Alessandro Saccon

Alessandro Saccon is an Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). His research focuses on robotics, nonlinear control, and optimal control, particularly in dynamic robotic systems with intermittent contacts. He holds a PhD in Control System Theory from the University of Padova (2006) and has held postdoctoral and visiting positions at institutions including Instituto Superior Técnico (Lisbon) and the California Institute of Technology. His work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to innovation and infrastructure.

Education:
- PhD in Control System Theory, University of Padova, Italy (2006)
- M.Sc. (Laurea) in Computer Engineering, University of Padova (with honors)
- Visiting positions at University of Colorado Boulder, Caltech, and Australian National University.

Research Interests:
- Modeling and control of complex robotic systems
- Nonlinear control and estimation
- Optimal control and trajectory optimization
- Impact-aware robotics and dynamic manipulation
- Geometric mechanics and multibody dynamics

Awards:

• Claudio Maffezzoni Best PhD Thesis Award (2006)
• Dutch Data Prize 2024 (Natural and Engineering Sciences)

Advising & Grants: Supervised 64 works (students/research projects). Project Manager for FIDCOM RBT (2024-2029).

Labs & Teams: Lead research on Impact-Aware Robotics, with datasets published on 4TU.Centre for Research Data.