Meccanica Magazine n. 4

ENG
The 50th European Transport Conference at Politecnico di Milano
(September 7th-9th, 2022)
From September 7th to 9th 2022, Politecnico di Milano hosted the
50th edition of the European Transport Conference (ECT2022) organised
- for the first time in Italy - with the support of the Department
of Mechanical Engineering (DMEC). Mrs Arianna Censi, City
Councillor for the Mobility of Milan, opened the conference followed
by the welcome of Prof. Marco Bocciolone, Head of DMEC and by an
invited lecture on the EU transportation policy in the era of COVID
and of the ongoing war in Ukraine, given by Mr Rolf Diemer, the Head
of the Economic Analysis Unit of the European Commission DG
MOVE. Prof. Pierluigi Coppola, lead of the local organizing committee
and Director of the Board of the Association for European Transport
(AET), presented the conference programme including more
than 200 selected papers to be presented in nine parallel sessions
over the three conference days.
The variety of topics and the multi-seminar approach make ETC unique
compared to other European transport conferences. The topics
cover up-to-date international subject matters, such as the impact
of the pandemic on people’s travel behaviour, the energy crisis and
climate change, in addition to the latest innovation in transportation
like autonomous vehicles and Urban Air Mobility along with more
conventional - but equally important - topics like sustainable urban
planning and equity in transport investment.
Two special guests joined the 50th ETC: Prof. Tae Oum, President of
the World Conference on Transportation Research Society (WCTRs),
who provoked some thoughts on future needs of research in the
transportation industry highlighted by current economic and geopolitical
changes, and Prof. Ennio Cascetta, president of the Cluster
Tecnologico Italiano dei Trasporti, who presented the new challenges
in mobility demand and supply system analysis, within the undergoing
digital and energy transitions.
The conference turned out to be a great networking opportunity,
especially for students and Professors of Politecnico di Milano, who
had the chance to be attending - for free - scientific seminars and
interacting with about 600 delegates from Universities, companies
and institutions from 35 Countries worldwide, in order to establish
new partnerships and discuss future professional and research
projects.
In fact, ECT has always been a place where theoretical and applied
research meets institutional bodies and companies. This year many
exhibitors joined in, such as the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology (EIT), which organized a session dedicated to the
projects sponsored by the Knowledge and Innovation Community
(KIC) on Urban Mobility, and the EU Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian
Region (EUSAIR), which set up a stand to present the ongoing Interreg
ADRION projects on mobility.
Many were the social events planned, such as the welcome aperitivo
organized on the beautiful terrace at the “Collina degli Studenti” in
the Bovisa campus and the social dinner on Thursday by the Milan
canal Alzaia del Naviglio Grande.
meccanica magazine
49