Home Forums Silicon Valley Study Tour – August 2019 Pavia Silicon Valley 2019

67 replies, 12 voices Last updated by Anonymous 4 years, 7 months ago
  • Paolo Giovanetti
    Participant
    @paologiovanetti
    #3776

    Good evening guys,

    I think that yesterday’s conference was inspiring. First of all, it was encouraging to see an association like SheTech, which is a response to the endemic scarcity of women in business and in jobs that have to do with technology in general. Things have been getting better over the course of the last years, even though there is still a lot to do. In particular, as we have discussed, Silicon Valley continues to be a more male-friendly environment and so things like SheTech could be helpful over there as well.

    A woman that did not have trouble being successful in Silicon Valley is Alice Melocchi, who showed us that if you believe in something and you are willing to fight for it, nothing can stop you. She and her co-founders never backed down and and were able to turn an intuition into a pioneering business like MultiLab. We also have got to know about another incredible application of 3D printing, and that is producing capsules for the pharmaceutical industry.

    To answer Giovanni’s question about personalized medicine I will say that such an innovation would allow to produce patient-specific pills, containing the optimal dosage they need for their condition, in order to maximize the efficiency of the treatment. And also personalized organs could be produced, so that transplants will no longer be necessary.

    Have a great weekend!

    Valerio Demontis
    Participant
    @valeriodemontis
    #3777

    Dear readers,

    As always, the conference is a source of discussion and inspiration for reasoning; I am very grateful to have the opportunity to hear all these beautiful stories of life. Comment on yesterday’s conference following the order in which the interventions followed. I must admit that it made me feel strange to hear about “feminine startup”, let me explain better. As Eugenia Di Somma said, studies affirm that women have more difficulty in public speaking and tend to be more averse to business risk than men. I think that is the result of a society governed purely by men and built for men where women played a marginal role because the work was strictly physical, and the differences emerged more. Now we are living in a period in which society is finally changing and starting to talk with greater intensity than this absurd problem, even if obviously there is still working to be done, otherwise, there would be no space to talk about “feminine startup”. This is crazy, talk about startups and women because in the past the two questions were like two parallel lines. I think that if the percentage of women in leadership positions increase, we will live in a world that is far better, and I think that Eugenia Di Somma and Alice Melocchi are a living demonstration.

    Regarding “SheTech”, they are doing an amazing job, and I was pleasantly surprised when I heard about their free workshop on coding. What a great opportunity! Don’t you think? There are many saying that coding will be “tomorrow’s English” as we can read in the following article:

    https://www.wired.com/story/coding-is-for-everyoneas-long-as-you-speak-english/

     

    I believe “SheTech” is offering us a great opportunity that we should all seize.

    I also want to dedicate some words to the incredible experience of Alice. I have great admiration for her, she did not stop at her degree with honors, her doctorate in research, being selected at MIT, but she went further by opening a business. It is not a common thing, she is true Italian excellence! Among the many suggestions she gave us, I want to report here is curious. It might seem trivial and obvious advice but being curious is really something that can open many doors, and I think it’s one of the ideological pillars of the Silicon Valley Study Tour, in fact, it leads students to see one of the most stimulating areas in the world.

    Have a good evening!

     

    Valerio Demontis.

    Margherita Tambussi
    Participant
    @margheritatambussi
    #3783

    Hello everyone!

     

    In response to Giovanni, I think that the world of medicine has taken a step forward with the introduction of personalized medicines. They consider every patient individually because people can respond differently to treatment even if the disease is the same. Precision medicine means personalizing the therapeutic strategy, using the best possible science to treat patients. It considers the patient’s biological profile and his personal, social and cultural dimension.

    There have been important technological developments and the sector that has most benefited is oncology.

    Moreover, these new technologies allow patients to be monitored remotely in order to assess the effectiveness of care in real time.

    Obviously, personalized medicines are criticized: the costs are too high, and, for this reason, pharmaceutical companies were accused of speculating in the past. Another criticism concerns the experimentation on patients: these tests involve only 300 people while traditional experiments involve thousands of people. This difference could cause serious side effects.

    The introduction of personalized medicine in EU is complex: the European Alliance for Personalized Medicine (EAPM) has been working since 2003 on integrating personalized medicines into the European healthcare system. The EAPM would like to identify the main critical issues that prevent the right care for the right patient at the right time.

    Generally speaking, the goals of personalized medicines would require an alignment between the different standards of health care in the various member countries and within each individual country.

     

    Personalized medicines are a revolution in the medical field but, in my opinion the most important aspect is to guarantee the possibility for all patients to access them.

    This topic is crucial, and we should find a solution as soon as possible. In the US it is not difficult to introduce the personalized medicines.

    According to you, is it possible to find a common solution among member countries in order to put the health of European patients first?

     

    Have a nice Sunday!

     

    Margherita

    Lorenzo
    Participant
    @lorenzolacchini
    #3784

    Dear readers,

    Attending the last conference was in my opinion very useful because we had the opportunity to see the differences between an affirmed leader company like SAES Group and two newly born startups.
    I found Eugenia and Alice’s power and passion very inspiring: these characteristics are fundamental to be young entrepreneurs. At the same time, I remember I was amazed by Mr. Della Porta’s humility: this is another relevant trait to grow.

    Alice and Eugenia’s start-ups need to innovate continuously double digit if they want to survive in the market. In fact, according to the index S&P500, among the 500 most innovative companies between 19957 and 1997, only 2,5% survived (Source: S&P; Foster and Kaplan). The other struggled to follow the market growth and were left behind. If we think again about SAES, It was able to continuously renovate its business: from the vacuum industry, it moved to the technology of intelligent packages, It never stopped growing. I believe this is something very valuable, that Eugenia and Alice need to take into account for the future.

    In the second place, I would like to give my opinion about the production of medicines through 3D Printing.
    Also, thinking about my grandmother, she due to various problems, she must take about 10 pills per day. Fortunately, she always has someone to remind her to take the pills daily and at the exact time of the day. Having a capsule for all its needs would simplify her the intake of medicines.

    I tried to create my own personalized supplement pill directly from the Multiply Labs website. Because I’m a student, I choose 2 features for my capsule: energy and brain sharpness. the website, through questions, designed me a capsule with vitamins B and caffeine, both necessary elements for us students. I think that, the possibility to draw a capsule based on your needs is brilliant, moreover, the supplement market is growing. The transition to personalized medicine is very difficult. First of all, there is a different regulation in every nation. the UE has to take a predominant position to align the policies in very bureaucratic countries like Italy.
    I believe that this innovation will enable us to reduce the number of pharmaceutical industries and thus problems such as waste disposal and the waste of medicines in the future. There is also the possibility for hospitals to have specialized laboratories for the production of medicines designed to their patients into, creating a direct channel producer-consumer.

    Have a good night,

    Lorenzo

    Domenico
    Participant
    @dome
    #3786

    Hello there !

    In response to Valerio at regard the innovation and automation economic loss, I am agree with him about taxation of great companies. I also think robot’s work should be taxed. I think that the taxes’ revenues should be invested, in the better way, more and more in education and creativity. History taught us that the technology innovation delete some jobs but, in the same time, new jobs are created. The new technologies are always used in order to increase the production’s efficiency and to decrease the costs. Then human work become useless because it is less efficient and it has higher costs. But one of the consequence of technology innovation is the need of new professional figures that have be able to use the innovations. The people should invest in human capital, in education, in order to get better their intelligence, their skills, their knowledge and their creativity. New spaces are opened by new technologies, where human creativiy is necessary (that can’be substituted by robot), for to use in the better way the inventions. Only with education and formation the technology innovation will become a tool managed by us. Otherwise we will be substituted by machines.

    About the 3d printing environmental impact, I’m agree with Nicole and Margherita. Obviously 3d printing still isn’t perfect. I would adjoint that the decrease of costs promotes the buying of the products because the prices are lower than before. Then the consums will increase, the produtction will increase and more energy and  resources will be used. Moreover the processing of raw materials, aimed at making them suitable for three-dimensional printing, can consume more energy than is necessary for the production using traditional production methods.

    At regard the last conference i was very impressed by Eugenia and Alice personality. They demonstrate that the women have the potentially and the skill for to become innovative entrpreneur. it’s not a job only for men. I have understood that In order to create a startup and receiving the financements, there are steps that must be passed: questions, video presentation, demo, interview. That is needed for to convince the investitors to finance the project. If one step isn’t passed the whole project fails. I want say that even if there is a good idea of project that could get better the quality life or increase the profits, a little mistake could bring everything down and the future benefits won’t be realized, while projects that are less innovative but more convincing could be financed. Determination, brave and fortune are necessary to build  and doing survive a company.

    In response to Margherita about the personalized medicines in European Union, i think it isn’t possible to found a common solution among member countries because it is a national matter and each country has own normative. Until it won’t become at european matter (it means that the EU can apply the same directive or regulations over the member countries), the introduction of personalized medicines in EU will be impossible.

    Have a good night!

    Domenico

    Paolo Marenco
    Participant
    @paolomarenco
    #3788

    Hey all, it has been an amazing Forum...you all are eligible to come with us to SVST from August 25 to 31.

    Only  the first 3 are supported for the Inscription fee by Borsa Manera. The others can make Crowdfunding or family and friends. You have time to do that!

    Margherita Tambussi
    Participant
    @margheritatambussi
    #11429

    Hi everyone!

    I have never been to the US before and I can’t wait to be there. I think that SVST is a unique experience. It will give us the opportunity to get in touch with people who have reached their goals. Moreover, we are going to visit one of the most important places in the world, where the biggest firms are based.

    My goals are to know the stories of these people and to understand their mentality and constancy.

    I would like to share my ideas and receive important advice and suggestions.

    I think that this experience will change my mind.

     

    See you in San Francisco!

     

    Margherita

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    @
    #11430

    Hello SVST 🙂

    Congratulations to Margherita, Valerio and Paolo!!! Enjoy the Silicon Valley. Please let me know your feedback and feelings about this amazing program!

    Best wishes,

    Giovanni

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