Tag: HumanTech

One year after the start of work, the first HumanTech event took place on January 26. HumanTech is the project selected and funded by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) for the 2023-2027 period as part of the ‘Departments of Excellence’ initiative.

 

One year after the start of the HumanTech-Humans and Technology project, the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering of Politecnico di Milano promoted the ‘HumanTech – Day 1’ event. Professors and researchers shared studies and ongoing research on human-technology interaction to inspire, raise awareness and stimulate new ideas. The aim is to redefine the complex relationship between technology, people and society to enable a sustainable digital transition of industrial systems.

After the welcome speeches of Raffaella Cagliano, Head of the Department, and Federico Caniato, coordinator of the HumanTech project, three  members of the project’s Scientific Board shared and discussed their perspectives on the topic: Prof.Katharina Hölzle, Director of the Institute for Human Factors and Technology Management, IAT – Universität Stuttgart; Prof. Torbjörn H. Netland, Chair of Production and Operations Management, ETH Zürich; and Prof. Viola Schiaffonati, Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science, Politecnico di Milano.

In the second part, moderated by Prof. Guido Micheli, the new laboratories developed and funded within the project were presented: ‘Cognitive Ergonomics in Cyber Physical Systems Laboratory – CORE Lab’, headed by Prof. Matthias Klumpp; ‘Behavioural Research in Immersive Environment Laboratory – BRIEL Lab’, headed by Prof. Lucio Lamberti; and ‘HumanTech DataHub’, headed by Prof. Carlotta Orsenigo.

The CORE laboratory focuses on the study of cognitive ergonomics and, by means of advanced devices and sensors, conducts experimental studies on human cognitive and physiological reactions in the interaction between people and technology during work activities typical of production and logistics contexts in real or realistically reproduced settings.

The BRIEL laboratory supports research activities on the analysis of behavioural, cognitive and emotional factors in economic behaviour, by conducting experimental research that leverages neuroscience applied in physical, digital and immersive contexts that are highly similar to real work and technology use environments.

The HumanTech Data Hub is a platform where all data in support of the HumanTech research programme can be securely collected and stored, offering a single, simplified tool for data access and processing.

The laboratories are available to researchers of the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering (DIG) and are open to collaborations with companies and institutions.

After the rich poster session with more than 50 research papers, in the afternoon, at MADE Competence Centre Industry 4.0 and PoliHub, participants were able to watch the experiments in the laboratories, get to know the equipment and explore the potential of the laboratories, thanks also to parallel seminars held in the same areas, and conclude with reflections on the proposal of a HumanTech Manifesto.

It was a day full of reflections and stimuli, to involve and promote collaboration between different departmental research groups and imagine, together and synergistically, new development scenarios.

 

Event video and photo:

Our department has been awarded the “Department of Excellence” grant  for the HumanTech – Humans and Technology project, that aims to redesign the relationship between technology and people for a sustainable digital transition of the industrial systems.

 

Federico Caniato, HumanTech Project Manager

 

HumanTech – Humans and Technology is the project proposal of Politecnico di Milano ‘s Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering of, which has been selected and financed by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR) for the 2023-2027 period as part of the “Departments of Excellence” initiative.  The initiative rewards departments that stood out for the quality of their research and funds specific development projects, to support further growth and the achievement of ambitious research goals.

Ours is among the 180 Italian departments funded, across all scientific disciplines, and ranked first within the Industrial and Information Engineering area nationwide.

The HumanTech project aims at redesigning the relationship between technology and people for a sustainable digital transition of the industrial systems. The project is driven by  the pressing need to evolve the current technological development model from maximising the economic result towards a more harmonious form that, in addition to the financial -economic implications, also takes into consideration human, social and environmental ones.

Within the industrial systems, the new digital technologies pose formidable challenges, by virtue of their transformative capacity, their diffusion speed, and their pervasiveness, as they interact with these multiple dimensions. In this context, the project aims to propose new development models and processes capable of accelerating the transition towards industrial systems that are sustainable, inclusive, and attentive to the individual and collective well-being.

The project will investigate the complex relationship between people – considered in both their individual and social dimensions – and digital technologies, according to three main research lines:

1. Digital technology development models and processes centred on the person. This theme will focus on how technologies are developed, to ensure that they are human centred since the very beginning.
2. Resilient and sustainable production, logistics and supply chain processes enabled by digital technologies. This theme will investigate how innovative digital solutions can support the transformation of value chains to become regenerative and human-centred.
3. Organisational models and work systems enabled by digital technologies and centred on the person. This theme will focus on the work environment, to develop digital technologies that support and empower human labour, benefitting both individuals and organizations.

The three research themes cover in a complementary and synergistic way the different levels in which the person-technology relationship affects the key features of industrial systems, i.e., the development of technology and its adoption in the transformation processes of organisational systems and in the reconfiguration of work systems.

The overall goal is to conduct ground-breaking research that will result in both scientific, educational and societal impact, assessed according to a number of specific indicators, to achieve ambitious targets in all of them.

The project will fund the development of three innovative infrastructures that will enhance frontier research in the three research areas:

1. Behavioural Research in Immersive Environment Lab, for carrying out experimental research on human behaviour in physical, virtual and hybrid environments (e.g. metaverse and immersive virtual reality).
2. Cognitive Ergonomics in Cyber Physical Systems Lab, for carrying out ergonomic, behavioural and cognitive studies in highly digitalised production contexts (e.g., cobots, virtual and augmented reality, exoskeletons).
3. HumanTech Data Hub, a data repository for the professional and integrated management of the research data, including both the existing resources and those to be generated in the two new laboratories.

The project will also support the recruitment of additional faculty and administrative staff to complement the existing competences with new ones, not only in Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, but also in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics. In addition, PhD scholarships and new dedicated courses will also be funded, to develop research skills and competences.

The combination of existing and new competences, as well as the new infrastructures, will allow frontier research to be conducted, in order to achieve breakthrough results, which will be disseminated extensively to students, companies, policymakers and society in general, aiming to foster a systemic change in the way digital technologies are developed and adopted, pursuing individual and collective well-being.