Discover talent, research, and creativity in the world of 3D printing
A space designed to highlight students’ skills and experimentation, offering a unique opportunity to engage with the industrial world and gain visibility within a highly specialized exhibition context.
The IUAV area also provides a concrete opportunity to present students’ work and ideas through a dedicated speech area, encouraging direct dialogue with companies and professionals in the manufacturing sector.
PLEIADES - Plastic European Innovation Award for Design and Sustainability
PLEIADES brings together leading polymer-processing companies and the academic world to promote advanced injection molding and sustainability.
Promoted by Ewikon and IUAV University of Venice (Vicenza campus), the project involves national and international companies and associations. Design students develop small recycled polymer objects from a technical brief, experimenting with creativity while engaging with real production requirements.
Projects, developed in October, aim to highlight company technologies and create objects with tangible use value, intended for exhibitions and educational events. One overall winner will be produced for company demonstrations, while two special mentions recognize diversity and inclusion (WIP-IT) and Life Cycle Assessment approach (TMP).
PLEIADES is a concrete example of collaboration between companies, faculty, and students, demonstrating how design and new technologies can be tools for sustainable innovation.
Partners and associations: Arburg, Chem Trend, Ewikon, Guberti, NC Formazione, Uniform, WIPS-IT, TMP
Academic involvement: 100 students – IUAV Vicenza, Circular Design and Design & Technologies Labs
Research clusters: Futuro Continuo Study Center, FIND Research Unit
Design Degree Program – Vicenza Campus, IUAV University of Venice
Connected with the local economic and production system, the Design Degree Program at IUAV Vicenza trains qualified designers ready to join companies and institutions. The program prepares professionals capable of designing products and product systems while addressing sustainability, digitalization, and circular economy challenges.
The three-year program offers a multidisciplinary education, including courses in design, representation, humanities, sciences, technology, and socio-economic subjects. Activities combine design studios, theoretical lessons, company workshops, seminars, and cultural initiatives.
Students gain practical experience guided by national and international professionals, with the opportunity in the third year to undertake internships to apply their skills within design teams.
Graduates can pursue roles in product or service design within companies, institutions, R&D departments, manufacturing firms, or professional design and consulting studios. The program equips students to manage – independently or in teams – the entire design process, from understanding industrial processes to developing and producing products or product/service systems at scale.
