Training the future of automotive

Ferrari is preparing a very special innovation hub for the Maranello community, for the “family” that has hosted the famous sports car marque for almost 80 years: the new M-TECH Alfredo Ferrari educational centre. To be opened by 2029, the new, 32,000-square-metre educational facility will host three higher learning institutes and 3,000 square metres of officine (workshops), as well as spaces – including a 500-seat auditorium, a cafeteria and a library – that will be open to the public, thus helping to further strengthen the bonds between Ferrari and the broader Maranello community.

M-TECH Alfredo Ferrari (where “M” stands for “Maranello” and “TECH” stands for the centre’s technical vocation) will create an ecosystem of continuous learning, developing a technical and professional training programme that brings together education and industry. The centre – funded in part through the generosity of Ferraristi through The Ferrari Foundation, a U.S. 501(c)(3) public charity – will include a public school, which will be built and donated to the community. A very important source of funds has been the Tailor Made Daytona SP3 charity auction, held last summer at Pebble Beach for a record of $26m.

Chairman of Ferrari John Elkann, Vice Chairman Piero Ferrari and local dignitaries were on hand to meet local students and preview the new M-TECH facility

The ambition for M-TECH Alfredo Ferrari is to generate a positive impact on the territory and on the entire motoring sector, attracting students nationally and internationally.

The educational programme, and the project of the new building designed by Rome-based Labics architecture studio, were presented on November 19^th at the Prancing Horse’s headquarters by the Chairman of Ferrari and the Agnelli Foundation, John Elkann, together with representatives of the project’s partners, the President of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Michele de Pascale, the President of the Province of Modena, Fabio Braglia, and the Mayor of Maranello, Luigi Zironi.

"M-TECH Alfredo Ferrari represents a tangible commitment to the territory,” remarked Elkann. “Following the example of Enzo Ferrari, who founded a technical training school in Maranello, we want to pursue his forward-looking vision in the conviction that education is the key to the future.”

The centre will be comprised of the currently-existing Alfredo Ferrari Institute of Higher Education – a public technical high school with some 700 students that will be moved from its current location to the new centre – along with the Motor Valley University of Emilia-Romagna (MUNER) and the ITS Maker Academy (where “ITS” stands for “Istituto Tecnico Superiore”). It will also offer continuing education opportunities for professionals who are already working and want to further develop their competencies and skills. The spaces used by MUNER will be dedicated to advanced mechanical design and simulation activities, with latest-generation workstations, professional software and CAD/CAM modelling devices. ITS Maker Academy, which offers post-diploma courses characterised by advanced laboratory teaching and is presently hosted at the Alfredo Ferrari Technical Institute, will have new spaces in the centre.

The 32,000-square-metre educational centre will unite a technical high school, higher-education establishments and industry on one site

Assisting Ferrari in the project is the Agnelli Foundation, which already supports the Prancing Horse in its activities aimed at young people and the world of education and collaborates with Maranello on several joint initiatives dedicated to the promotion of STEM education. The Foundation is responsible for handling several aspects of the project, including being the commissioner of the building. To this end, it launched the design competition and will carry out the work.

M-TECH will also set new educational standards, raising the technical bar to the highest level. “Today marks the beginning of an ambitious journey, based not on a physical place alone, but above all on the value of people and of learning. This is the will to progress that drives Ferrari and this district,” said Elkann.