In our training projects, as well as on our channels, the mention of the "humanist engineer" often recurs, a figure endowed with soft skills, a transversal vision, and a multidisciplinary approach: with this research grant, we want to outline its profile.

November 2024 marked the kickoff of the project "The Humanist Engineer: qualitative research on the academic curricula of engineers and gaps with the needs of companies", promoted and coordinated by the University of Florence and supported by the Fondazione MAIRE – ETS through a research grant.

The investigation will be carried out by the Interdepartmental Research Unit promoted by the Department of Information Engineering of the University of Florence.

The working group is composed of a multitude of departments of the University, in synergy: Industrial Engineering (DIEF), Architecture (DIDA), Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICEA), Education, Languages, Intercultural, Literature, and Psychology (FORLILPSI); with the support of the (Italian) “Associazione Olivettiana”.

The research will last six months and will be divided into two strands: on the one hand companies with their HR [Human Resources] policies and on the other hand engineers with a good level of seniority and experience, in order to analyze the integration path between knowledge, know-how, and know-being.

The investigation will be conducted through in-depth interviews with the heads of the Human Resources departments of selected companies and the conduct of focus groups with a few engineers with previous professional experience of seven years or more.

Updates on the project will be made available in this section of our website.