Valerio Di Stefano

What are you studying?

I'm a student at Sapienza University of Rome, studying Computer Science Engineering. I am interested in art as well as engineering, and I like to express my creativity in many ways, such as digital painting, 3D modelling or designing.

Why did you decide to enter the competition?

I love 3D modelling, and I practiced it on my old laptop using a free software (during the first quarantine here in Italy, back in April), but when my laptop started to be slow and laggy, I searched up for an alternative free app on my smartphone, finding out about the QEPrize app: I was surprised to see the app allows you not only to express your creativity, but also to create your idea of a trophy for one of the most important engineering awards in the world, and gives you a chance to actually see your trophy made and awarded to one of the most innovative engineers out there!

What do you love about design?

I love to be able to express myself and my creativity through a form of art which clearly represents the message I want to convey, and design is just perfect for it!

What was the inspiration behind your design?

The inspiration for my design came thinking about the importance of engineering for the world: I believe engineering has supported our world for centuries, and that's why the base of the trophy has the form of a "ziggurat", one of the first known engineering works, which supports a sphere, representing our world, full of intricate connections, product of modern engineering (like the internet).

How would it feel to win the competition and have your design transformed into a piece of engineering history?

I'm still trying to process the fact that my design is among the 10 best ones, this already feels unreal… because of that at the moment I don't think I am able to express with words the joy and happiness I would feel knowing I could possibly possibly see what I created being handed as a prize to someone I admire and look up to.