USI at TechDay 2024

The USI Faculty of Informatics, along with L'Ideatorio and other members of the academic community, will be participating in TecDay at Liceo Locarno on Wednesday, 27 March 2024.

At TecDay on 27 March, the 700 or so pupils of Liceo cantonale Locarno will be able to choose from 46 practice-oriented modules in technology and science.

L'ideatorio, with Janos Cont, will be offering the module "Noi e le intelligenze artificiali" (Us and artificial intelligence) which aims to help students reflect on the meaning of intelligence and its implementation in machines. Through algorithms such as ChatGPT, capable of generating texts and images, students will be able to understand how to use them to continue to be the, humanly, intelligent ones. This activity will prompt students to contemplate their use of technology and the potential limits, risks, and opportunities of artificial intelligence.

Monica Landoni and Irene Zanardi from USI Faculty of Informatics will be proposing the module "Design di tecnologia con e per bambini - Creatività e gioco nell'informatica" ("Designing technology with and for children - Creativity and games in informatics"). This module will briefly introduce the theoretical aspects of designing interactions for and with children, and will then engage students in a series of interactive activities. Through these activities, students will gain an appreciation for the creativity involved in informatics.

With the module " Una breve storia dell'universo: nascita, evoluzione, futuro" ( A brief history of the universe: birth, evolution, future) Piero Martinoli proposes a journey through the most relevant scientific discoveries such as the expansion of the universe and cosmic radiation up to the recent discovery of gravitational waves.

Renzo Ramelli, from Istituto ricerche solari Aldo e Cele Daccò (IRSOL), will be conducting a module called "Cosa ci svela la luce delle stelle" (What starlight reveals to us). In this module, Ramelli will carry out experiments to help better understand the techniques used by modern astronomers to decipher information from the light of the Sun and stars. If the weather permits, there will also be an attempt to observe the Sun and its spots.

In "Scienza dei dati per il monitoraggio delle invasioni aliene" (Data Science for Monitoring Alien Invasions), Ernst Wit and Martina Boschi will analyse the data of 65,000 UFO sightings to determine whether UFOs are real or not. They will use data science techniques to identify patterns and determine what factors contribute to UFO sightings. These same methods can also be applied to other serious issues, such as tracking invasive species or controlling the spread of infectious diseases.

The TecDays are an initiative of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences. They are organised at high schools: in German-speaking Switzerland since 2007, in French-speaking Switzerland since 2012 and since 2013 also in Ticino. More than 85,000 students and around 8500 teachers have participated in a TecDay so far. More than 1000 speakers from around 400 different institutions have presented their modules.

More information on locations and times can be found on the dedicated website: 
https://mint.satw.ch/de/events/tecday-locarno (Italian, French and German only)