IFuture takes off at Isotta Fraschini

Isotta Fraschini Motori (IFM) inaugurated its new Research & Innovation center at the company’s headquarter and manufacturing plant in Bari, Italy.

The new center is part of the IFuture initiative by IFM in cooperation with parent company Fincantieri, which is funded by the Italian government and the European Union’s fund Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI). The new facility employs IFM’s existing resources plus 32 new employees.

Part of the IFuture initiative is the development of two new marine engine families: one composed of internal combustion engines utilizing a variety of fuels, and one with a modular fuel cell system. Both will cover a power band between 500 and 4000 kW.

The head of Marketing and Communication of Isotta Fraschini Motori, Giuseppe Joe Gelonese, welcomes press and other guests to the official opening of the new Research & Innovation Center in Bari, Italy.

IFuture includes also the launch of a power generation engine family for land-based gen-set applications and the development of new power management systems capable of handling all power generating sources in complex systems, such as: fuel cells, batteries, internal combustion engines, turbines, solar power and others.

Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO of Fincantieri, Isotta’s parent company, said that the IFuture initiative and the new innovation center are key to the synergies between the engine specialist and the military and commercial marine divisions of Fincantieri. He also explained that one of the projects involving research on fuel cells is aimed at a system to be deployed in submarines.