The University of Genoa is the University of Liguria as it is present on the entire regional territory with educational centres also in Savona, Imperia and La Spezia. The Electrical, Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering and Naval Architecture Department (DITEN) is a division of the University of Genoa with the objectives, aims, rights and duties of a public entity carrying out educational activities as well as scientific activities with multidisciplinary applications.
The DITEN’s Polo Navale (Naval Architecture and Marine Technologies Unit) has its origins in the “Regia Scuola Superiore Navale”, founded back in 1870. This organization process has also recognised the fact that Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering – which have always been globalised and highly multidisciplinary – can further develop provided it includes all the other fields which, following the introduction of computers, are now part and parcel of engineering studies and practice. Skills and competences regarding the three traditional areas of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering – namely Naval Architecture, Ship and Offshore Structures and Ship Propulsion, Systems and Equipment – are available at Polo Navale.
Scientific research is conducted in collaboration with Italian and foreign Classification Societies, manufacturers and shipyards, research institutes and Universities under national and international
research projects, with both public and private funds. Representatives of Polo Navale are members of several national and international boards and technical committees.
Relevant skills
Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering studies, while distinguished into the three above-mentioned areas, are strongly interrelated and focus on concept and design engineering of vessels and marine installations of different types, uses and sizes, with focus on integration processes of all the different components required for their construction. Also, issues concerning production technologies and processes of ships and offshore structures as well as technical support to their management and operations are covered.
Polo Navale also has three highly qualified laboratories (as approved by Italian Ministry of Education), namely the Experimental Hydrodynamics Lab (IDRO), the Marine Structures Testing Laboratory (MaSTeL), and the Drives and Experimental Automation for Marine Systems Laboratory (DREAMS), properly equipped to conduct standard and non-conventional Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering testing also at shipyards and on board vessels.
Role in the project and main tasks
UNIGE will contribute to the project by designing, implementing and managing the Testing Facility, liaising with other partners and providing specific consultancy about naval architecture and marine engineering methods and technologies. Skill and competences developed by the personnel of the involved labs will be crucial, especially accounting for the need of integration of two main field of engineering. Namely, marine structures engineering and robotic engineering shall be integrated into a system engineering approach. The holistic nature of naval architecture will be a benefit.