Ducati for Education: a motorbike future for Italian kids

Ducati presented this morning "Ducati for Education", the event created together with the Ministry of University Education and Research, the Emilia Romagna Region and the Alma Master Studiorum of Bologna to present the activities of the Borgo Panigale company and from the Ducati Foundation for education and training.

Ducati at the service of students and the territory

The challenge for the Italian system, also for 2019, is to be able to bring the university world closer to the productive world. It will not be an easy challenge, as indicated by the 500 thousand vacancies in the world of work due to the lack of suitable profiles. Young people can, indeed, must be the solution. The host of today's event, the CEO of Ducati, is convinced of this, Claudio Domenicali"Our company has been focusing on projects of this type for almost 10 years. We are lucky enough to have extraordinary brands in a relatively small area like the one around Bologna. We live in a world where technological changes are very fast. The greatest possibility to guarantee us a free future, with respect for tradition, is the continuous increase and improvement of knowledge. This is the basis of our project. Ducati is proud to be Italian and also responsible for representing our country by encouraging other companies to follow our direction. We are strongly linked to the territory and the institutions. The education part is fundamental and the Ducati Foundation was founded in 2006 to implement a development path for a certain number of proposals ranging from middle schools to university".

He echoes it Carmella Palumbo, Department head for the planning and management of human, financial and instrumental resources of the MIUR: "The memorandum of understanding that we signed serves to provide unity of intent and a unitary framework of meaning, as well as showing the exemplary nature of these activities and these organic collaborations with the entire education chain and businesses. These activities are complementary to the school's activities and allow training to be completed on difficult and challenging aspects for the school such as orientation, care for excellence, the school-work connection and the development of transversal skills.".

"When we opened the 'Fisica in moto' project, the interactive physics laboratory applied to the motorcycle and engine context, the slogan was 'A bridge between school, university and business'. The beautiful thing was combining the skills and energies of each member to guarantee a future for our kids. This synergy can be a keystone for the future - Said Elena Ugolini, councilor of the Ducati Foundation -. Over 70 thousand high school students passed through 'Fisica in moto' and experienced first-hand what the company is, experiencing the beauty of a place where it is produced and the usefulness of what they study. 'Desi', on the other hand, is a project that is closest to the German model which leads to the achievement of a qualification of great value for students who choose this path. I'll give you a significant piece of data: of 75 graduating students, 12 are employed by Ducati". Stefano Bocaccini, President of the Emilia Romagna Region, underlines the task that politics must have in such a scenario: "For four years we have been the first region for growth and expo per capita and in four years we have reduced the crisis from 9 to 6%. It's not enough for us. At the end of 2020 we would like to reach a figure between 4 and 5% which means that there is employment. I'm not going to see a system that wants a guaranteed income for those who don't have work. The task of politics is to ensure that a mother and father can leave home to work because work is dignity. My pillars are manufacturing, culture and tourism".

A lot of work was translated into the experience lived by Team UniBO Motorsport who participated this summer in MotoStudent. He explained the initiative Pierluigi Zampieri, Innovation Manager Ducati Holding"MotoStudent is a motorcycle competition that takes place in Aragon and involves university students. The latest edition saw 74 teams representing 17 nations participate. Together with UniBO we believed in this project. We welcomed 60 students, respecting their choices, but giving them typical company constraints such as times and deadlines. The students developed the ability to achieve defined time objectives, practical applications and the ability to work in groups, giving themselves roles to respect throughout the process. Our guys worked just as they do to create a real Ducati motorcycle, from the first idea to development on the track, through design, assembly and presentation. In the end we ranked third after setting the best time in the race and in acceleration. It was a great satisfaction for me, but also for all the students".