Speck & Tech: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Speck&Tech is Trentino’s digital community. Since 2016, over a beer and a slice of speck, it has brought together developers, data scientists, researchers, designers, and technology enthusiasts in general. Over the past 10 years, it has organized over a hundred free events, open to everyone, with its simple and successful format: a couple of talks around a different theme each time. This second event of 2026 is organized in collaboration with Co.Scienza Festival, the city of Trento’s first science dissemination festival. A space where research transcends the lab through workshops, debates, and conferences, with the aim of raising awareness of the discoveries shaping our future, bridging the gap between the world of science and the public.

Today, we’ll discuss materials: materials that are everywhere, often invisible, yet determine what we can do and how far we can go. From medicine to energy, from electronics to everyday life, progress almost always hinges on a simple question: how can we make matter more resistant, more reliable, more fit for purpose? Behind every choice lie physical properties, engineering limitations, and non-trivial compromises. We’ll therefore address materials science and engineering, starting with two emblematic cases: on the one hand, biomaterials, where compatibility and performance are crucial; on the other, (bio)plastics, between indispensable applications, sustainability, and misleading simplifications. A journey through materials that work, materials that fail, and materials we’re still trying to understand. We welcome you to Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger!

This event will be held entirely in Italian. 🇮🇹 Access will be granted exclusively to those with valid tickets, which will be scanned at the entrance to MUSE – Trento Science Museum. If you’re unable to attend in person, you can follow the livestream here. Following the event, as is tradition, there will be a long networking session featuring speck focaccia and beers.