Adriano GHISETTI

What are the priorities that has been set for the management of the degree course (Engineering, Geology). And what changes, on a structural and didactic level, do you imagine for the next ten years?

The degree course in Engineering is a very recent course, we are in a transition period .; we are trying to direct the course towards a "Civil Engineering" through moderate but progressive changes, to allow students to enter the world of work more easily. A first point is the need to better integrate our courses, which are currently too juxtaposed to each other and without the necessary moments of synthesis and comparison. I believe it is necessary to ensure that the student cultivates their study experiences according to a regular progression. I mean that it should be avoided, as is the case today, to pursue one's path according to watertight compartments, with too many students who first face the block of design courses and reserve for the last years, too often out of course, the series of so-called scientific exams or , not infrequently, of the historical ones.

For some time our degree course has been rightly compared to a tripod, whose supports can be identified in the more strictly professional subjects, in the scientific and historical ones: but it is only from their balance, therefore also from their learning in synergy, that an effective complete training as an architect can be achieved.

And if there is no doubt that planning, with the disciplines most closely related to the profession, is to be considered the backbone of the degree course, it is also undoubted that the structural component, which determines its scientific qualification, and the historical component are equally fundamental. conservative, which leads to the formation of an architect's critical ability. Substantial distinctive element, the latter, with respect to the training of the engineer.

I would also like to confer greater dignity upon the delivery of the Degree Diplomas. I believe that, on a separate day from that of the discussion of the theses, new graduates should meet in the lecture hall with their relatives and friends to solemnly receive diplomas.

As for the future, a forecast for the next ten years seems impossible to me: experience shows that such forecasts are possible in a scenario "without surprises", but in today's world, as perhaps in the past, surprises are never lacking. And, if the recent government decisions regarding the Degree Courses with European recognition are confirmed, the near future will not be without important changes, about which I am not optimistic.

How must university education be reformed to better respond to market needs? In order for a recent graduate to enter the world of work more easily, is it necessary, in your opinion, to make changes to his degree course?

In a market in crisis like the present one, training must not lose sight of technological progress and must not deteriorate in quality, if we want to overcome the challenges that the difficult situation of the moment requires us to face. It is on these premises that any reforms must be based.

Our Degree Course Council, through the work of the Didactic Commission, has just completed a revision of the teaching program, reducing the number of exams without decreasing their credits, i.e. rationalizing the work of students without losing the quality of the training provided to them. . I am sure that this will lead to a better progression of the students towards the conclusion of their studies, which will end with wider possibilities of specialization in the last year.

I am also looking to improve the pre-graduate internship, which represents an opportunity for students to get in touch with the world of work. It is an experience that they must take seriously. Furthermore, I would like to try to improve the preparation of graduating students for the professional qualification exam.

In terms of employment, what future scenario do you imagine for the profession (architect, engineer, geologist)? How effectively, the current economic and social crisis is changing the rules of the game, and which are the pieces of this profession that are most affected by the crisis ?

It is known that in Italy we produce an excessive number of graduates in architecture (to which those in building engineering can be added) that are excessive for the needs of the market. I do not have analytical statistical data that allow me to answer about specific "pieces", but it is quite clear that the crisis of the "Italian construction industry", as it was called in the 1960s, determines a lower demand for architects, to which is added the more general industrial crisis, resulting in an equally lower demand for industrial designers. Not to mention the public sector, with staff cuts.

However, I believe that young architects, prepared and motivated, can also find space for their creativity in the future, not only in Italy, because the need for good professionals will always be there.

A welcome message to students who intend to enroll in the Engineering and Geology Degree Course and a message to greet students who leave the University to enter the world of work.

An invitation to young people wishing to become architects to enthusiastically attend our Degree Course, which is so full of interesting experiences and opportunities for knowledge; with the recommendation to take the studio seriously, combining it with a lively curiosity for the world around us, with its variety and contradictions, which represents the context in which the architect's activity is expressed.

To those who have finished their studies, instead, the wish to be able to realize their dreams, in a world that is certainly difficult, but in which those who have strong motivations and solid preparation will not fail to assert themselves.