AFOSR Encourages International Basic Research Collaborations with Italy

  • Published
  • By AFOSR Staff Writers
  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Under the auspices of the US-Italy Joint Defense S&T Dialogue held in Washington, DC, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and the Embassy of Italy jointly organized a technical exchange meeting in Arlington, VA, with the objective of exploring basic science collaborations between the US and Italy in the areas of Materials, Sensors and Applied Mathematics.

"In view of the ongoing and future budget constraints, opportunities to collaborate with the Italian Defense Science and Technology community are critical to the success of our research programs," said attendee, Dr. Stephen Lee, Chief Scientist Army Research Laboratory. "The meeting was a successful venue for discussion of the common S&T interests between our nations."

Dr. Patrick Carrick, Acting Director of AFOSR noted that "this unique activity would not have occurred without the great enthusiasm and energy of our Italian friends and interagency partners."

The principal organizers of the technical exchange were Dr. Sofi Bin-Salamon (AFOSR), Colonel (AF) Giuseppe Battaglia (Assistant Defense and Defense Cooperation Attaché, Embassy of Italy) and Mr. Giulio Busulini (Scientific Attaché, Embassy of Italy). The event was an avenue for U.S. and Italian scientists and engineers to present their work and to discover scientific partnerships with the aim of building long-term ties between the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and Italy. The joint event included discussions on materials for extreme environments, electromagnetics, plasma physics, space weather, remote sensing, computational mathematics, and dynamics & control.

The Italian delegation of over 40 representatives from the Italian Ministry of Defense (MOD), industry, and academia attended with the support of the Italian Defense General Secretariat, the Embassy of Italy, and the Italian Aerospace and Defense Industry Federation. The delegation, led by Maj. General (AF) Vecciarelli (Director, MOD Armaments Program Department), included Maj. General (AF) Giovanni Fantuzzi (Defense and Defense Cooperation Attaché, Italian Embassy), Captain (N) Leonardo Bianchi (Deputy Director, MOD Armaments Program Department), Captain (N) Francesco Scialla (Head of the Research Office, MOD Armament Programs Department), Colonel (AF) Luca de Martinis (Head of the Air Program Department, MOD Armaments Program Department), Prof. Luigi Ambrosio (Director of the Department of Chemical and Materials Technology, Italian National Research Council), Ing. Giovanni Bertolone (Chairman, Italian Aerospace Technological Cluster), and Ing. Remo Pertica (Chairman, Italian Industries Federation for Aerospace, Defense and Security).

The robust participation from academic, national and industrial research centers included the University of Brescia, University of Genova, University of Bologna, Politecnico Turin, the Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramics, AleniaAermacchi, Selex ES, Finmeccanica, the Italian Aerospace Research Center, and the Italian Institute of Technology.

In addition to scientific exchange, various Italian S&T task force teams comprised of R&D managers, academics and leadership engaged the U.S. group to discuss Italian S&T research capabilities, science networks, strategic investments and national roadmaps.

"The technical exchange was a unique and well-received activity that will surely result in exciting new collaborations between the US and Italy," added Carrick.

The U.S. representation was led by Dr. Patrick Carrick (AFOSR Director), Dr. Charles Matson (AFOSR Chief Scientist), Dr. E. William Colglazier (Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State), and Dr. Stephen Lee. Participating US organizations comprised the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Air Force Research Laboratory, Office of the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State, Army Research Laboratory, Naval Research Laboratory, Office of Naval Research, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Brown University.

"AFOSR is a great asset for America's science diplomacy not only because it advances America's science through collaborations and agreements with countries such as Italy that have excellent scientists eager to work with America's top scientists, but also because it builds good will and strong relationships with important countries like Italy," said Colglazier. "Both of our countries seek to advance our innovation and knowledge-based societies, and the only way to do that is for the best scientists to work together wherever they reside. These scientific collaborations are in the national interest of both of our countries."

AFOSR continues to expand the horizon of scientific knowledge through its leadership and management of the Air Force's basic research program. As a vital component of the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFOSR's mission is to discover, shape and champion basic science that profoundly impacts the future Air Force.

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