EFCA YOUNG PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR 2017 files/PDF/YPs/ITALY - Ambrosetti... · from Italy, Spanopoulos Group from Greece, Safibra from Czech Republic, AIMPLAS and Industrial Sedò

Ambrosetti Samuele Page 1

EFCA

YOUNG PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR

2017

Personal details

Full name: Samuele Ambrosetti

Nationality: Italian

Age as of 31/03/2017: 33

Company: D’Appolonia S.p.A.

Location: Genova, Italy

Contact details

E-mail address: [email protected]

Office phone number: +390106021158

Cell phone number: +393491409824


Section A. EMPLOYER’S RECOMMENDATION

D'Appolonia is proud to include Samuele Ambrosetti within its human resources.

He is young, he has a strong technical background and an astonishing commitment to achieve ambitious and challenging tasks.

He has the ability to perceive innovation and to translate it in an operational process.

Only a selected number of YPs (and hardly any senior engineer) would have been able to grasp the potential of an innovative zip to seal a revolutionary container able to convey fresh water to islands and remote coastal areas.

Samuele followed the entire project cycle starting from the concept to the operational design, testing his prototypes and improving them along the way to the final stage of an innovative, economically viable and sustainable solution in the field of water conveyance.

Beyond his engineering skills Samuele has also proved to have creative financial abilities identifying and obtaining the funds necessary to translate his vision in and economic reality.

Last but not least Samuele has demonstrated strong managerial capacities leading a multi linguistic and multidisciplinary team of engineers, chemists and technicians from different companies and different countries in the different stages of his project.

REFRESH is a project that has been rewarded by the European Commission for its capacity to combine innovation and market sustainability.

For D'Appolonia this project upholds our company's vocation to identify, sustain and promote young, qualified and skilled professionals.

Name: Donato Zangani

Job title: R&D Manager, D’Appolonia S.p.A.

Managerial relationship to candidate: Manager of the Business Unit where Samuele Ambrosetti is enrolled


Section B. THE PROJECT

B.1 Project description:

Project concept, description and timeline

The project in scope concerns the design, development, testing and production of a new kind of waterbag and the setup of the first commercial service of water transfer using the system. A waterbag is a large flexible vessel filled with freshwater and towed at sea by a tugboat. Buoyancy is provided by the difference in density of freshwater with respect to seawater.

This is a very neat example of R&D&I project as it involves all stages of evolution from idea generation to product development and market uptake. It is also a good story about me, as I was one of the two originators of the idea and I had the chance to follow its development all the way to the present market uptake effort.

The first project concept dates back to 2010, when I met Gianfranco Germani from the company Ziplast Srl, producer of special zip fasteners for extreme applications. The scope of the meeting was to assess whether his zips would be suitable for use in another project I was following at the time (FLY-BAG blast mitigating containers for civil aviation)1, but soon we started to brainstorm about possible new zip designs and the products and applications they could enable. The idea of a modular waterbag, enabled by an (at the time non-existing) extremely strong, watertight zip, was first sketched on a piece of paper and the project took off from there.

Figure 1: Conceptual design of waterbag

The first challenge we encountered was the lack of money to support the development of such a seemingly far-fetched concept. Having already a considerable experience with European research projects, I urged D’Appolonia management to allow me to write an application in response to a FP7 call, which they agreed to. We assembled a consortium of partners from four Countries covering the required expertise areas and filed the proposal “REFRESH”2, which was awarded a grant of 945.000 € by the European Commission.

Within REFRESH, which ran from 2010 to 2012, the project team (D’Appolonia and Ziplast from Italy, Spanopoulos Group from Greece, Safibra from Czech Republic, AIMPLAS and Industrial Sedò from Spain) proved the soundness of the modular waterbag concept with the sea test of a small scale (15 m long, 200 m3 capacity) prototype. Specifically, D’Appolonia’s team, led by me as PM, had the role to design the waterbag using Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations and to coordinate the work of partners involved with the manufacturing of components (fabric, zips, fibre optics sensors) and assembly of the waterbag.

Europe’s Research Executive Agency selected REFRESH as one of its “success stories” for 20123 and the project team was awarded the Techtextil Innovation Award in 20134.

1FLY-BAG and FLY-BAG2 FP7 projects, http://www.fly-bag2.eu/

2 REFRESH FP7 project ID 262494, http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/96381_en.html

3 http://ec.europa.eu/research/headlines/news/article_13_04_22_en.html


Figure 2: The small REFRESH prototype during sea trials in Greece

Following the successful conclusion of the project, we applied for a follow-up project under a FP7 call dedicated to upscaling results from previous EU projects. Again, I was appointed by D’Appolonia as PM for proposal writing and project execution. This grant was awarded too, resulting in the project “XXL-REFRESH”5, running from 2013 to 2015 with a funding of 989.000 €.

XXL-REFRESH kept the same core partners as REFRESH, with the addition of Spanish SME Tecnodimension (subcontractor in REFRESH) as full partner and the replacement of Spanopoulos Group with the Turkish SME Turgutreis. Within the project, the waterbag concept was partially redesigned on the basis of the findings from the previous project and upscaled to commercial capacity, reaching a length of 65 m and a capacity of 2500 m3, over 10 times the original REFRESH.

The larger waterbag prototype was tested at sea off the coasts of Spain (Mediterranean side) in December 2015. The successful test was the subject of a TV special by Euronews within its “Futuris” series, which aired worldwide in January 2016.

Figure 3: Left: XXL-REFRESH waterbag moored to the pier in Spain. Right: in navigation

Following the airing of the Euronews programme, the project team was contacted by several actors in Europe, Asia, North America and South America interested in the technology. One of these contacts, from Dutch-based, Suriname-operating company Amazone Resources, triggered the first commercial application of the XXL-REFRESH waterbag.

4 p://techtextil.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/besucher/events/techtextil_innovationspreis/gewinner-

techtextil--avantex-innovationspreise-2013.html 5 XXL-REFRESH FP7 project ID 606423, http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/110343_en.html


Amazone Resources has an ambitious commercial plan for turning Suriname into a regional hub for freshwater transport for the Caribbean islands. In 2014 a Presidential Decree 6 entitled Amazone Resources to export 6-12 % of the total yearly outflow of 151 billion m3 freshwater from Suriname. Several islands in the Caribbean suffer from severe water scarcity, with seawater intrusion in the aquifers due to overpumping, and they need urgent means of replenishing their reserves. Barbados7 was the first Country to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Amazone Resources in 2016, regarding the execution of a test run to assess the feasibility of water import from Suriname. Due to the lack of infrastructures for offloading and storing the water, there would be no offload in Barbados but just a close pass simulating the actual operation.

In this framework, Amazone Resources contacted the XXL-REFRESH project team in March 2016, inquiring about the possibility of using the waterbag they had seen on TV for the Suriname - Barbados test run. Two meetings were arranged, one in Amsterdam at Amazone Resources premises and a second in Tarragona, Spain, at Industrial Sedò’s warehouse were the prototype was at the time stored. After settling contractual details, Amazone Resources urged the project team to dispatch the prototype to Suriname as soon as possible, with the aim to perform the transport to Barbados before the end of the year.

The prototype was returned to Tecnodimension, where it was originally assembled, for inspection and repair of any damage. Tecnodimension was appointed as main contractor for the job, as it was in charge of shipping the prototype to Suriname. D’Appolonia and Ziplast were formally involved as subcontractors of Tecnodimension, but the actual workflow of the project team followed the same modus operandi as in the cooperative project.

The first commercial scale transport using the XXL-REFRESH waterbag was performed in November 2016 starting from Suriname, passing by Barbados and ending in Curaçao in the former Dutch Antilles, covering a distance of roughly 1500 km. Local conditions in Suriname were difficult due to strong currents and the lack of suitable infrastructure on the coast, forcing the project team to perform filling of the waterbag upstream the Suriname river. The project team, coordinated by me, employed personnel from D’Appolonia, Ziplast and Tecnodimension with supporting staff from the local harbour contractor Kuldipsingh. During one week in Paramaribo, Suriname, we managed to assemble the waterbag, tow it upstreams to the designed filling point, fill it with freshwater from the river and tow it back towards the river mouth, where it was taken by the tugboat company Boskalis for the ocean trip to Curaçao.

Figure 4: Left: the waterbag during assembly on the pier in Paramaribo. Right: Empty bag in navigation to filling point

6 http://www.amazoneresources.org/ar-obtains-right-for-abstraction-and-export/

7 https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2016/10/30/bwa-clarifies-water-importation-from-suriname/


Figure 5: Full waterbag (half submerged) towed downstreams at Suriname river’s mouth8

Challenges

The main challenges encountered during the design and prototyping phase in REFRESH and XXL-REFRESH were related to the choice of materials and the uncertainties concerning their performance at sea. Due to the novelty of the waterbag concept, there is no established reference or model for calculating the stresses and strains suffered by the waterbag during navigation. D’Appolonia applied CFD numerical simulations to determine the loads and guide the design and material selection accordingly.

Figure 6: Wake patterns simulated by CFD

8Caribbean 360, 23/11/2016, available at http://www.caribbean360.com/news/suriname-cashing-drought-

conditions-across-caribbean


Another uncertainty was related to lowering the waterbag in the water, as friction against the concrete floor of the pier could damage the fabric. The chosen approach was to exploit a ramp, usually employed to lower boats, commonly found in ports. This approach enables continuous assembly of the waterbag as parts of it are being lowered in the water, which may prove advantageous in presence of space constraints that would make the full assembly of the waterbag prior to lowering unfeasible.

The sea test in Spain proved the design and operation approaches correct. It must be noted however that conditions were ideal in terms of environment (calm sea, no wind) and infrastructures.

Figure 7: Continuous waterbag assembly as performed in Spain

On the other hand, conditions found in Suriname were completely different, often requiring to find alternative solutions on the spot. Strong currents and the lack of proper infrastructure near the sea (no pipes for filling, no ramp for lowering) were the biggest challenges for performing the Suriname project.

Ocean tide is so strong at those latitudes that twice a day the river current is reversed, with water flowing upstream at a speed exceeding 1.5 m/s. This had two adverse effects on our operations:

1. All towing operations must be performed counter-current, which means that timing of any movement of the waterbag must be carefully planned so that it begins and ends within the desired current window. If the current reverses in the middle of an operation, it can pose a serious risk of the waterbag impacting against piers, pontoons or the tugboat itself.

2. Reverse current means that seawater penetrates in the river for tens of km from the mouth.


There is no port along the coast of the Country due to shallow coastal waters: the only port is a riverside one located in Paramaribo, near the river mouth. It would theoretically have been possible to use pipe outlets from the aqueduct to fill the bag, but it was not authorised by the municipality: the project team had no choice but to use river water. However, due to seawater intrusion caused by reverse current, we had to move 40 km upstream from Paramaribo to perform the filling, in order to find freshwater and not brackish water.

The designated filling location lacked any infrastructure, as it merely consisted of a concrete pier. A scheme for safely mooring the waterbag was devised in cooperation with the local harbour contractor, who provided a moving pontoon to serve as second mooring point.

Figure 8: Left: Filling location. Right: Waterbag moored between the pontoon and the tugboat (in turn moored to the

pier). Suction hoses (yellow) and filling hoses (red, blue) are visible in the picture.

Connecting the hoses to filling valves was also challenging due to current and low visibility in the muddy water. One of our personnel dived into the river to manually connect them.

River navigation was delicate, as it involved turns and manoeuvring around shallows and floating obstacles (mostly tree trunks). Passing through the river mouth was the most critical part of the navigation due to the presence of sand banks and unpredictable current changes.

Another challenge was represented by language barriers. The project team was composed by Italian, Spanish and English speakers, some of whom could only speak their native language. The client, Amazone Resources, could speak English and Dutch, while the local personnel could speak Dutch, the local dialect and limited English. Tasks thus sometimes needed to be translated e.g. from Spanish to English and from English to Dutch. As the only person fluent in Italian, Spanish and English (but not Dutch), I had a delicate liaison role in guaranteeing smooth communication flow among the personnel involved, meaning my full time presence was required on board and on land right were the action was taking place in each moment.

B.2 Innovative characteristics of the project:

What is a waterbag and why it is a good idea

Waterbags, large textile impermeable vessels towed using tugboats, were first conceived in the 1950s as a means for transferring bulk quantities of freshwater over sea. They feature peculiar characteristics that can prove advantageous over other water supply techniques:

• Water pipelines have high costs of design, construction and maintenance; they are permanent infrastructures suitable only in case of constant need of large quantities of water. Underwater pipelines for overseas water transfer are even more expensive and difficult to build and operate, making such projects virtually unfeasible for distances above some tens of km.


• Desalination is a complex chemical/physical process requiring several pre-treatments phases and additives. Desalination plants requires high initial investments and operative costs; moreover, high energy consumption and generation of brine are serious environmental concerns.

• Water tankers are generally small and only suitable for short routes; larger ones are usually reconverted old oil tankers. The conversion process is extremely expensive and operation is costly and quality of transported water is not always optimal.

Waterbags, on the contrary, require a limited initial investment and can accommodate a flexible request (e.g. in case of emergency or as a supplement in peak demand periods like summer). Running costs are also limited in comparison to large water tankers.

So why don’t we already see waterbags sailing acros s the sea?

Two main categories of waterbags (or flextanks as they are sometimes called) were proposed in the past, either being based on huge monolithic containers or on trains of smaller containers, each one being sealed on itself, connected via ropes or fabric sleeves. Each of the conventional designs – despite being technically sound – has intrinsic drawbacks that have prevented all past waterbag projects from reaching commercial success.

The system concept was pioneered in the 1980s and 1990s by a few companies around the world, namely Spragg&Associates (USA), Nordic Water Supply (Norway) and Monohakobi (Japan).

Terry Spragg focused his efforts on the concept of linking multiple bags together in a “train” to increase the total volume moved at one time. The only seafaring test of the “Spragg Bags” was conducted in 1996 and consisted in the towage of two linked bags, each approximately 9 m in diameter and 75 m long, across Puget Sound, near Seattle (USA). The two bags were linked by a fabric sleeve with two high strength zip fasteners.

Nordic Water Supply developed its 10.000 m3 monolithic bag in 1997 and secured a contract from the Turkish Government to deliver water from Turkey to the northern side of Cyprus. Within two years at least 7 million m3 of water had to be delivered annually at a cost of € 2.7 million per year, with volumes projected to grow over time; however, the actual transport only amounted to 4 million m3 in four years, so that the Turkish Government discontinued the contract in 2002. The company declared bankrupt soon after and is now out of business.

The Monohakobi research institute (Japan), associated to Mitsubishi Corporation, took over Nordic Water Supply’s patents after the company closed and continued the development of smaller size waterbags based on the same technology. Besides a promotional journey of a small size prototype (1000 m3), carried out in 2007, no evidence of further activities or investment exists.

A new waterbag concept: REFRESH

The REFRESH technology built upon the lessons learnt from previous waterbag projects, overcoming all drawbacks that prevented them from reaching commercial success.

Unlike any other waterbag attempt in the past, the REFRESH system is not made by a train of sealed containers or by a single huge monolithic container.

The key innovation introduced by REFRESH is the use of modular, easily accessible and reconfigurable containers, allowing easy storage and sanitation, fast and inexpensive deployment and modulation of the payload according to clients’ requirements.

Each of the modules can be managed separately on shore, enabling easy logistics and storage. Modules are open on one or both sides, allowing internal access and sanitation. The modular structure of the system is enabled by the use of extremely high strength watertight zip fasteners produced by project partner Ziplast featuring a cross-tensional resistance of 24 t per m, making them the strongest watertight zips ever made.


Figure 9: Extreme watertight zip fasteners by ZIPLAST

The capacity of the system can be increased indefinitely by joining a number of modules.

The REFRESH design has several fundamental advantages over monolithic designs and trains of separate modules, exploiting the strong points and avoiding the weak points of both approaches:

• Logistic is enormously simplified as compared to past waterbag attempts, as each module can be stored and moved on its own. Five modules, reaching a capacity of 2500 m3, fit in a standard 20 ft. container along with auxiliary equipment (pumps, valves, pipes);

• Unlike monolithic designs, it allows compartmentalisation, so that if one module is damaged only a fraction of the payload is lost and the rest remains intact; moreover, when not in operation the system can be managed at the single module level, enabling much easier handling and minimising logistic problems;

• When assembled, the full system behaves “as one”, avoiding snaking and excess bending problems that may arise when towing trains of separate containers linked by ropes or fabric sleeves;

• Upon discharge, the small fraction of the payload that cannot be retrieved by pumps (a fraction that may weigh several tons) can easily flow out. This is a key advantage over other design, in which the remnant water couldn’t escape, leading to weight and sanitation problems, moreover requiring bulky equipment, as cranes, to lift the system off water.

• Unlike the other waterbags, REFRESH allows easy access to the interior of the modules for cleaning and sanitising.

The main technological advancements, related to system components, are:

• A strong but flexible PVC-coated reinforced fabric, featuring an inner side approved for food contact and an outer side with a specific coating to enhance the endurance to exposure to sea water and sun rays.

• A unique extremely strong, watertight zipper, used to join the modules to build the overall waterbag. With a cross tensional strength exceeding 20 t/m, it is the strongest watertight zipper in the world.

• A smart monitoring system coupling fibre optics sensors to the fabric, able to send a real time warning to the tugboat main deck in case of excess stress in the waterbag.

Modules are folded and rolled up for storage and transport. Each module weighs between 400 and 500 kg, thus it can be stacked on a standard pallet and moved using standard forklifts. A five person crew can assemble the waterbag at a pace of 20 minutes per module.


Figure 10: Waterbag assembly

B.3 The YP’s role in, and specific contribution to, the project:

As recalled in the first section, I can be considered one of the fathers of the REFRESH waterbag and I am particularly proud of it. Not only it is a demonstration of how the results of a research project can actually find an outlet to the market in a comparatively short time, but also this invention can help improve the lives of millions of persons affected by water scarcity around the world.

In the REFRESH and XXL-REFRESH research projects I was leading the D’Appolonia team responsible for the design of the waterbag and coordination of manufacturing activities, besides being the main writer of both project proposals.

In the Suriname project I was the interface towards the client and local support personnel and coordinator of on-field activities in accordance with the local Maritime Supervisors.

Besides the technical activities, I also represented the project(s) in a number of communication tasks including high profile meetings, conferences and TV interviews.


Figure 11: At a roundtable with Dr. Mahmoud Ismail of the

Palestinian Water Authority, International Conference on

Water Resources and Environmental Management, 2014

Figure 12: Presenting XXL-REFRESH at the Malta Water

Week 2015

Figure 13: Interview for Euronews Innovation series, “Bags

of water”, shot 13/11/2012, aired 7/12/20129

Figure 14: Interview for Euronews Futuris series, “The Big

Bag Theory”, shot 15/12/2015, aired 28/1/201610

Figure 15: Interview for main Surinamese channel ATV’s

evening news, shot and aired 17/11/201611

Figure 16: Meeting with Mr. Hakan Dinçyürek, Minister of

Environment and Natural Resources of the (self-

proclaimed) Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

concerning the possibility of performing a sea trial from

Turkey to Northern Cyprus, 2015

B.4 Communication with the client/end user:

Communication was essential to build trust and confidence, as usual between two parties that didn’t know each other until that moment. This was in particular true in the first meeting in Amsterdam, when I was alone representing REFRESH in front of three senior staff members from Amazone Resources.

A key moment of this first approach was when Amazone Resources asked if we would join a “waterbag task force” they were building at that moment to develop their own waterbag,

9 Euronews, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lZJvYzheJw

10 Euronews, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQkoJJMcZBE&t=17s

11 ATV Nationaal Nieuws 17/11/2016, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8diiGQqw_c&t=2s


including experts from former projects (Terry Spragg, a former manager of Nordic Water Supply). My answer was that – while being in principle open to cooperate with anybody – we as REFRESH team were confident our expertise would be enough to deliver the bag without having other people involved. This was a turning point as it made it clear how serious and ready we were: after this moment, we passed from being one of the potential alternatives to being the only credible and viable solution in the short term.

The relationship developed quickly from there (as can be seen from the attached email exchange in preparation of the second meeting in Tarragona), and the contract was quickly signed soon after.

Preparation and execution of the trial in Suriname involved extensive exchange of information with several subjects, chiefly with local maritime experts. These persons were initially a bit dismissive of our opinions as none of us had a maritime background; in the end, we were able to reach a mutual understanding in which everybody’s role was respected: we would recognise their knowledge about sea and harbour operation and they would trust our knowhow about the waterbag (whose behaviour is very different from that of a boat).

Building this mutual trust required patience, dedication and self-confidence, but it was essential to achieve it before physically meeting, to ensure smooth operation on site. The tight time schedule would not allow losing days or weeks in discussions or power plays.

B.5 Describe the project end results and the benefits to the client/end user:

The test run was successful. Amazone Resources collected a wealth of data and evidence regarding the technical and economic feasibility of the route from Suriname to Barbados and other islands of the Caribbean. The company is presently discussing with the respective governments and financers to set the plan for building the necessary infrastructure at departure and destination. These include primarily filling and offloading near-shore facilities.

If Amazone Resource’s ambition of turning Suriname into a regional hub for freshwater transport should materialise, it could unlock a market exceeding a hundred million dollars per year. D’Appolonia and the rest of the REFRESH team, as the only providers of waterbags presently on the market, will be an essential part of it.


Section C. CLIENT’S APPRECIATION OF THE CANDIDATE

We, Amazone Resources, were the main contractor of the trial run with the FlexTank from

Surinam to Barbados. There has been frequently contact in the months before to ensure a

good preparation. Samuele acted as the Project Manager of XXL Refesh for us and was

always available and explaining the do’s and dont’s about all choices which we had to make.

Finally the knowledge and performance of Samuele and his team was impressive and did

significantly contributed to the succesfull trial run of the FlexTank. We, all together, had the

absolute scope to navigate with a FlexTank on a river and on the Atlantic Ocean.

Because of this innovative character of the trial run we had to be very creative several times.

This resulted in a good dialogues between several technicians managed by Samuele, local

people and Amazone Resources.

The communication in English was very good and important information was confirmed by

email every time.

Once again I would like to share my and my teams appreciation on Samuele's flawless

guidance from first communication till realization in sometimes very difficult circumstances.

Best and warm wishes,

Auke Piek

CEO of Amazone Resources Test Run Project

Name and signature Auke Piek ________________________________________________

Job title: CEO

Company: Amazone Resources

Dear Samuele,

As a member of the Advisory board of Amazone Resources I was involved in the fresh water

transport project in Suriname. As from the first meeting with you and the XXL-Refresh team

in Spain till the successful start of the voyage of the FlexTank towards the ocean I've been

impressed by the dynamics and commitment of you and your team. Your passionate guidance

and problem solving capabilities contributed largely to the success of the test run of the

FlexTank.

Also for Suriname this prove of concept was very important, showing the Suriname

politicians and people that the transport of large volumes of fresh water towards the

Caribbean will work.

All the best and hope to meet again soon.

Cor de Ruiter

Honorary Consul of the Republic of Suriname

Name and signature Cor de Ruiter______________________________________________

Job title: Member of the Advisory Board

Company: Amazone Resources


Section D. CV OF THE CANDIDATE

Curriculum Vitae

Personal information

First name(s) / Family name(s) Samuele Ambrosetti

Business Address Via Renata Bianchi 38, 16152 Genoa, Italy

Phone number(s) +39 0106021158 Cell: +39 3491409824

E-mail address [email protected]

Nationality Italian

Date of birth 30/12/1983

Work experience

Dates 2008 – present

Occupation or position held Engineer, Senior Engineer

Main activities and responsibilities ▪ Technical coordinator in several FP6 and FP7 European projects, most notable ones being FLY-BAG, REFRESH, and the related upscaling projects FLY-BAG2 and XXL-REFRESH. Both projects won the Techtextil Innovation Award and were listed by the European Commission as success stories.

▪ PM in several technology scouting and technology intelligence projects for industrial customers.

▪ Operation manager and P.o.C. in the spinoff venture producing and servicing the large modular vessel for freshwater transportation over sea (waterbag) developed in the REFRESH and XXL-REFRESH projects. In this framework, I am coordinating activities of the production chain and managing contacts with prospects and clients.

▪ Operation manager and P.o.C. in setting up a spinoff venture to produce and commercialise Blast Mitigation Units based on the results of the projects FLY-BAG and FLY-BAG2. The venture, including five former project partners, is currently (March 2017) taking its first commercial orders from customers. In this effort I am elaborating the venture’s structure, allocating tasks and defining the operating procedures, as well as taking care of the IP related issues. Two patents have been filed concerning FLY-BAG related concepts, both of whom feature me among inventors.

▪ PM in the activities of support to the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) in defining the association’s strategic priorities as a basis for allocation of European funds within the framework of the Bio-based Joint Undertaking between BIC and the European Commission.

▪ PM in the activities of support to the Italian Cluster of Green Chemistry (SPRING) in defining its Strategic Roadmap for Research and Innovation, as a basis for National funding programmes.

Name and address of employer D’Appolonia, Via Renata Bianchi 38, 16152 Genova, Italy

Type of business or sector Engineering and consulting

Dates 2007 – 2008

Occupation or position held Master candidate, trainee

Main activities and responsibilities ▪ Fabrication and operation of single photon sensors based on superconducting strips held at the edge of their superconductive transition (Transition Edge Sensors – TES). Characterisation of the TES resulted in publication of a paper on the Journal of Applied Superconductivity.

Name and address of employer Quantum Optics Lab c/o Elsag Datamat, via Puccini 2, 16154 Genova, Italy

Type of business or sector Photonics

Education and training

Dates 2008


Title of qualification awarded Master Degree in Physics (Nuclear, Subnuclear and Astrophysics)

Principal subjects/occupational skills covered

▪ Nuclear physics ▪ Photonics and quantum mechanics

▪ Data acquisition ▪ Team working and coordination of small working groups

Name and type of organisation providing education and training

Università di Genova – Dipartimento di Fisica

Level in national or international classification

7

Personal skills and competences

Mother tongue(s) Italian

Other language(s)

Self-assessment Understanding Speaking Writing

European level (*) Listening Reading Spoken interaction Spoken production

English C1 C2 C1 C2 C2

Portuguese C1 C1 B2 B2 B1

Spanish B2 B2 B1 B1 A2

French B1 B1 A2 A1 A2

Social skills and competences Empathy: the ability to understand a person’s position and what the underlying reasons may be. Positive attitude: don’t complain about a problem, find out what it is and try to find solutions to it.

Organisational skills and competences

Team work, both as leader and as team member. I will occupy the role where I can be most useful (not eager to lead in every project, but willing to if I know I’m the fittest).

Technical skills and competences Strategic roadmapping. Patent analysis. Quality Function Deployment.

Computer skills and competences Advanced MS Office (including macros, VBA). ANSYS. Xmind. C++. Matlab.

Other skills and competences Quick learner, highly adaptable to new tasks.

Hobbies and activities I play trumpet. I love travelling to discover new sounds and colours. I’m fascinated by faraway cultures and have a passion for archaeology. I like hiking, going to concerts and telling bedtime stories.

Papers published Ferrari, Ambrosetti, Bagliani, Gatti, Vaccarone, Valle, 2009, Characterization of the Superconducting Transition of Thin Ir Films for TES, Applied Superconductivity Zangani, Ambrosetti, Franitza, Illing-Guenther, Koenig, 2010, Development of a novel concept of Explosion-Resistant Cargo Container for narrow-body aircrafts, Paper ICAS 2010-10.9.2 Ambrosetti, Zangani, Bozzolo, Dotoli, Fay, 2011, Textile-based Luggage containers for onboard blast protection, SAE Int. J. Aerosp. Kolodziejczyk, Sypek, Czerwiński, Grabowiecki, Ambrosetti, 2014, LightSWORDS: a non axial-symmetric Lens that mIGHT be a Satisfactory Way Of Reducing age Degradation of Sight, EOSAM

Public speaking experience Conferences: 27th Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, Nice, 2010 SAE Aerotech Conference and Exhibition, Toulouse, 2011 IWA Waterideas, Bologna 2014 International Conference on Water Resources Management, Antalya, 2014 (keynote speaker) Malta Water week 2015 TV appearances: Euronews (2012 and 2015), ATV (2016), RTL (2017)

Patents EP 2492217B1, Entirely textile-based, lightweight, and blast resistant cargo container system and manufacturing method thereof WO/2016/050346, Blast mitigation device and method

Honours and awards Techtextil Innovation Award 2011 (for FLY-BAG) Techtextil Innovation Award 2013 (for REFRESH) Italian National Prize for Innovation, by appointment of the President of the Republic (for FLY-BAG)

Documents

EFCA YOUNG PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR 2017 files/PDF/YPs/ITALY - Ambrosetti... · from Italy, Spanopoulos Group from Greece, Safibra from Czech Republic, AIMPLAS and Industrial Sedò