The Italian Trade Commission has awarded eight U.S. College students a two-week trip to Italy, July 4-16, to visit top machine tool companies, and participate in an advanced international engineering program offered at Politecnico University-Milan, Italy.

CHICAGO, Ill.— We are pleased to announce the winners of the Fourth Annual Italian Machine Tool Technology Awards (IMTTA). They are: Joseph Akyeampong, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, N.C.; Brandon Christeson, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas; Rachel Decker, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas; Roger Harrison, Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Mich., Mitchell Krogman, Kettering University, Flint, Mich.; Dylan Schmitter, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., William Seldon, Kettering University, Flint, Mich., and Carl G. Simonsen, University of Colorado, Denver, Colo.

The IMTTA program is comprised of a competition asking upper level students attending premier North American universities to write a thesis on the relative innovation taking place in mechanical engineering related industries and the issues they face. The aim of the program is to enrich the engineering education of students and to advance knowledge on issues of importance within the industry to the next generation of engineering professionals.

The Italian Trade Commission, UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, and the Politecnico University of Milan will host an award ceremony at Milan’s Museum of Science and Technology on July 4, 2011 in Milan.

Winners of the IMTTA selected as having the best papers have been awarded a two-week trip to Italy with activities scheduled for July 4-15, 2011. Students will visit top Italian companies in the machine tool industry and take part in an advanced international engineering program at the Polytechnic of Milan. The students will be accompanied by Professor Daw Alwerfalli, Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Mich. and Professor Luis Rafael Sanchez, University of Colorado, Denver, Colo.

The trip is part of the Italian Machine Tool Technology Awards, which is part of the international program Italian Technology Awards. The IMTTA is sponsored by the Italian Trade Commission, via its Chicago Office, UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE (Association of Italian Manufacturers of Machine Tools, Robots, Automation Systems and Ancillary Products www.ucimu.it), Polytechnic of Milan (www.polimi.it) and in the United States, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Education Foundation (SME-EF). www.smeef.org

Italy is one of the world’s main producers of advanced manufacturing machinery systems for a wide variety of sectors and has been providing companies around the globe with innovative technologies, ideas and solutions. The visits to Italian machinery manufacturers provides students with a unique opportunity to experience firsthand, Italian machine tool machinery and the vanguard technologies they offer, which have made Italian manufacturers recognized world leaders.

The IMTTA 2011 trip includes company tours and discussions with machine tool machinery manufacturers located throughout Italy concluding with the Politecnico University of Milan certification program the second week of the program. Also included are visits to many education institutions and places for the duration of the program as well as cultural tours of various cities.

Pasquale Bova, Trade Commissioner of the Italian Trade Commission’s Chicago office said, “We are supporting the growth and stability of advanced manufacturing in the global community. Now in its fourth year, our award collaborations have been very successful in expanding career potential for students and providing the necessary global view for academics.