Francesco Rea

Francesco Rea is a Senior Technician at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) and holds adjunct/teaching positions at University of Lethbridge and University of Genova. He leads the Cognitive Architecture for Interactive Technology (CONTACT) lab, focusing on humanoid perception, cognitive skills, and industrial applications.

Education:

• B.Sc. Information Engineering, Università di Bergamo (2004)
• Specialization in Computer Engineering, Università di Bergamo (2007)
• M.Sc. Robotics and Automation, University of Salford (2008)
• Ph.D. Robotics, University of Genoa (2012)

Research: His work bridges cognitive neuroscience and robotics, developing systems for auditory awareness, adaptive tutoring, and human-robot collaboration in manufacturing/healthcare. Key projects include VOJEXT, APRIL, and PROMEN-AID, funded by EU H2020 and Human Brain Project.

Publications: Recent works (2025) explore LLM-based tutoring architectures, visuo-motor learning, and social robotics, demonstrating consistent focus on AI-driven human interaction and cognitive modeling.

Awards:

• Canada-Italy Innovation Award (2017, 2021)
• Best Paper Award at ROMAN2020
• Mitacs Globalink Research Award (2018)
• AI for Robotics Award (2020)

Grants & Teams: Secured €multi-million funding for 5+ EU projects. Leads a 10+ member team at CONTACT lab developing cognitive architectures for industrial robots and healthcare applications.