July 2 - The Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Parma has seen its first four students receive a degree in Industrial Engineering from the prestigious NJIT (New Jersey Institute of Technology) in Newark (New Jersey, USA). This was possible thanks to the dual degree program "Umane - Bachelor's Degree in Management Engineering", approved and funded by the European Union under the EU / U.S. Atlantis Programme. An important goal which was enhanced by the “magna cum laude” received by Pina Deiana, Carolina Elefanti, Francesca Mannino and Elisa Necchi. In compliance with U.S. traditions, the graduation ceremony was held in the majestic Prudential Center in Newark, where all 2500 undergraduates, accompanied by their families and the entire teaching staff, gathered. The University of Parma was present with professors Roberto Montanari, Project Coordinator for Umane, also responsible for the internationalization of the Department of Industrial Engineering, and Alberto Ivo Dormio.

THE UMANE PROJECT

The Umane project was born thanks to the work done by prof. Montanari in collaboration with Professor Eleanor Bottani (both in the working team coordinated by prof. Gino Ferretti), and dr. Alessandro Bernazzoli (Head of Sector Research of the University of Parma). It first kicked off 3 years ago and was further consolidated thanks to the excellent results achieved by these four students, who are now unofficial ambassadors of Italian quality. The project involves, in addition to NJIT Newark and the University of Parma, the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia and the Universidad de Extremadura in Spain, and Rutgers University in the United States. Overall, it provides for the establishment of an international class, consisting each year of eight European students and eight Americans that move in the different partner institutions in order to achieve in each of them the corresponding university degree. But the program is more than this: there is a shared determination to create a consortium of universities between the European Union and the United States, active and of high educational quality on the topics of industrial engineering and engineering management, favoring the steps towards the implementation of further research and educational opportunities.