Making smart objects talk better to each other, battery chargers for mobile phones and computers that consume less and less, faster LED bulbs. World technological challenges to which four young engineers between 29 and 44 years old in Valle d’Aosta responded with as many patents. All those deposited in the small Alpine region in 2020 are branded STMicroelectronics of Aosta, the research and development site of the global giant for the design and production of semiconductor devices (12.7 billion dollars in revenues in 2021, 20 per cent in more on 2020). The Aosta site has 60 employees (three years ago there were 50). “Patents – explains Vittorio Peduto, director of the Aosta Valley office – are” cartridges of innovation “, a precious bargaining chip with other large leading companies in the various technological sectors”. The young inventors, all engineers of the Polytechnic of Turin enrolled by ST, explain its effects and concrete applications for citizens. Matteo Varesio is in the group that deals with Powerline, the technology that uses the electricity grid as a transmission medium. Innovation is triggered by adding a communication channel, radio frequency. “For example, the electricity meter could ‘talk’ to the gas meter and transmit the data of both (the gas meter does not have an electric cable to communicate)” explains Varesio.
Another aspect: “The meter is very often found in uncomfortable places, but with this system in some States they are already placing displays in the house that communicate with the meter without cables and show consumption, also launching any alarms if certain thresholds are exceeded”. Alberto Bianco and Francesco Ciappa instead deal with another topic: «We reduce the consumption of power supplies connected to the network without a device in charge. The estimate is that there are 2 billion of them in the world every day. World savings would be enormous ». Giuseppe Scappatura deals with another sector: «The road to saving energy involves the slowness of some functions. For the LED bulbs we have invented a circuit that activates in 200 milliseconds. If time is not so important when you turn on the light to read a book, it is on safety issues ».