master of Science Course. The Foundation by rules and statute cannot disburse directly to businesses. However, its commitment to educational and research projects are concrete signs of proximity and support to the business system, its training needs and innovation.”
