Future technologies showcased at the Department of Excellence (DIIES) to inspire new generations.

The Department of Information, Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy Engineering (DIIES) at the Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria opened its doors to high school students on Thursday, April 16, for the OpenDIIES orientation initiative.

After greetings from the Director, Prof. Claudio De Capua, the students attended a presentation of the program offerings in Computer and Telecommunications Engineering and Electronic and Biomedical Engineering, given by the Coordinators of the respective Programs, Prof. Giuseppe Ruggeri and Prof. Massimo Merenda.

The students then had the opportunity to see up close the main research prototypes developed as part of the projects funded by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR): MOST – National Center for Sustainable Mobility (Spoke 6), coordinated by Professor Claudia Campolo, RESTART – Extended Partnership for the Telecommunications of the Future, coordinated by Professor Antonella Molinaro, and Tech4You – Innovation Ecosystems (Spoke 6), coordinated by Professor Giuseppe Araniti.

The prototypes were built by Department professors, thanks also to the collaboration of young researchers and PhD students recruited and the acquisition, as part of the projects, of cutting-edge instrumentation that allowed the existing research laboratories to be strengthened.

Students participated in live demonstrations: robot guidance, augmented and virtual reality headset experiences, interactions with humanoid and quadruped robots, and CubeSat satellite visualization. Cutting-edge technologies—Artificial Intelligence, 5G, non-terrestrial communications, robotics, and digital twins—are poised to transform sectors such as sustainable mobility, precision agriculture, Industry 5.0, and e-health.

The Università Mediterranea, through the DIIES—the only Engineering Department south of Salerno awarded the Department of Excellence designation by the Ministry of University and Research for the five-year period 2023–2027—confirms its position as a leading ICT center at the national level, capable of offering training geared toward future challenges and the needs of the local area, attracting funding, and promoting technology transfer.