Mara LOMBARDI - President of RMEI

Scientists dream great things. Engineers realize them.

The hope is that our young students may reinforce the dream of the Mediterranean basin as a shared forum for all and a peaceful place where our common culture can flourish.

So we want to shape a future where our students do not have to get on a boat to escape from poverty and find a future elsewhere, but a future where their countries offer them the opportunity to realize their dreams, to implement major engineering projects for upgrading the living conditions of our populations.

We hope that the awareness that we have of our responsibility towards the students of our network may be an example for others to follow and that, on the other hand, the networking of our students who come together to organize cultural events may spread and be imitated by many others.

Through our work as teachers, over several decades, we accompany hundreds of thousands of students, engineers, architects and managers, who look to RMEI with confidence and interest. Our young technologists are driven by great enthusiasm and eagerness to do things, to innovate, to dialogue, to listen.

We have to give them the possibility to work here, in our Mediterranean Region. An ambitious goal that cannot be achieved by a handful of willing and interested people. But we can give our contribution to making this dream come true by persevering in our mission because, before being scientists, we are educators.

However, I think that little can be done to ensure a prosperous future for our countries without the enthusiasm and energy that come from our Mediterranean sea.

Today I wish to reaffirm the mission of our network: networking among Engineering schools within which students are encouraged to set up networks and can link up with the labor world and with the institutions of our countries. But how can we pursue this goal?

I would suggest four main strategic lines:

• Networking through education
• Networking through students’ cultural events
• Networking through research programs and projects
• Networking through the organization of internships with businesses and the institutions.

And we are sowing seeds that will produce bountiful fruits: a new societal engineering that is fuelled by our passion for this job…make possible what seems impossible.

The challenges we will be facing in coming years are related to a number of different areas: energy, water resources, pollution, logistics, Mediterranean marine transport routes, climate change, mining resources, waste, safety and security and resilience of cities and regions. And I am sure that with everyone’s contribution we will be able to deal with them to the best of our possibilities.

Mara LOMBARDI, RMEI President