Interaction between learning context, local social and economic context, and company context: this is the setting in which the School-Work Alternation project takes place. Introduced in Italy by law n° 107 of 2015 (known as the ‘Buona Scuola’ law), the program involves second grade High Schools carrying out compulsory training courses in companies (at least 400 hours of activities for students at technical and professional Institutes, and at least 200 hours for pupils at Lyceums).
The goal of this project is to stimulate the spread of a new learning format which offers young people the chance to acquaint themselves with the culture of work and the world of employment, encouraging the development of specific transversal skills and providing an excellent orientation opportunity designed to help them make informed choices about their university-level studies. This innovative training experience combines knowledge with know-how, orientates young people’s aspirations and establishes contacts with external study and learning, thus stimulating the student’s sense of initiative and entrepreneurship.
In the Brindisi Avio Aero site, this year, a new collaboration called Open May was launched, featuring High Schools, Universities and companies. A whole month devoted to training experiences, in collaboration with UniSalento and UniBa Universities and the High Schools in the Puglia Region that adhered to the initiative. For the entire month of May, as part of the School-Work Alternation, six deserving young people from the Francavilla Fontana ITIS (State Industrial Technical Institute) spent their days on company premises with our colleagues and Tutors from the Frames and Cases CoE, exploring the world of Manufacturing and Digital Transformation together with our personnel.
“At the end of the second year of the School-Work Alternation project – explains Matteo – I remain still more convinced about the choice I made some years ago when deciding to study at the Technical and Industrial Institute in the aircraft construction course. I hope that the studies I have carried out and the experience I have acquired through the School-Work Alternation project help to make my dream come true, namely to become part of a company working in this sector, and meanwhile to continue with my studies so as to grow and improve professionally.”
Alessandro too declares himself lucky to have had the chance to get to know such a major company at first hand: “it has to be a massive source of encouragement for me and all my companions, really, and I feel I’ve learned an incredible amount in just one month. At the end of this learning period I can say that the School-Work Alternation project is a key tool for society, providing an extra stimulation to help kids detach themselves from the world of schools.”
These kids will complete their three-year process next year. One of the novelties of the 2017 session was the selection of a winning school, which won a scholastic internship next year with our company. Three finalist secondary high schools competed for this prize through a Contest consisting of a three-day Workshop and Shop Tour. The winning school, decided by a careful evaluation process carried out by an internal Avio Aero commission, was the Ferdinando Epifanio ITI Industrial Technical Institute/Technological Sector from the town of San Pancrazio Salentino. “Five highly motivated and creative pupils presented their ideas on improvements to apply to our continuous improvement processes,” said a satisfied Elisa Amato, Employee HR Manager in Brindisi.
Avio Aero was also a presence in the University of Salento, in the Engineering Faculty, where eight seminars were carried out on the Role of the Manufacturing Engineer within the GSC (Global Supply Chain), and also in the University of Bari, for the Natural…Mente Scuola project.
University students also had the opportunity of seeing our plant’s company manufacturing and continuous improvement processes from close up… a bridge between the worlds of Education, Research and Employment which facilitates the emergence of professional figures that have to be increasingly updated to comply with the rapidly changing world of real market requirements.
“Avio Aero’s aviation excellence is partly derived from its ability to inspire, educate and attract the best young talents from Italian High Schools and Universities”, explains Daniela D’ambrosio, HR Leader of the Pomigliano facility, where this year’s project was the fifth in a row. “Studiare l’impresa, l’impresa di studiare” (meaning roughly “Studying industry, the industry of studying”) is a project promoted by the Regione Campania together with the ‘Il Mattino’ newspaper and the Naples Industrial Association. Following the two encounters at the Barsanti Technical Institute in Pomigliano involving various company department heads, we welcomed young students to our base in Campania and guided them around our three centers of excellence (Combustors, Airfoils and CRO) and our testing department.
During their visit, the students had the opportunity of finding out about the technologies we use, our advanced manufacturing industrial instruments, and the expertise of our colleagues, all of which contribute to making Avio Aero a company recognized internationally for its excellence in the design, production and revision of the most important aviation engines. “It’s been really fascinating to watch the various monitor screens in the combustor area, thanks to which anyone can check the functional state of the machinery and access real time updated information on numerous production indicators” says Pasquale, a student at the Barsanti ITIS. Gaetano too is enthusiastic: “seeing a real aviation engine and a turbine during its assembly phase is just incredible, and the way that in every area of the factory it’s so easy to see how every tiny detail is so important, and how the care taken over quality is visible in every operation.”
As well as the “Studiare l’impresa, l’impresa di studiare” program, this has also been the second year of ‘Natural…mente scuola’, the Business Game aimed at the High Schools of Puglia and Campania promoted by Boeing, Leonardo and Avio Aero, plus the Bari Polytechnic, the University of Salento and the “Luigi Vanvitelli” University in Campania…involving over two thousand students from Campania and Puglia.
The High School pupils discussed with the world’s three main aviation and aerospace players about developing a sustainable business idea in the aviation and aerospace sectors, both from an environmental and economic point of view. The two winning classes received 2 scholarships to be devoted to School-Work Alternation activities for the scholastic year 2017-2018.
In the company’s base in Rivalta di Torino, 26 fourth year pupils from High Schools in Turin and its Province carried out their period of School-Work Alternation from July 15 to 31, 2017. This time the young students joined our teams both on our factory floor and in our offices, finding out about functions such as Finance, Compliance, Legal, IT and Communications.
The in-house internship is the final phase of the #TalentiInVolo project, developed by Avio Aero together with ManpowerGroup in order to create close collaboration between High School Institutes and the company, with the aim of facilitating awareness of the aviation industry’s professional needs and of constructing a process for sharing learning among the pupils involved.
“My dream is to become an airline pilot – says Edoardo from Turin – and the period of School-Work Alternation in Avio Aero brought me closer to this world but seen from a different viewpoint: the technology which makes aircraft fly. Even if, as I continue my studies, I decide to follow a different path, I know that I could always consider working in a company that operates in this sector, such as Avio Aero.”
“For the second year in a row, I’ve had the opportunity of a scholastic internship with a major company, last year in the Sourcing department and this year in Communications. I still don’t know how I’m going to continue my studies or what I’m going to do in life… but I certainly have a clearer idea about how the world of employment works and about the various kinds of professional figures needed to work inside major companies”, concludes Madalina, sitting in the office she shares with her colleagues…well, her schoolmates!
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