With a degree in chemical engineering and 20 years of experience in various business areas as plant manager, Giovanna Damiano joined the company in late 2019 as director of the Leonardo plant in Frosinone. She immediately had to cope with a severe emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the activities supporting the certification of the AW609 tiltrotor, an aircraft that looks set to revolutionise air mobility in the near future.
She now works at the Cascina Costa di Samarate (Varese, Italy) facility, a centre of excellence for designing and producing transmission systems, avionics integration and experimental flight operations for helicopters. Giovanna is head of industrial process improvement activities for all Leonardo’s helicopter sites. These activities take place in synergy with the operating units and are designed to secure predetermined economic targets. She is also the helicopter area’s contact person for Leonardo Production System (LPS) initiatives. Leonardo launched the programme in 2019, seeking to optimise the efficiency of its industrial sites through the continuous improvement of process and programme management.
She has a comprehensive overview of everything that goes into making a complex and highly technological product such as a helicopter: “We see with our own eyes how, through the work performed by the various teams within our operating units, our flagship product – the helicopter – is built” It is always a thrill to see them take to the air, not only for anyone who visits Leonardo’s sites for the first time, but also for Giovanna, who knows them inside out, following them from the design stages through to completion of the certification test cycle: “working in Leonardo allows us to handle a variety of cutting-edge technologies in the aeronautical market, and to see the finished product.”