University of Calabria

ITA | ENG

Project
“MINERVA (Self-Assembling Materials for Anti-Counterfeiting Devices)" aims to apply new materials and new treatments to the national traceability and anti-counterfeiting industry. Specifically, the aim is to develop a new type of active/passive smart labels based on the use of liquid crystalline materials that self-assemble into chiral structures. The technologies under study find application both in the development of smart materials at the heart of Industry 4.0, and in the Internet of Things, to be used in the security industry and for products such as smart labels.

Financial Resources
The project was funded by the NOP Research and Innovation 2014-2020 under the Action Innovative Industrial Doctorates, Cycle XXXIII - Academic Year 2017-2018. For the implementation of this initiative, the University of Calabria received a budget of 89.040,87 euro and established a three-year doctoral scholarship in Physical, Chemical and Materials Sciences and Technologies. 

Impact
The project addresses the new protection and security needs of the manufacturing world through the identification of new materials and new methods/processes to develop recognition, tracing and authenticity applications to ensure that goods are tamper-proof, especially in the health and food markets, and in Made in Italy industrial and agro-industrial sectors in general. The research programme uses the Proof of Concept methodology for the interaction between public research and companies in order to promote the commercial exploitation of research results through validation activities and the development of prototypes in close collaboration with industry. The skills acquired during the doctoral programme can be transferred both to the field of research relating to the science and technology of new “smart” materials and to the new product security industry which is increasingly expanding worldwide. The acquired skills can also find application locally, in Calabria, since they can contribute to the implementation of a broader Cyber-Physical Security project, with the consequent strengthening of industrial research centres in the region.
The project includes a 6-month placement at BIOAGE (BIOelectronics and Advanced Genomic Engineering) srl, a high-tech company in Lamezia Terme, and a 9-month placement at NOVA University Lisbon, located on the Caparica Campus in Portugal.

---

08/06/2021