CIRP 2026: DIGEP at the heart of the 75th General Assembly of the International Academy for Production Engineering

We are proud to highlight the central role played by the Department of Management and Production Engineering (DIGEP) on the occasion of the 75th General Assembly of CIRP – The International Academy for Production Engineering, one of the leading international events dedicated to research and innovation in production engineering. From 23 to 29 August 2026, Turin welcomed the international manufacturing research community, bringing together researchers, industry representatives, and professionals from around the world.

The event was jointly organised by Politecnico di Torino and INRiM – National Institute of Metrological Research, with Politecnico di Torino serving as the main venue for the congress activities. The scientific programme took place in the R Classrooms of the Polytechnic Campus from 25 to 29 August, while the opening ceremony was held at the Lingotto Congress Centre on 24 August. DIGEP sponsored and supported the initiative, also contributing to its organisation through the involvement of faculty members and researchers.

The Organising Committee was co-chaired by Prof. Luca Settineri, faculty member at DIGEP, and Dr. Alessandro Balsamo, researcher at INRiM. Prof. Raffaello Levi, Emeritus Professor at DIGEP, served as Honorary Chair. The Organising Committee also included several DIGEP faculty members and researchers: Prof. Maurizio Galetto, Director of DIGEP, Prof. Gianfranco Genta, Prof. Paolo Claudio Priarone, Prof. Alessandro Simeone, Dr. Giacomo Maculotti and Dr. Elisa Verna. Dr. Angioletta Rita Catalano and Ms. Silvia Carola Gilardi also took part in the Organising Committee.

The Department’s involvement in such a high-profile event represents an important opportunity to highlight DIGEP’s role in research on production and advanced manufacturing, bringing together scientific research, technological innovation, and the industrial system.

The choice of Turin as the venue for the event was no coincidence. The city has historically been one of the centres of Italian manufacturing and is now an ecosystem undergoing a transition towards new production paradigms based on digitalisation, automation, sustainability, advanced materials, and smart manufacturing. This transformation reflects many of the key challenges currently addressed by the international production engineering research community.

The 75th General Assembly of CIRP brought a leading international scientific community to Turin, with a significant impact on the city’s hospitality sector. Over the course of an entire week, around 700 researchers and industry representatives gathered for one of the leading annual opportunities to discuss new developments in production engineering.
“The 75th General Assembly of CIRP represented an important opportunity for DIGEP to strengthen the dialogue between research, industry, and the international scientific community. Organising an event of this scale confirms the Department’s role in production and advanced manufacturing and highlights the contribution of faculty members and researchers who have been working along these scientific trajectories for many years”, commented Prof. Maurizio Galetto, Director of DIGEP and member of the Organising Committee.

The opening ceremony was attended by representatives from academia, research institutions, and public authorities. The event was officially opened by Prof. Maurizio Galetto and Dr. Marco Pisani of INRiM. Among the institutional speakers was Regional Councillor Andrea Tronzano, while a message from the Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, was also delivered during the ceremony.
The opening day also featured a lecture by Roberto Torrini, Head of the Economic Structure Division of the Bank of Italy, entitled Turning Knowledge into Growth. The lecture explored the relationship between knowledge, technological innovation, and economic growth, highlighting the importance of transferring knowledge and turning it into value through technology adoption.

The scientific programme of the General Assembly addressed some of the main development areas of contemporary manufacturing, ranging from precision metrology to advanced machining processes, additive manufacturing technologies and production systems, as well as the circular economy and industrial sustainability. Significant attention was also devoted to artificial intelligence applied to manufacturing, digital twins, intelligent maintenance, collaborative robotics, and the decarbonisation of production systems.

The keynote papers presented during the Assembly addressed strategic topics for the future of production, including the use of machine learning in industrial metrology, digital twins for machine tools, data-driven maintenance, manufacturing processes for electric powertrains, and the decarbonisation of manufacturing towards net zero.

Particularly significant was Politecnico di Torino’s contribution to the scientific output presented during the congress, with contributions from DIGEP faculty members and researchers covering several areas of manufacturing research, from the design and management of industrial processes to metrology, material formability and sustainability.

Alongside its scientific dimension, the General Assembly also provided an important opportunity to foster connections between research, industry and the local community. The social programme offered participants the opportunity to discover some of Turin’s and the Piedmont region’s main historical and cultural landmarks, further strengthening the international dimension of the event.

The 75th General Assembly of CIRP therefore represented a significant milestone for DIGEP and for the entire scientific community of Politecnico di Torino: an opportunity to strengthen international collaborations, showcase research achievements, and contribute to the global discussion on the technologies and production models shaping the future of manufacturing.