01.
Mission
Our vision is to be internationally recognized as one of the leading institutions in the world’s aerospace community, pursuing excellence in research, education and knowledge transfer.
The mission of the Department aims at achieving highly ambitious scientific, educational and societal goals:
DAER is now carrying out research and training activities in a broad aerospace context, focusing in particular on the most advanced and challenging engineering fields. By virtue of its inherited tradition and nature, the Department’s activities will transcend the limits of the aerospace field and will export advanced technologies to other areas of human civilization. The Department’s activities will affect different areas of society, including the effectiveness, efficiency and safety of atmospheric and space vehicles, environmental protection in aerial transportation, the exploitation of wind as a source of energy, the exploration of space, the training of highly professional engineers.
02.
History
Politecnico di Milano has a deep-rooted tradition in aeronautical engineering, dating back to the late 19th century, when its alumnus Enrico Forlanini flew a steam-engine helicopter model. In the early 20th century, the first course in Aeronautics was introduced and the first experimental facilities, including a wind tunnel, were created. In those years, Forlanini was pioneering innovative craft such as airships and hydrofoils. Later, in the 1930s, a group of students founded a gliding centre where many advanced concept sailplanes were designed, built and flown. The centre was a valuable theoretical and practical training ground for many young minds, some of whom would become famous designers of flying machines.
In the second half of the 20th century, an Aeronautical Institute, later the Department of Aerospace Engineering, was established at the Politecnico, and grew under the leadership of one of those young minds, Prof. Ermenegildo Preti. Expertise in aerodynamics, structural dynamics and flight mechanics grew; new fields of knowledge such as aeroelasticity and rotorcraft dynamics were promoted; new disciplines and experiments related to space missions were pursued. Meanwhile, a novel exclusive research field, crashworthiness, was introduced for the first time in Italy and a dedicated experimental facility was built.
In the two decades around the turn of the millennium, the Department of Aerospace Engineering is living feverishly its mature years. Wearing difficulties are intertwined with great achievements. Relocation to a new campus the other side of Milan, at the end of the 20th century, has led to more space for faculty and laboratories. The number of faculty and research staff has grown, more temporary young researchers are working in the Department, and also more students are registered in the Bachelor and Master in Aerospace Engineering.
Today, at the end of a troubled decade, the new Department of Aerospace Science and Technology is enlarging the scope of the former Department of Aerospace Engineering.
The Department is actively engaged in several high-quality research fields. The focus of the research is mostly flying machines, ranging from unmanned vehicles to rotorcraft, aircraft and spacecraft, but also other machines as for instance land vehicles, watercraft and wind turbines.
03.
Message from the Head of the Department
Welcome to the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology of Politecnico di Milano (DAER), the only University Department in Italy entirely dedicated to the aerospace studies.
The Department was officially established in its present status in January 2013, as a result of the latest University reform in Italy. It inherits the long and successful tradition in aeronautics and aerospace that Politecnico di Milano has nurtured since the early days of aviation.
Today the typical contemporary values of technical research and education are one of the characters of the Department staff. We all have an innate passion for invention and engineering and in particular for all kinds of flying vehicles. Our target is to pursue high-level research, publishing and teaching. We have an innate capacity to further the intellectual and professional growth of faculty and staff. We are committed to provide the best-quality education to our students. We believe in a friendly partnership with industry and other national and international research centres. We have a strong sense of responsibility regarding our professional duties and a sense of service to human society. We share a deep sense of community and mutual respect and a belief that a collegial, collaborative and welcoming environment is vital to our success.
We are all working to achieve highly ambitious goals. We foster research opportunities that will improve tomorrow’s aerospace technologies, in cooperation with people from Universities and industries all over the world. We educate young people attending aerospace courses through modern teaching methods and international exchanges of faculty and students. We designed our PhD program as a first-class international course, populated with high-quality foreign students and teachers. We enhance fund raising capabilities by furthering national and international ties. We maintain state-of-the-art laboratories and facilities, which are essential to support aerospace education and research. Overall, we improve the performance of our University in international rankings.
We invite you to discover the Department, surfing the website on a complete tour.
Marco Lovera
Professore ordinario di Impianti e Sistemi Aerospaziali
Direttore del Dipartimento
direttore-daer@polimi.it