Welcome friends. My name is Vijay Kumar. I'm the Dean of Penn Engineering and I'm your host of Penn Engineering's Innovation and Impact Podcast. Our podcast shares insights from some of the leading experts from around the world who bring to you the latest breakthroughs and innovations in science, technology, and medicine. Today, we're honored to sit down with Benedetto Vigna. Benedetto is the Chief Executive Officer of Ferrari, where he's leading the company through the addition of electrification and digital innovation while preserving its legacy of performance and craftsmanship. Trained in subnuclear physics at the University of Pisa, he began his career in research before joining STMicroelectronics, where he helped pioneer microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS, including the development of the three-axis accelerometer, now widely used in consumer technology. With more than 200 patents and decades of innovation experience, Benedetto brings a rare combination of scientific depth and visionary leadership to Ferrari's future. Benedetto, thank you so much for joining us. I want to start with your career. You started as a physicist and maybe you could take us back to when you started as a student at the University of Pisa.
Thank you, Vijay, for this invitation. I'm very happy to be here. Yes, I started about 35 years ago. I started as a physicist studying physics. When I finished, I wanted to do something different. I wanted to apply what I learned at university to create some product, to create a business and have some workplaces. So, I felt this need to do something new. And so, I used what I studied at university first to make a new product, the sensor that now you have in the mobile phone, for example, in the cars and many other places, also washing machine. But then also now in the role I have, having studied physics, it helps me to understand what it makes sense to put or not in the car for the next generation.
But you did some early work in developing the three-axis accelerometers. Maybe you can tell us a little bit about that.
You started very well. You know, at that time we wanted to do something new in the field of sensors. There were one-axis and two-axis accelerometers. The accelerometers were expensive, bulky, and power hungry. So, we said, 'We need to make something new that is small at the right price.' So, we came out with this idea of a three-axis accelerometer in one single package. Because many people could use it and they could position it on the board without any too complicated assembly. So, it was a good point.
Sir, but I think the impact of that invention has gone well beyond cars to, I know in my own work we use it to fly drones autonomously. And of course, smartwatches, smartphones, it's everywhere. So, did you expect the impact to be that large?
No. But we had an idea. Because we are Italian, when we speak, we use hands. So, the idea was how to use the motion to interact with objects. So, we had an idea about the games, about the mobile phone. But then all the other applications, like the one you mentioned, came out. Consider that also, for example in Ferrari there are also three-axis accelerometers. For sure I was not thinking about using three-axis accelerometer in a car, in the Ferrari for what we do.
So you did a lot of work in MEMS, microelectromechanical systems. So from semiconductors and MEMS you went to Ferrari. How did that happen?
It happens because, you know, when the board was searching for a person that was acquainted with innovation, with a new technology, with a let's say entrepreneurial approach. I mean they approached me and I was more than happy to work for a company that is an icon in the world that is putting together the beauty of the design, the uniqueness of craftsmanship, and the uniqueness of also performances with the people at the center. So that's the way it happened.
So as you think about innovation in the context of Ferrari, what's the biggest thing that's happening today?
Today the biggest thing for sure is something that you're going to see in a few weeks. Okay? By 25th of May, finally, you, the entire world will see Ferrari Luce. Ferrari Luce is the first car with electric traction that we are going to unveil in Rome. So that is a big step forward in innovation, but we have many other things that also will come already and will come in the near future.
That was a big step and maybe our listeners would love to hear why you embarked on that journey because it's hard for me to imagine a Ferrari with a fully electric powertrain.
Look, Ferrari Luce I like to say that is also electric. First of all it's a Ferrari. Then it has electric traction, but then there are many other things that make this car really unique. So it's not only an electric car, but it's also electric. Now, the point is that when you do innovation, you have to be really open-minded. And if you want to be a leader, if you want to continue to be a leader, you have to dare. Because if you do not dare, if you are scared about using new technologies, I don't think you deserve to be called a leader. And I think this is coherent with our purpose, the purpose of our company. That is we audaciously redefine the limit of possible. This is key. We cannot retreat in the existing and comfortable world we know. We need to dare. We need to go beyond. We need to redefine the limit of possible.
In our earlier conversation, you spoke about the values of the company and how you're always trying to find innovation that's consistent with the values of Ferrari. Could you say a little bit more about this and contrast that with some of the tech companies that we see today?
Well, look, in a tech company, usually the past is not so relevant. The people care about the future. I was working for an IT company. And I never had to study the past history of that company. I am in Ferrari since 4 years and a half. I had to study a lot the history of this company. I knew a little bit more because the history is very rich. And I think it's important to put these two things together, the tradition and innovation. In a few weeks, in a few weeks after Ferrari Luce, you will see something that if you want, it's a representation of what the merge of these two dimensions can give to the client. The merge of tradition and innovation can deliver something unique to the client. This is one important value for our company. And this is also what I'm telling all the team. We have two eyes, the past and the future. We have to look at the past, we have to look at the future, and one brain to put them together in a unique way.
I know you think a lot about climate change and sustainability. Tell us how that works into Ferrari's values.
Sustainability is important, very very important for us. Since I stepped in the company, I pushed a lot on sustainability. We have been working on sustainability on different dimensions. One, we have been reducing the waste of aluminum. We have been optimizing the use of energy by optimizing the melting temperature of aluminum, to be more specific. We have been installing in the company solar panels as well as fuel cells. And if you come in Maranello, you talk to our engineers, when we select a supplier, we look also at their carbon footprint. So, it's very important. And engineers know what is the carbon footprint of all the metal, for example, all the material that we use to make our cars. Call it plastic, call it silicon, call it metal, we know that. I am very pleased when I see the people, engineers, mastering this dimension very quickly. Now, with a clear target, by end of this decade, we will emit only 10% of what we were emitting in 2021, and we will cut the emission 20-25% in absolute term. So, this is a strong commitment. We believe in it, and we are working on it.
