Robot that creates probiotic therapies wins 'Lombardia è ricerca' award

A device to create probiotic therapies, a lens to make photovoltaic panels more efficient, and an autonomous backpack to monitor air quality. These are the three prizes won by three Lombardy high schools in the schools section of the 'Lombardy is Research Award', with a total prize fund of €40,000 divided among those who finish on the podium. The 'Lombardy is Research Award' is an annual competition promoted by the Lombardy Region, in collaboration with the Regional School Office, which aims to enhance the creativity and innovation of students from local upper secondary schools. The total prize money is divided between the participating students and their institutes, with the aim of encouraging the development of innovative projects in schools.

The first prize-winner is the Ettore Majorana high school in Rho (Milan), which was awarded 17,000 euros, 12 to the class and 5 to the institute: the project presented by the Rho institute is a robotic device for the creation of probiotic therapies that are customised and specific to each individual patient. Starting from selections of 'live micro-organisms', the idea developed by the students with the support of teacher Rosanna Gnisci is to create a therapeutic proposal that exploits only strains useful for the treatment or prevention of diseases. The project 'stems from the concept of preventing and curing,' explained the 5°H students. 'It is a device made up of three parts: a physical part for administering the therapy, an advanced algorithm and a database useful for combining data and devising a targeted therapy for the patient.

The runner-up was the Istituto Aeronautico Locatelli in Bergamo. The class won EUR 8,000, while the institute will receive EUR 5,000, thanks to the project that consists of applying a very thin Fresnel lens to photovoltaic panels to maximise their efficiency, especially during the sunrise and sunset periods. "The lens serves to make the rays more orthogonal and thus increase the efficiency of the panels by 12%," explained the Aeronautico students accompanied by lecturer Ferdinando Catalano, specifying that the idea came about because during the school year one of the main topics of study was precisely photovoltaic panels.

The Castelli institute from Brescia came third. The class won EUR 4,000, while the institute will receive EUR 5,000. The project presented by the Brescia school consists of an innovative smart and green backpack that contains a mobile station for measuring air quality parameters, powered by a small photovoltaic panel, which "transmits the data to a cloud server that then processes and displays it on an online dashboard," explained the Castelli students present at the evening event in Piazza Scala with teacher Barbara Costantini. Its key feature, as pointed out by the students themselves, is "that it can be carried and charged without being connected to the power supply, as a solar panel that powers it is autonomous".

"These are three beautiful projects, very different from each other," stressed Alessandro Fermi, Councillor for University, Research and Innovation, who attended the event together with Governor Attilio Fontana, "that make us realise how much the Lombardy region represents fertile ground for fostering the ability to create solutions. The three winning schools ranged from solar energy, to air quality, to probiotics, showing how the students are predisposed towards these topics and have a great capacity to innovate'.