Winners of employees category

Innovation Award 2019

The innovative projects of Leonardo's employees winners in the various categories of the Innovation Award are:

 

Incremental Innovation: innovation having a significant impact in terms of performance and cost improvement on the existing products family within which the innovation was devised.


THE WINNERS: 

Luke Parry, Ian Elder, Elizabeth McDougall, Stephen Beecham, Michael Troughton (Electronics Division – UK)


THE PROJECT: 

Exploiting multi-physics topology optimisation for additive manufacturing of compact laser designators

Radically Innovative project, intelligent design across multi-physical design space was undertaken in order to re-define conventional approaches in opto-mechanical design currently adopted in Leonardo. This project drastically reduced weight maximizing at the same time functional performance in harsh operating conditions with potential significant cost reduction. This was achieved by using topology optimisation to fully exploit the design freedoms now available through Additive Manufacturing processes to consolidate a complex optical assembly into a single compact integral optical bed fully designed to operating performance i.e. improve boresight stability performance over a wide temperature range.

THE WINNERS: 

Vincenzo Scotti, Domenico Grandoni, Lucia Luzietti, Federica Mastracci, Marco Corsi, Mariano Biscardi, Claudio Mammone, Sara Barozzi (Telespazio)


THE PROJECT: 

Enhanced Flood Footprint (EFF), new generation of flood mapping services

Enhanced Flood Footprint (EFF) is the new generation flood mapping service offered by e-GEOS to overcome critical limitations of traditional satellite based flood mapping services.
Main concept behind EFF is the synergic use of satellite EO data, hydraulic models and ground observations extracted from social media to produce a complete picture of the specific flood event or to deliver updated flood risk information.

 

Radical Innovation: an innovation which causes a key change in the products family wherein it was devised or in the reference technology, ore which creates opportunities for new products in different fields/sectors from those in which it was devised or it is generally employed.


THE WINNERS: 

Alfredo Ricciardi e Rita Gambino (Aerostructures Division) 


THE PROJECT: 

Use of SRPP (Self-Reinforced PolyPropylene) for the production of leading edges

In keeping with the series of initiatives recently launched by Leonardo under the title “Naturally Leonardo”, the project aims to reduce the use of materials that are difficult to recycle or regenerate – which currently includes carbon fibre composites – in favour of eco-sustainable materials. Self-Reinforced PolyPropylene (SRPP) is completely recyclable, as opposed to fibre/matrix composites. The project proposes the use of Self-Reinforced PolyPropylene for the leading edges of wings: a component whose impact resistance is crucial, especially at the low temperatures that civilian aircraft encounter at cruising altitude.

 

Idea: inventive idea which, in the short term, is not suitable to be used in the products, but it has a potential high interest following a future development process; namely, the proposal which has not yet been concerned by investments by Divisions, Subsidiaries and Joint Ventures may run for the Idea category.


THE WINNERS: 

Domenico Cascone ed Emiliano Pifferi (Thales Alenia Space Italia)


THE PROJECT: 

Innovative Solar Power Generator

The project is based on an innovative system for energy generation (STOR: Solar Thermal Power Generator), to reduce the use of solar panels and distribute the stored energy by means of laser or microwave communication. This technology can be used to power a constellation of satellites, with energy generation being located in only a few of them.

 

Patent of the Year: industrial inventions with a potential impact in terms of improvement of a products family and within the scope of technological developments (product, process, service) or solution which opens new opportunities in different fields/sectors from those in which it was devised or it is generally employed.


THE WINNERS: 

Angelo Aprile, Giorgio Isella, Alessandro Montanari (Electronics Division)

THE PROJECT: 

EP3319172A1 Airborne/spaceborne distributed aperture multi sensing pulsed RF system

This is the Leonardo proposed solution to cope with the following modern airborne/space-borne radar requirement to be: LPI – Low Probability of Intercept, Simultaneous Multi-Function and Wide Band, Multi Sensors (Integrating/Integrated with ESM/EW, COMMS & Data-Link), affordable (Low Cost, Low SWaP), with minimum impact on platform (thin, exploiting platform skin, stealth), with 360o sensing awareness.

 

Processes that change our company: process innovation at organizational, management, engineering level; it could involve the introduction of a new process or the significant improvement of an existing one, to be understood at One Company Leonardo level.


THE WINNERS: 

Mauro Cerioni (Cyber Security Division)

THE PROJECT: 

A new position for the dissemination of environmentally sustainable practices: the Green Community Leader 

The project concerns the selection and training of Green Community Leaders (GCLs) to disseminate sustainable principles and practices through the development of Green Communities – small groups that share a common vision – and by implementing behavioural models based on the conscious consumption of resources. 
GCLs conduct ordinary work and seek out opportunities to prompt their Green Community (which may be a floor, a building or a work group) with new initiatives and good practices encouraging deeper awareness of environmental topics and ethics. The GCL encourages informed and sustainable ETHICAL energy savings

 

Production processes for continuous improvement: process innovation in production field, which may concern the introduction of a new process or the significant improvement of an existent one and which ensures a significant increase in efficiency.


THE WINNERS: 

Pietro Zanella, Giacomo Gori, Alex Pravettoni e Luca Vallini (Electronics Division)

THE PROJECT: 

Automatic Solar Cells Welding System

Automatic Solar Cells Welding System is an automated manufacturing station able to handle, assemble, weld and test SCAs (Solar Cell Assemblies.Through a set of visual inspection systems, a single robotic arm is able to handle and place components with a relative precision and repeatability in the order of tenth of microns. Electrical health check tests made before and after the contacts welding assure an absolute control over the quality level for the output assemblies.This system increased the manufacturing capability of the PVA (PhotoVoltaic Assembly) line of about 12%.

 

Transversal Theme 2019 - Artificial Intelligence: this category concerns a cross topic which has particular relevance for Leonardo. The application for this category may be submitted even if the proposal also runs of one of the above categories, or the same proposal may run for other categories and, at the same time, for this one. The cross topic selected for 2019 is Artificial Intelligence.


THE WINNERS: 

Marco Gazzanica e Roberto Sanguini (Helicopter Division)

THE PROJECT: 

ISMS (Infrared Stress Monitoring System) 

The Infrared Stress Monitoring System (ISMS) analyses the cognitive loads of pilots and co-pilots during operations. This includes the use of a thermal imaging camera to measure the ‘emotional variation’ of an individual, which can be measured via a set of physical reactions such as heartbeat, rate of breath, hormone release and metabolic control, which affects the skin temperature of some parts of the face. This means that the thermal data collected by the camera can be analysed and forms an objective indicator for measuring cognitive stress. The system has a wide range of applications and will be used in the near future on board of aircraft.