Interview with Anna Grassellino (Fermilab), speaker at the Festival del Futuro

16-09-2021 | News

anna grassellino intervista

«I'm really happy to be able to participate. Also because my work is really about the future ». Anna Grassellino, Senior Scientist al Fermilab of Chicago, the American laboratory of particle and accelerator physics and one of the most important in the world, will be among the guests of the next edition of Festival del Futuro, scheduled from 18 to 20 November (the program is available on the website). The panel that foresees his speech - Thursday 18 - is entitled The technological challenge: how to cope with the exponential pace of innovation. At Fermilab since 2012, Grassellino today he is Director of the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center. «This technology - he explained - allows the progress of accelerator physics. Otherwise we could not build more powerful ones. To do what is done today at CERN in Geneva, a machine the size of the Earth would have been needed in the past. If we want to increase the collision energy of these particles we must push technology. It is pure science ».

Anna Grassellino and the new generation of scientists

Born in 1981 in Marsala, Anna Grassellino she graduated fromUniversity of Pisa in Electronic Engineering, completing his studies in the United States atUniversity of Pennsylvania. Today, at 39, he leads one of the world's centers of excellence. “I became a US citizen: the USA is a place where opportunities are given regardless of everyone's history. Obviously, difficulties are encountered everywhere and we are not in the promised land ». In fact, we asked the Italian scientist if even in the States United there are prejudices and barriers to entry that make it more difficult for a woman to choose a career in the field of subjects STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). “It is a phenomenon that is fought in all possible ways in the United States: the problem exists. Our field of study, however, is growing tremendously and this gives us an opportunity to increase diversity. I think we will create a new generation of scientists ».

The future of work in science

The world of science, like everyone else, has been hit by the coronavirus emergency. The interview with Anna Grassellino has therefore allowed us to understand what is the vision of an authoritative figure like you with respect to future of work. Can teams with hundreds of scientists also work remotely? «What I strongly hope and on which I will commit myself - he concluded - is that the new phase does not sweep away the positive things present before the pandemic. However, I fear that after this phase we will all be more distant, losing physical contact. I still believe in the importance of closeness ».

Alessandro Di Stefano

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