Campanian military training institutes, research and industry presented their current and cutting-edge aerospace activities
Thursday 23 May 2024, School for Non-Commissioned Officers of the Italian Air Force hosted the conference “Campania Region – A Territory of Excellence in Training, Research and Industry in the Aerospace Sector”, an event organised in collaboration with the Department of Engineering of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” to strengthen synergy with institutions and industries in the Campania aerospace sector.
Numerous military and civil authorities took part in the conference, including the Commander of the Schools/3rd Air Region, General S.A. Silvano Frigerio, and the Pro-Rector of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Professor Furio Cascetta, as well as representatives from the worlds of scientific research and industry. The initiative's objective is to provide an overview of the state of the art in training, research, and industrial applications generated by the Campania region in the aerospace sector, and with this in mind, the numerous university and high school students in the audience were shown – through significant examples of “success stories”– the possible training pathways and potential career opportunities in Campania in this specific sector.
The Commander of Schools/3rd Air Region, Gen. S.A. Silvano Frigerio, in welcoming the participants to the event, expressing in particular his appreciation for the presence of so many students in the audience, he focused attention on how important the synergy between government institutions, industry and research bodies in the aerospace sector is for the country system, an emerging domain that cuts across all human activities.
The conference, moderated and hosted by RAI science journalist Andrea Bettini, it was structured around two panels aimed at presenting how Space is the natural upward projection of the Italian Air Force and how committed the Air Force is to ensuring secure and effective access to this environment, thereby offering the opportunity to enhance the scientific, technological and operational skills linked to human activities in Space.
In the first panel, focusing on research and industrial applications, a series of presentations followed: the Campanian Aerospace District he provided an overview of the aerospace industry sector in Campania; subsequently, the centres of excellence in Campania were showcased through the presentation of the major research equipment located at the Italian Aerospace Research Centre; the contribution made by the Campania branch of Leonardo supplies the International Flight Training School (IFTS) project; INAF - Capodimonte Astronomical Observatory she submitted the Big Science in astronomy with reference to the large telescopes of the present and the future; the National Research Council (CNR – IREA) he outlined how satellite radar monitoring manages to capture millimetric ground and environmental deformations; the Italian Federation for Aerospace, Defence and Security Companies (AIAD) he presented Italian Industry in the current geopolitical context and finally the company Sophia High Tech he presented as Additive manufacturing contribute to the development and production of space propulsion systems.
The focus of the second panel was instead on military pilot training and flight instruction and the CanSat project of the Air Force Academy, international competition, conceived by American Astronautical Society, conducted in synergy with University of Naples Federico II“, which saw the team from Campania excel nationwide.
Among the speakers was Capt. Andrea Patassa, an Italian Air Force experimental test pilot and member of the astronaut reserve of the’European Space Agency (ESA), who described his educational and training experience that led him to achieve this important professional milestone.
Subsequently, the Specialist School presented the integrated course for Aircraft Maintenance Engineers in accordance with European regulations, associated with the achievement of a bachelor's degree in engineering curriculum aerospace engineering at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli“, a training pathway that includes the extensive use of innovative interactive systems“computer-based”and, looking ahead, of virtual reality. Finally, the Department of Engineering of the University of Campania presented innovative, state-of-the-art facilities used in its aerospace training programmes.
At the end of each panel, the students had the opportunity to interact with the speakers through an application that allowed the moderator to select the most interesting questions in real time.
The conference concluded with final remarks by Commandant of the Italian Air Force Specialist School, Colonel Francesco Sassara, who, given the success of the event format, put forward the idea of staging it again in the near future.
The Specialist School, based in Caserta, is a military educational institution for initial basic training, specialist technical training, instruction, updating, specialisation, qualification, and retraining of personnel from the Air Force, other Armed Forces, and State Armed Corps and non-armed bodies, as well as personnel from foreign Armed Forces. It reports to the Schools Command/3rd Air Region, based in Bari.
