The European project AMBITION – AMBassadors for sustainable transITION, funded by the Erasmus+ Partnership for Cooperation programme, officially concluded after three years of activity (2022–2025) with a final event held at KNUST – Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana.
On 19 June, the Department of Energy at Politecnico di Milano organised two major events at the EN:lab building, which were very well attended and attracted considerable interest from the academic and industrial worlds. The day featured a series of high-level presentations, interdisciplinary discussions and the sharing of experiences on strategic issues for the energy transition.
The study, entitled Deciphering Size and Shape Effects on the Structure Sensitivity of the CO₂ Methanation Reaction on Nickel, was conducted at the Laboratory of Catalysis and Catalytic Processes (LCCP), internationally recognised for its expertise in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. The work is authored by Gabriele Spanò, Matteo Ferri, Raffaele Cheula, Matteo Monai, Bert M. Weckhuysen and Matteo Maestri.
This is the first time that an Italian student has won first place in the HVAC World Student Competition. Beniamino Fabbri, a graduate in Energy Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, received three awards for his thesis: the AiCARR Prize, victory in the REHVA Student Competition and, above all, first place overall in the HVAC World Student Competition, held during the 15th REHVA HVAC World Congress – CLIMA 2025 in Milan.
In May, the second edition of the course “Evolutionary Multi-Criteria Optimisation and Decision-Making” was held, an integral part of the Doctoral Programme in Electrical Engineering, coordinated by the Department of Energy at Politecnico di Milano.
The initiative saw the extraordinary participation of Prof. Kalyanmoy Deb, one of the leading international experts in the field of evolutionary optimisation and multi-objective decision-making, who shared his knowledge and expertise with our PhD students.
Kalyanmoy Deb is a professor at Michigan State University (USA) in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is also a professor in the Departments of Computer Science and Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. He is director of the Computational Optimisation and Innovation (COIN) Laboratory and previously founded and directed the Kanpur Genetic Algorithms Laboratory (KanGAL) at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India.
The workshop “The key role of e-fuels and biofuels in the energy transition”, organised by the Department of Energy of Politecnico di Milano and ENEA, was a great success. The event, held on 19 and 20 May 2025 at the Congress Centre of the NH Collection Roma Centro Hotel, provided an opportunity for discussion and updates on the latest technological developments and future prospects for non-fossil fuels.
Over 100 participants and 35 speakers, representing the world of research and industry, took part in two intense days of presentations and discussions.
Giorgia Nicosia, a PhD student on the STEN (Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology) programme at the MRT Fuel Cell and Battery Laboratory of the Department of Energy at Politecnico di Milano, received one of the prestigious Poster Prizes awarded by Chemistry Europe at the Battery 2030+ Annual Conference 2025, held in Münster (Germany) on 6 and 7 May 2025.
The award-winning contribution, entitled “Characterisation of LFP Batteries Ageing from Automotive Applications via Single Cell Testing, Physical Modelling and Ex-Situ Analyses”, was developed as part of the European AutoMat (Retrieve. Recycle. Recharge.) project and concerned the advanced analysis of the ageing mechanisms of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries from automotive applications.
From 28 April to 9 May 2025, Nicolò Stevanato and Riccardo Mereu represented the Department of Energy of hPolitecnico di Milano at the Energy Modelling Platform for Africa 2025 (EMP-A 2025), held at the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The participation was part of the track dedicated to MicroGridsPy, an open-source tool co-developed and maintained by our Department within the SESAM Sustainable Energy Systems Analysis and Modelling research group, aimed at optimising the design of mini-grids for access to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The start-up GraphiCore, born from a research project of the Department of Energy of Politecnico di Milano, has recently received important international recognition.
During the Hello Tomorrow 2025 event, among more than 4,600 participating start-ups, GraphiCore was selected as a finalist in the “Emerging Deeptech Pioneers” category, an initiative that promotes early-stage start-ups with strong scientific or business potential. This recognition highlights GraphiCore’s ability to innovate in the field of radioactive waste dismantling and management, with safe and cost-effective solutions.
From 12 to 16 May 2025, the 11th edition of the FISA-EURADWASTE conference was held in Warsaw. On 14 May, the Master’s & Continuing Education Office team participated in the “ENEN Dissemination Event on Safeguards Training and Education”, focusing on the European SaTE project. The project led to the creation of the Master’s Degree in Nuclear Safeguards, with students from all over the world and different backgrounds. During the event, the results of the first two editions and testimonials from alumni were presented.