Their continuous support of the Milan Polymer Days reflects a strong and long-standing connection with the polymer science community, a collaboration that grows stronger with every edition and contributes to making MIPOL an important platform for technical exchange and innovation.

In this interview, Dr. Tiziana Bardelli shares insights into NETZSCH’s role within the polymer research and industrial landscape, highlighting the challenges and opportunities linked to sustainability, recycling, and the increasing importance of data-driven material development. From the integration of advanced characterization techniques with intelligent digital tools to the value of dialogue between academia and industry, the interview outlines a clear vision: transforming analytical data into meaningful knowledge and more effective decisions for the future of polymer materials.

Why did your company decide to support MIPOL, and what makes this congress valuable for the polymer community?

MIPOL has always been a valuable meeting point for the polymer community, bringing together academic research, industrial experience and application-oriented discussions.

I have personally followed previous editions with great interest, both as a speaker and as an attendee. Staying up to date is an essential part of my work as an application specialist, but it is also part of my passion for polymer science.

For NETZSCH Analyzing & Testing, supporting MIPOL means contributing to a congress that creates real technical exchange around topics that are central to our work, from polymer recycling and material performance to process optimization.

Thermal analysis and rheology are powerful tools to understand how polymers behave, how they change after processing or recycling, and how their properties can be measured, compared and controlled. They also provide a common analytical language between research and industry, supporting more effective knowledge transfer across the value chain.

Even though we cannot be physically present this year, supporting MIPOL allows us to stay connected with a community that we consider highly relevant for the future of polymer research and applications.

What’s the biggest challenge or opportunity in your industry right now that excites you the most?

One of the most exciting challenges today is the transition toward more sustainable and data-driven polymer development.

In polymer recycling, the key question is not only whether a material can be reused, but how its properties have changed, how stable it is, and whether it can still meet specific performance requirements.

This is where characterization becomes crucial. Techniques such as DSC, TGA, DMA and rheology provide reliable data on thermal transitions, degradation behavior, mechanical response and flow properties. These data are essential to make recycled or recovered polymers more predictable, comparable and usable in real applications.

At the same time, the increasing use of AI-based tools, such as Proteus® Now Quantify, shows that the real opportunity is not only generating data, but building shared, high-quality datasets that can improve material identification and quantification over time.

Recycling streams are inherently complex and variable. Machine learning models depend strongly on standardized and representative training data to deliver reliable predictions. This is why collaboration with industry and research partners becomes essential: expanding the material database directly improves the accuracy, robustness and industrial relevance of the results.

What excites me most is that analytical data can support better decisions, from material selection to process optimization and quality control, reducing uncertainty and accelerating development cycles.

If you had to describe your company to the audience in one powerful message, what would it be?

NETZSCH Analyzing & Testing helps transform material behavior into reliable, measurable data. For the polymer community, this means supporting researchers, developers and quality control laboratories in understanding how materials respond to temperature, mechanical stress and processing conditions.

Our goal is not only to provide instruments, but to support the entire path from measurement to interpretation, helping users connect analytical results with real material performance. This includes hardware, application know-how, evaluation software and long-term expertise in material characterization.

What innovation, project, or idea are you showcasing here that could shape the future of the field?

One of the directions we are focusing on is the integration of advanced characterization techniques with smarter data interpretation.

In the field of polymers, and especially recycled polymers, having data is not enough: the real value lies in making that data easier to interpret, compare and apply. This is why advanced evaluation software, material databases and digital tools for polymer identification and quantification are becoming increasingly important.

For example, combining thermal analysis with intelligent data evaluation can help identify material composition, detect changes caused by processing or ageing, and support faster comparison between virgin and recycled polymer batches.

Digitalization and data connectivity can also make results easier to share, benchmark and reuse across teams and laboratories. This approach can shape the future of the field by making polymer characterization more accessible, more consistent and more directly connected to application needs, especially in fast-paced industrial environments.

Beyond visibility, what’s the real value for a company in participating in events like this?

The real value is dialogue.

Events like MIPOL are not only about presenting solutions, but about listening to the scientific and industrial community. They help us understand which problems researchers and companies are facing, which applications are emerging, and where analytical techniques can offer stronger support.

For a company like NETZSCH, this exchange is extremely important. It allows us to stay aligned with real user needs, strengthen collaborations and contribute to the development of better methods and workflows for polymer characterization.

It is often in these discussions that new application ideas and collaborations originate. Visibility is important, of course, but the real value is building relationships and creating technical conversations that continue beyond the congress.

When people leave this congress, what do you hope they will remember about your company?

Rather than hope, I would say that my commitment is for NETZSCH to be recognized as a technical partner in polymer characterization, not only as an instrument supplier.

Our role is to help laboratories generate meaningful data and use that data to answer real questions: how a material behaves, how it changes, how it can be processed, and how its performance can be improved or validated.

Especially in areas such as polymer recycling and sustainable material development, reliable characterization is a key step toward making better materials and better decisions.

Ultimately, we want to be associated with reliability, application expertise and long-term support in analytical workflows. This is the message I hope people will take with them.