Experience
A district where nobody was looking for one
Four days on a Mediterranean island nobody associates with microelectronics and that became a European semiconductor node. The question of the route is not «what is produced here»: it is what it takes for a technology district to be born in a place where nobody was looking for one.
On this page
Fact sheet
- Days
- 4
- Cities
- Catania and Randazzo
- Recommended season
- March to June and September to November
- Group
- 15 to 20 participants
- Language of the visits
- confirmed at the time of booking, site by site
- Schengen days used
- 4 out of 90, counting the day of entry and the day of exit
- Price
- Quotation on request
→ Request a quotation · Download the itinerary in PDF
In the quotation we write which sites are confirmed and which are being confirmed, one by one.
Itinerary day by day
Day 1 — Catania. How a district is put together
In the morning, the Distretto Tecnologico Micro e Nano Sistemi, in the industrial zone. It is a consortium company founded in 2008 that sits three Sicilian universities, research centers and companies at the same table. You look at the mechanism: who puts up the money, who puts up the laboratories, who decides what is researched and what each of them gains.
In the afternoon, a two-hour working session. The task is to reconstruct who owns the result of research funded by several parties, because that is the question a group of young entrepreneurs takes home.
Day 2 — Catania. The university inside the district
In the morning, the University of Catania, Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering. It is the department that trains the engineers the district hires and that has for years organized visits by its own students to the plants in the area. You talk to the people who teach and, where possible, to students on a technical degree.
In the afternoon, a two-hour working session: comparing the curriculum of an engineering student in Catania with that of a Mexican one, subject by subject and career outcome by career outcome.
Day 3 — Randazzo. Another industry, on the same volcano
A full day on Etna, at Donnafugata. A visit to the vineyards, the winery and a professional tasting, by compulsory booking and at fixed times. It is not a tourist interlude: it is the island's second precision industry, with an agronomy that measures, certifies and traces like an electronics plant, and the day is built on that parallel.
Day 4 — The comparison and the closing
In the morning, team work. Two industries, one territory, one question: why the two worlds do not talk to each other and what you would build to make them talk.
In the afternoon, eight-minute presentations and discussion.
What you visit
| Place | What it is | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Distretto Tecnologico Micro e Nano Sistemi, Catania | Consortium company between universities, research centers and companies, founded in 2008 | On request |
| University of Catania, DIEEI | Engineering department with experience in industrial visits for students | On request |
| Donnafugata Etna, Randazzo | Vineyards and winery, visit with a professional tasting by time slot, booking compulsory | Bookable |
What this experience does not include today, and we write it ourselves
On this experience you do not go into a semiconductor plant. The sector's production sites on the island offer no public visit program and today we have no access channel: so we do not promise it, we do not name it and it is not in the price. What we offer is the infrastructure around the factory, which is also the part you can genuinely study: the consortium, the university and the research chain. If that access ever opens in writing, this page changes and says so with the date.
What is included and what is not
Included: admissions and visits to the confirmed sites, the booking and coordination with whoever receives the group, three working sessions totalling six hours, the materials, one person from the Istituto with the group throughout the experience and the certificate of participation in the experience.
Not included: flight, transfers to and from the airport, the transfer to Randazzo, lodging, meals, urban transport, personal travel insurance.
The season, and why
You travel from March to June and from September to November.
January and February are out for two different reasons that add up: Etna and the vineyards are impassable in winter, and the university is in its exam period, that is to say the time of year when a department has the least time for a delegation.
August is out: heat and closures.
The reason, month by month, is on the Seasons page.
Logistics and capacity
The two urban sites are in Catania and reached on urban transport. Randazzo is on the northern slope of Etna, a little over an hour away by road, and it is the only intercity transfer of the four days.
The recommended group is 15 people: it is the size that reaches the group rates without going over the access limits of the visits, which at these sites go up to 25. Above 20 the itinerary splits into two slots, the day gets longer and the cost per person does not go down. Donnafugata works to fixed time slots and publishes no group rate: the capacity of the slot is checked before the date is confirmed.
Cover
The program includes an accident and public liability policy for the whole stay. The sums insured, the insurer and the policy number are published once it is taken out and are attached to the contract; until then they can be requested in writing, with an answer within two working days.
Do you want it to count as training, with a certificate? This experience can be built into an Istituto program, with classroom hours, a piece of work to deliver and a certificate of attendance. → For groups
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Let us talk about this route
We answer within two working days with the dates, the day by day program and the quotation.