Giovanni Iacca

Giovanni Iacca is an Associate Professor at the Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science (DISI) of the University of Trento, Italy, where he leads the Distributed Intelligence and Optimization Lab (DIOL). He serves as Coordinator of the Master's Degree in Computer Science and Deputy Director of the Information Engineering and Computer Science Doctoral School. Dr. Iacca has over 15 years of industrial experience in mechatronics and optimization applied to engineering, logistics, and scheduling.

Dr. Iacca received his PhD in 2011 from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and his MSc in 2006 from the Technical University of Bari, Italy. His academic career includes:

• 2021-present: Associate Professor, University of Trento
• 2018-2021: Tenure-track Assistant Professor, University of Trento
• 2017-2018: Postdoc, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
• 2013-2016: Postdoc, EPFL and University of Lausanne, Switzerland
• 2012-2016: Postdoc, INCAS³, The Netherlands

Dr. Iacca's research bridges fundamental and applied aspects of artificial intelligence with particular emphasis on evolutionary computation and explainable AI. His work spans machine learning, optimization techniques, distributed systems, and their practical implementations. Recent research directions include federated learning, interpretable reinforcement learning, neural architecture search, and optimization for resource-constrained environments. He teaches courses on Computer Architectures, Introduction to Machine Learning, Bio-Inspired Artificial Intelligence, Optimization Techniques, and AI in Medicine.

His publication record demonstrates a strong trend toward developing transparent and efficient AI systems. Recent papers focus on making complex AI models more interpretable while maintaining performance across diverse domains from healthcare to supply chain management. His work on evolutionary approaches to explainable AI has gained significant recognition in the computational intelligence community.

Scientific Awards and Editorial Roles

• EvoApplications Best Paper Award (2017)
• UKCI AWARENESS Best Paper Award (2012)
• IEEE CIS Outstanding Student-Paper Award (2011)
• IEEE Senior Member (2023)
• Associate Editor, Evolutionary Intelligence (2024)
• Editorial Board Member, Memetic Computing (2024)
• Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation (2023)

Dr. Iacca has successfully supervised multiple PhD students including Andrea Ferigo, Hyunho Mo, and Leonardo Lucio Custode. His research is supported by various grants and collaborations with industry partners like MyAv. He serves as chair for PPSN 2026 and has organized workshops including the Workshop on Awareness and Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence (ACAI).

As leader of the Distributed Intelligence and Optimization Lab (DIOL), Dr. Iacca oversees a research team working at the intersection of evolutionary computation, machine learning, and distributed systems. The lab focuses on developing novel algorithms that balance computational efficiency with interpretability, with applications spanning from embedded systems to large-scale distributed computing environments. Current projects include interpretable reinforcement learning, federated neuroevolution, and optimization for edge computing.