Computer and Control Engineering

The Quality Assurance (QA) System of Sapienza is extensively described on the Quality Team Web Pages, available at: https://www.uniroma1.it/it/pagina/team-qualita.

These pages outline the decade-long process through which the University has developed its Quality Assurance framework, the organizational model adopted, the key QA actors (Quality Team, Monitoring Committees, Joint Student–Faculty Committees, Degree Program Quality Committees), the active Working Groups, the main activities carried out, and the documentation prepared for managing Quality Assurance processes in Teaching, Research, and Third Mission activities.

The Web Pages also serve as the communication platform and repository for reference data used in the drafting of Review Reports, the preparation of reports by the Joint Student–Faculty Committees and Monitoring Committees, and the completion of the SUA-Teaching and SUA-Research forms.
Each Degree Program and each Department may adapt the Sapienza Quality Assurance Model, as defined on the Quality Team Web Pages, to its own organizational specificities while respecting the procedures established by ANVUR and the Quality Team.

The Degree Program/Department Web Pages, together with the SUA-Teaching and SUA-Research forms, constitute the tools used to communicate how the Quality Assurance System is implemented at the Degree Program/Department level.

The Quality Assurance Committee for teaching activities of the Didactic Area Council in Computer Engineering is composed of the following members:

• Ioannis Chatzigiannakis (Full Professor)
• Claudia Califano (Associate Professor)
• Giuseppe Di Luna (Associate Professor)
• Christian Napoli (Associate Professor)
• Adriano Benassi (Educational Office, Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering)
• Klaudia Fanali (Student Representative)
• Gabriele Onorato (Student Representative)
• Domenico Lembo (Chair of the Didactic Area Council in Engineering in Computer Science)

The QA Committee monitors the teaching activities of the Degree Programs under the Council’s competence, including organizational and logistical aspects, as well as the analysis, evaluation, and dissemination of results from student and faculty opinion surveys. The Committee also monitors all performance indicators of the Degree Program, assessing their trends over the years.
The results of surveys and analyses are used to promote actions aimed at improving educational activities. The QA Committee further monitors corrective actions proposed in the Annual Monitoring Report, the Analysis of Student Survey Results, and the Review Report.
The QA Committee holds periodic meetings in order to:

• monitor teaching activities—including organizational and logistical aspects—and propose any necessary improvements;
• evaluate the outcomes of implemented improvements, highlighting strengths, any critical issues, and changes deemed necessary;
• analyze and compare student opinion data collected by the University Evaluation Unit;
• verify the adequacy and effectiveness of the Degree Program’s management;
• propose, where needed, corrective actions to be included in the Annual Monitoring Report, the Analysis of Student Survey Results, or the Review Report.

The meeting schedule is set once all University-level procedures have been completed. Typically, three to four meetings are held each year, with additional meetings organized as needed during the preparation of the Annual Monitoring Report, the Analysis of Student Survey Results, and the Review Report (in the years when it is required).

Companies have been regularly consulted at the Faculty level since 2006 through the Diamoci Credito Memorandum of Understanding, later renewed as Figi on 11 July 2008. The identified areas of interest include: designing and evaluating degree programs to ensure an academic offering aligned with labor market needs; integrating industry expertise into the educational process; providing guidance for incoming and graduating students; and activating research programs of mutual interest between Departments and major companies.

On 2 December 2008, the advisory and oversight committee met for the final evaluation of the 2009/10 academic offering, which was approved. On 5 December 2008, the company Tecnip expressed a favorable opinion regarding the establishment of the program.

During the final University-wide consultation meeting on 19 January 2009, taking into account the results of the preceding online consultation, the participating organizations expressed a positive evaluation of Sapienza’s rationalization of its academic offering. This rationalization focused not only on reducing the number of degree programs but also on diversifying them within the most attractive academic classes, for which faculty coverage is more than adequate. Furthermore, after reviewing in detail the academic offering of the Faculties, the organizations expressed their approval for the establishment of the individual programs.

The faculty members of the Bachelor’s Degree Program in Computer and Control Engineering have, over the years, had the opportunity to engage with numerous companies, research institutions, and industrial and professional organizations—both nationally and internationally—thanks to their long-standing scientific collaborations. These interactions took place through in-person meetings and/or online platforms, often organized within the framework of joint research projects conducted by the program’s faculty in collaboration with the above-mentioned stakeholders. Below is a summary of the main activities carried out over the years following the establishment of the program.

During the 2015/2016 academic year, a committee appointed by the Didactic Area Council in Computer Engineering developed a new curriculum plan for the degree program. To this end, the committee conducted:
i) a detailed analysis of the content of national and international degree programs in Computer Engineering and Control Engineering;
ii) an analysis of the opinions of social partners and professional organizations, based on documents and sector studies;
iii) an analysis of AlmaLaurea data on the employment outcomes of graduates;
iv) an online survey involving computer engineers and control engineers who had graduated between 2011 and 2016, aimed at collecting information on their employment positions, their views on the content and delivery of the degree program, and suggestions for improvement.
The results of these activities informed the development of the 2016/2017 curriculum plan, which significantly renewed the program’s educational offering.

In 2016, the Faculty of Information Engineering, Computer Science and Statistics—of which this degree program is part—carried out consultations on the educational plans of all its degree programs by organizing a meeting with numerous representatives of the industrial and professional sectors. At the same time, Cesop Communication conducted a survey to assess how these organizations perceived the Faculty’s training offer and the quality of its programs. The feedback confirmed the relevance and attractiveness of the program content and the associated employment opportunities. However, suggestions were made to increase transversal integration among degree programs, already partially present through interfaculty and interdepartmental pathways.
The organizations also highlighted the importance of enabling students to complete their degrees in a timely manner and of strengthening their connection with the job market during their studies. Proposed actions included increasing company testimonials in courses, activating research projects, internships, and thesis collaborations. The organizations expressed full willingness to support the Faculty in these initiatives.
Further details on the consultations are available in the documents and minutes produced during this process, accessible at:
https://www.diag.uniroma1.it/consultazioni/25630?field_fc_consulta_anno_...

In 2017, again on the initiative of the Faculty, Cesop Communication conducted a focus group to investigate the reputation and quality of the Faculty’s degree programs. The participating companies were Capgemini, Altran, Fater, TIM, Deloitte, and Infocert. In 2017, these companies hired 2,000 people with profiles consistent with those trained by the Faculty’s programs: 73.5% were university graduates, and the most common contract type was permanent employment (67.4%). Computer engineers and computer scientists were the most in-demand professional figures. Out of all the profiles considered in the study, computer engineers accounted for an average of 19.8% of hires, and 22.3% were considered potentially interesting for future recruitment.
At the same time, some issues were identified, including:
i) low awareness of the academic offering among the consulted companies;
ii) communication and university–industry relations perceived as insufficient;
iii) the need to further develop soft skills in the study programs.
In response, continuous actions were taken to increase awareness of the Faculty’s educational offering, explicitly outlining the skills developed in relation to labor market needs (e.g., the successful “Open DIAG” initiative for high school students). Efforts were also made to structure communication activities more effectively through various channels (newspaper articles, social media, etc.).
More details on the survey and subsequent actions are available at:
https://www.diag.uniroma1.it/consultazioni/25630?field_fc_consulta_anno_...

In the 2022–23 academic year, the degree program was restructured based on analyses from sector studies and feedback from key stakeholders, with whom continuous interaction had been maintained thanks to the initiatives launched after the 2017 survey and the numerous collaborations between companies and program faculty. Notably, AlmaLaurea employment reports and Anitec-Assinform studies—such as the one available at:
https://www.diag.uniroma1.it/consultazioni/25630?field_fc_consulta_anno_...
highlighted the importance of investing in advanced skills in areas such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity to meet labor market demands.

In the revised curriculum, special attention was given to soft skills, which play a particularly significant role in the new Computer Engineering Laboratory (in the Computer Engineering curriculum) and the Automation Laboratory (in the Control Engineering curriculum). In both cases, the ability to work effectively in teams is essential due to the project-based nature of these courses. Furthermore, the opportunity to design and develop solutions to real-world problems from industrial contexts greatly enhances students’ adaptability to organizational needs. These transversal skills are further strengthened through the internship experience included in the Computer Engineering curriculum.

Most recently, in view of the curriculum reform required to fully implement the regulations established by Ministerial Decree No. 1648 of 19 December 2023, the Degree Program—together with the other engineering programs of the Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering (DIAG) “Antonio Ruberti”—initiated a shared process of periodic consultation with stakeholders during the 2023/24 academic year. This process aimed to assess the adequacy and coherence of the program’s educational offering with labor market requirements in light of the regulatory changes. The consultations were carried out through a targeted questionnaire completed in 2023/24 by technical representatives of various companies, as documented in the official report. The results showed a high level of satisfaction among companies: all respondents stated that they were fully satisfied or more satisfied than dissatisfied with the professional profiles trained by DIAG, particularly regarding their alignment with current labor market needs. Companies emphasized the importance of future engineers developing a solid background in the basic sciences (mathematics, physics, statistics), complemented by practical skills such as programming, teamwork, project proposal presentation, and public speaking. Moreover, most companies expressed interest in actively contributing to teaching activities through seminars, exercises, theses, reports, and projects, thereby helping train engineers who are well-prepared to face the challenges of the job market. For further details, please refer to the Report on the Updated Consultations with Companies following the Curriculum Reform of the Bachelor’s Degree Program in Computer and Control Engineering, available at the link: https://www.diag.uniroma1.it/consultazioni/25630?field_fc_consulta_anno_value%5Bvalue%5D%5Byear%5D=2024