Politecnico launches the Aerospace City in Turin

Presentation of the Aerospace City project in Turin

Today, with the symbolic start of demolition work and the unveiling of the final design, the start of work on the first building to be redeveloped in the future Aerospace City, between Corso Marche and Corso Francia in Turin, was formalised. Present at the ceremony, in addition to the Rector Guido Saracco, were the Ministro dell’Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, the Vice Segretario Generale della Difesa Luisa Riccardi, the President of Regione Piemonte Alberto Cirio, the Assessora Gianna Pentenero representing the Città di Torino, the President of Camera di Commercio di Torino Dario Gallina and representatives of the main companies in the sector and of the Piedmontese production associations.

The intervention that starts today concerns the first group of activities carried out by Politecnico as part of the Aerospace City. The University is starting the complex building project aimed at creating the Aerospace Platform in building 37 and related areas, whose surface ownership was transferred by the Leonardo company to Politecnico free of charge with an agreement signed in December 2022.

The building project, which will be carried out by Politecnico, currently has an overall economic framework of approximately 42 million euros and is financed through internal university funds for approximately 25 million and significant public funding defined within the framework of the ‘Accordo di programma per la realizzazione di centri per l’innovazione e il trasferimento tecnologico attraverso la ricerca, la dimostrazione e la formazione curricolare, professionalizzante e continua funzionali allo sviluppo dell’industria manufatturiera 4.0 e dell’industria dell’aerospazio', signed in March 2019 between Politecnico, Università di Torino, Regione Piemonte, Comune di Torino and Camera di commercio, industria, artigianato e agricoltura di Torino, which provides for an amount of 15 million to be paid by Regione Piemonte and 2.5 million to be paid by Camera di Commercio di Torino.

The Aerospace Platform will host laboratories for research activities conducted by the University and collaborative research activities with companies in the aerospace sector. It consists of 12,000 square metres of laboratories for research activities conducted by the University, but also in collaboration with companies in the aerospace sector. First and foremost, those that respond to the expression of interest currently being published to involve the business world in Politecnico's IS4Aerospace technological infrastructure project, funded by the PNRR. Companies will be able to carry out research in partnership with the University in three areas of activity: hybrid-electric propulsion and generation technologies, hybrid-electric propulsion and space exploration.

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Rendering of external spaces

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Rendering of internal spaces

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Rendering laboratories

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Speech by the Rector Guido Saracco

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Presentation of the Aerospace City

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The beginning of the work

Il Rettore Guido Saracco nel suo intervento alla cerimonia di inizio lavori per la Città dell'Aerospazio

Also within the PNRR, Politecnico is the leader of Spoke 1 of the National Center for Sustainable Mobility MOST, dedicated to Air Mobility, but also of the Spoke dedicated to Aerospace and Sustainable Mobility within the ecosystem of innovation NODES: these projects will find their natural home in the Aerospace City, with the possibility of bringing in other research and innovation initiatives.

For Politecnico, the activities within the Aerospace City will also involve a second expression of interest, this time for the spaces of the airfield, aimed at companies interested in developing laboratories for the training of pilots and aeronautical maintenance technicians and for supporting indoor/outdoor experimentation for the new advanced aviation (Advanced Air Mobility).

Finally, the ESA Business Incubation Centre Turin, a start-up incubator in the aerospace sector promoted by ESA and established in Turin thanks to Politecnico, Incubatore I3P and LINKS Foundation, will also be located in the new spaces of the City of Aerospace.

"We strongly believe in the project of the City of Aerospace in Turin," said Rector Guido Saracco, "where we can bring our multiple skills in numerous fields of research and innovation. In particular, I am convinced that here we will build a true Community of Knowledge and Innovation, a model of collaboration between the University-Industry-State at a European level. Connected in a network with other similar entities and guided by a national strategy, the CCIs could be the way forward for our country to strengthen its position on key research topics, and aerospace is certainly one of those in which our University, which graduates 300 aerospace engineers every year, and our territory can make a contribution at a national level. A real territorial driving force for both academic and professional training, for applied research and for dialogue with the territory".