The Lazio Mechatronic Institute as a springboard for young people's jobs (in local companies)

New stop on the Sole 24 Ore trip to get to know the Its Academy a little more closely. We are at the Its Mechatronic Lazio Academy, a flagship in the training of talents in the mechanical manufacturing sector. The institute, which is historically based in Frosinone, but also has an office in Rome and one in Latina, was set up at the instigation of entrepreneur Maurizio Stirpe, and today has five courses that host 115 students, around 20 of whom have arrived from Egypt.

There are about 80 partner companies, more than 10o members in total, 70 per cent of the teaching staff come from the world of work, and the employment rate is 100 per cent. All Its courses last two years, are co-designed with companies and structured to offer opportunities to local students. An absolute novelty is the new Digital Factory laboratory, the largest in the Lazio region, where students can use cutting-edge technologies that are revolutionising the world of work, from collaborative robots to Cad software for design.

"We look for passion in the young people who come into contact with us,' stressed the president of the Its Mechatronic Lazio Academy, Miriam Diurni. 'Passion for technology, for what we do and for what our companies offer. So much so that, as far as we are concerned, the motivational interview that we do initially when we launch the call for applications is a really integral and very important part of the selection process'.

"The courses are co-designed with the companies, so they are never obsolete," added the director of the Its, Mimma Barbati. "From this point of view, they are updated every year. Our technical-scientific committee is chaired precisely by the companies, so the strong point is certainly given by constantly updated training. The job outlets are those that are requested by the companies that train our students and help the young people of our territories. I speak of territories because we have branches almost all over the region by now. We therefore help our young people to remain linked to their territory, in the companies of that territory'.

The Pnrr was also a great opportunity for the Its Mechatronics Academy of Lazio, it allowed the inauguration of a large advanced mechatronics laboratory. "Now what we are asking the government for," added Diurni and Barbati in chorus, "is an increase in the ordinary endowment fund, which will enable us to maintain all these new facilities both in terms of equipment and also in terms of the human resources that have obviously been hired to work on this particular project. In addition to this, we are also asking for a major communication campaign at the national level that will continue to give these routes their due dignity'.