Now in its sixth edition, the “Metalcastello Prize for the Best School Average in Mechatronics” confirms the deep bond between Metalcastello and the “Montessori-Da Vinci” Institute of Higher Education of Porretta Terme. The annual event aims to cultivate and support the qualities of the new generations, while at the same time enhancing the value of the territory in which they were born and raised, where Metalcastello has also put down deep roots in its seventy-two years of history.

The 2024 edition recognized the talent and application of twelve students of the mechatronics department of the third, fourth and fifth classes of the institute, who distinguished themselves particularly in the last school year.

Luisa Macario, principal of the Institute, opened the award ceremony in the Aula Magna, together with the Mayor of Alto Reno Terme, Giuseppe Nanni, Stefano Scutigliani, CEO of Metalcastello, and Giovanni Casanova, president of the Itis Da Vinci Alumni Association.

“It was the spirit of our founders that gave birth to this prize”, observed Stefano Scutigliani: “Remembering history is important: it helps us to understand who we are, making it easier to embrace the future. Metalcastello is seventy-two years old, while this institute is sixty-four years old; it has become a school that nurtures talent, a model to be taken as an example. In these dark times, it expresses a concept of freedom: freedom to study, freedom to think, freedom to express yourself with your own head. And this freedom is the very basis of talent. I would like to say to these lads that they are an excellence within an excellent territory: our job is to let the whole world know it.”

“I speak as the mayor, but above all as a former student,” said Mayor Giuseppe Nanni, “and it is very moving to know that this territory can count on the presence of companies that are world leaders in their field. I would like to thank Metalcastello, because it is always close to our school, an institution that encourages students to apply themselves as much as possible, thereby carrying out an educational and formative task that is of fundamental importance.”

“Being a school principal”, says Luisa Macario, “does not just mean dealing with bureaucracy, but also taking charge of everything that concerns the social fabric in which an institute operates. Only in this way can a school become a centre of quality that is able to provide its students with opportunities in the future. This institute has grown over time: I have been here for six years, exactly the same time that this prize has existed, and I have found in Metalcastello a company that is very special, both sensitive and virtuous: supporting local entities in their training, helping them become aware of their own value, is fundamental. As well as giving value to excellence, which deserves to be rewarded.”

This annual event, a moment of celebration for the boys of the Institute, ended with a novelty: the lunch dedicated to all the prize winners, prepared and laid out in the Aula Magna of the Institute by the students of the “Food and Wine and Hotel Hospitality” course.

ALL THE PRIZE-WINNERS:

3rd Year Mechanics and Mechatronics: Ares Beccari, Francesco Bisegna, Tommaso Fantoni.

4rd Year Mechanics and Mechatronics: Marco Lolli, Lorenzo Poli.

5th Year Technical Institute Technology Sector: Lorenzo Guidotti, Nicolò Lamazzi, Tommaso Olezzi, Axel Brunetti, Mattia Lorenzelli, Marco Mignani, Gabriele Santi.