Premio Lucchese 2012 for excellence within schools

Matteo Borghi (diploma mark 100/100, average 9.09), Manuel Lodesani (100/100, average 8.67) and Paolo Barbieri (100/100, average 8.50) are the students who have won the 25th Premio Lucchese, an award organised by Florim in cooperation with the Italian Ceramic Society.

The long-running initiative was set up in memory of Floor Gres founder Giovanni Lucchese, father of Florim’s current chairman Claudio Lucchese and a pioneer of technological research in the ceramic sector. It grants scholarships to students at the Istituto Tecnico Industriale Statale “Alessandro Volta” in Sassuolo who have scored top marks in their school-leaving diploma.

The award ceremony was held on Saturday 5 May in the Aula Magna of the Istituto Tecnico Industriale Statale “Alessandro Volta” in Sassuolo, where journalist Leo Turrini offered a though-provoking discussion of reality and virtual reality entitled “Virtuale e reale o virtuale è reale?”. A theme of great topical interest in this age of social networks, powerful communication tools that are nonetheless prone to misuse, he explored a number of complex questions: Are they a door to the future or a potential threat? Are they friends or enemies of a successful school career? To what extent can virtual reality be reconciled with daily life?  
Turrini offered original answers to these questions in a talk that ranged from Facebook to the forthcoming London Olympics and the hidden treasure of App’s and made a poignant tribute to Italian motorcycle racer Marco Simoncelli.