DiSAT's activities for the community

DiSAT has an extensive network of collaborations with local stakeholders as well as with partners operating on a broader scale. This network of relationships is clearly reflected in the description of its research lines, where a number of outstanding industrial partnerships stand out.

Alongside these collaborations, it is important to highlight the Department’s researchers’ ability to turn ideas into opportunities for social and economic development, which may be summarised as follows:

Contract Research: making use of its range of scientific instrumentation, for many years the Department has offered external users an analytical service with differentiated fees for public and private bodies. Reduced rates are applied to organisations covered by agreements approved by the Department Council.

Intellectual Property (Patents): DiSAT researchers are co-holders and/or co-inventors of a number of patents currently active at the University.

Spin-offs: DiSAT researchers are the academic leads for three spin-off companies in which the University holds a stake.

Melete Srl – dedicated to providing targeted support to companies required to comply with the obligations of the new European REACH legislation (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) and, more generally, to supporting businesses on issues relating to chemical, environmental and occupational risk.

Coelux Holding Srl – dedicated to the development of innovative optical systems based on nanotechnologies to artificially reproduce, in indoor environments, natural light and the appearance of the sun and the sky.

Random Power Srl – dedicated to the design and development of a generator of random and unpredictable bit streams through the creation of a True Random Bit Generator. Based on the analysis of phenomena connected with the quantum nature of semiconductor structures, this device makes it possible to generate cryptographic keys and inputs for encryption systems.

For detailed information on spin-offs and patents, please refer to:

DiSAT has always pursued a cultural and educational mission with the aim of building a bridge between the University and schools, non-profit organisations, society and individuals.

Its activities range from engagement and interaction with the world of education through seminars and workshops for schools of all levels, held both at the University and in schools themselves, to the organisation of initiatives for the promotion and sharing of research, participation in radio and television broadcasts, publications for a non-academic audience, the organisation of exhibitions, and events dedicated to gender balance (such as the Global Women’s Breakfast and Quantum Women’s Day).

Activities involving schools are certainly the most prominent. Alongside those typically recorded as Public Engagement, these also include all the activities connected with Pathways for Transversal Skills and Career Guidance, which each year involve several hundred upper secondary school students (in 2024, 350 directly through the University, plus a similar number reported by schools within specific projects such as the PNRR Orientation 4U University-Lab project), activities with entire classes במסגרת STEM calls promoted by the Ministry of Education and Merit, the Mathematics High School project, and initiatives carried out in collaboration with local organisations (for example, IdeaImpresa with the Como-Lecco Chamber of Commerce).

DiSAT is a partner in the European Co.Science project (funded under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions), aimed at strengthening dialogue between science and society, and is a promoter of the Researchers’ Night. In the 2024 edition, the events organised by the Department took place over the course of an entire week and involved more than 1,600 students. In the period up to March 2025 alone, activities in schools reached 600 primary school pupils, 40 nursery school children, 240 upper secondary school students, and 600 participants enrolled in the University of the Third Age of Olgiate Comasco, highlighting broad intergenerational engagement.

DiSAT is also actively involved in organising the celebrations for the bicentenary of the death of Alessandro Volta, with a programme currently being developed that includes international conferences and seminars at the Tempio Voltiano on contemporary topics such as quantum computing. One of the Department’s lecturers also serves on the National Committee responsible for organising the celebrations.

One of the key elements of the Third Mission in which DiSAT has always invested considerable effort is lifelong learning: from this point of view, the Department plays a leading role, both because of its distinctive technical expertise and because of its methodological competences.

In particular, among the main initiatives are the already mentioned refresher courses for teachers in primary and secondary education, covering both subject-specific topics and teaching methodology pathways in the scientific disciplines.

For a list of the training opportunities available across the University, please refer to: