STAM gladly attended Tech 4 Food 2025 in Padua, a forward-looking event organized by inovaLab at the premises of SMACT Competence Center, the national Competence Center focusing on the agrifood sector. The event explored how advanced technologies are shaping the future of food, in space and on Earth.
Both chef Stefano Polato’s presentation on food for astronauts, which highlighted the challenges and evolution of space nutrition, bringing Italian culinary excellence into orbit, and the session on electro-heating technologies were found insightful, showing how innovation is redefining cooking on Earth.
Prof. Fabrizio Dughiero on behalf of the inovaLab team, equally representing one of the recent success stories available on ESA Technology Broker Italy website, highlighted how electro-heat technologies, when applied with a data-driven approach, can make food processes more sustainable, precise, and energy-efficient.
The event was also enriched by practical insights from Claudio Ferrari, Technology Insight & Scouting Expert, Tetra Pak; Prof. Maurizio Faccio, Università degli Studi di Padova; Claudio Mazzon, Technology & Microwave Modules Manager, Electrolux Group and Stefano Campolongo, R&D and Concept Manager, Avolta.
The networking lunch and the following working sessions offered a valuable opportunity for needs scoping and brainstorming with companies and innovators across the entire value chain. It was also a great occasion to present STAM’s dual role as European Space Agency – ESA Technology Broker for Italy and European Space Agency – ESA InCubed Ambassador for Italy, highlighting how ESA funding instruments support innovation, in collaboration with Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI).
During the afternoon session, representatives from STAM took part to numerous thematic round tables, where they got a deep dive into the most pressing issues currently affecting food industry players, getting to know both the pains and the current solutions sought after by the actors of such market, understanding the limitations of existing methods, which leave the door open for welcoming innovative, cross- sectorial solutions. This newly acquired knowledge, gathered from insiders, will facilitate the matchmaking between space developed technologies and pains of the food industry, that could be solved by a technology transfer.
Even if the paring might appear odd at first glance, food industry has plenty of point of contact with space sector, such as the development of heat-resistant materials, or systems to precisely monitor temperature in real time.
Technologies from outer space have a surprising potential of improving what ends up on our tables!
[Article updated on July, 1st 2025]
