“Develop Innovative ideas for the reuse of components of end-of-life electronic products,  to create new products.” This was the challenge Logitech,  a world leader in designing, manufacturing and marketing products that help connect people to digital and cloud experiences, set for the students of the Industrial Design and Innovation course of the School of Industrial Engineering.

The student ideas were developed with sustainability goals and circular economy models in mind and were of great interest to Logitech. This was an extraordinary experience for the students who generated new product concepts that were appreciated by such a relevant company.

Seventeen groups of students presented their projects at the end of the course to Caroline Kennedy, Corporate Sustainability Director and Marco Signa, Innovation & Sustainability Manager of Logitech, who expressed their interest and appreciation for the innovative ideas shared and the extent to which students that explored how the company could transform components from end–of-life products into new and sustainable products.

Statement by Caroline Kennedy: “This has been an interesting activity and we have been excited to see how creativity and innovation can turn what normally is considered ‘waste’ into a resource to produce new products. This should be of inspiration not only for us but for the entire industry. We want to thank LIUC and Prof. Pizzurno, as well as all the students involved in this program, for this eye opening experience”.

Professor Emanuele Pizzurno, professor at the LIUC School of Industrial Engineering is pleased: “The intense collaboration between our course and the Research & Development units of national and international companies has now become a tradition. This year the project was particularly challenging; certainly, the most important project of a circular economy and innovation aimed towards sustainability in the history of LIUC. And yet, in less than 5 months, our students, without experience in the sector and prior knowledge of the product, were able to generate proposals for new technical products and industrial applicability. A special thanks to colleagues Ilaria Tagliavini, Domenico Sorrenti and Marco Raimondi for the excellent guidance and direction of the work teams “.

The challenge is very complex every year. In fact, students have to deal with the innovation project in its interaction: from the study of the reference market, the engineering of the new product, the design of the production plant, up to the economic-financial aspects.