Antonella Ferrara

Antonella Ferrara is a Full Professor of Automatic Control at the University of Pavia's Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering (ECBE). She holds leadership roles, including Head of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory and President of the Department's Research Standing Committee. Her academic journey includes a Laurea Degree (MSc equivalent) in Electronic Engineering from the University of Genova (1987) and a PhD in Computer Science and Electronics (1992). She transitioned from Assistant to Full Professor at the University of Pavia, contributing significantly to nonlinear control, automotive systems, robotics, and power systems.

Her research focuses on sliding mode control, vehicular traffic modeling, and applications in autonomous systems. She has authored/co-authored over 450 publications, including 160 journal papers and monographs on topics like vehicle dynamics and freeway traffic control. Awards include IEEE Fellow (2020), IFAC Fellow (2021-2023), and AAIA Fellow (2024).

She teaches courses such as Process Control, Robot Control, and Nonlinear Control in English, and contributes to international collaborations, including projects on sustainable mobility and medical robotics. Her institutional roles span research leadership, international mobility coordination, and editorial contributions to journals like Automatica and IEEE Transactions.

Prof. Ferrara supervises numerous PhD, postdoc, and graduate students, leading over 200 MSc theses since 2020. She chairs major conferences, including the 24th IFAC World Congress (2029) and the 2024 IEEE Workshop on Variable Structure Systems. Her work bridges theoretical advancements with practical applications in industry, including collaborations with automotive companies like Ferrari F1 and FIAT.