Violetta Lonati

Violetta Lonati is an Assistant Professor at the University of Milan's Department of Computer Science since 2005. Her research spans Formal Languages and Automata (operator precedence languages, Wang automata, tiling systems) and Computer Science Education. She co-authored over 15 publications in theoretical computer science and education, focusing on 2D language recognition, logic characterization of automata, and pattern statistics in stochastic models.

• Education: PhD in Computer Science (2005) and Laurea in Mathematics (2001) from University of Milan
• Research Groups: ALaDDIn Lab for Didactics and Dissemination of Informatics, Bebras International Initiative

Her work on Wang automata established their equivalence to tiling systems while introducing deterministic variants. In education, she designed workshops for schools and contributed to Italy's national computing curriculum proposal (2019). She held leadership roles at ACM ITiCSE (WG5 leader 2022), served as Associate Program Chair (2019-2022), and reviewed for top venues like ICER and SIGCSE TS. She received Google CS[4]HS and Informatics Europe awards for her educational contributions.

• Key Publications (2017-2001):
• Input-driven locally parsable languages (TCS 2017)
• Operator precedence logic characterization (SICOMP 2015)
• Snake-deterministic tiling systems (MFCS 2009)
• Graph fibrations and PageRank (RAIRO 2006)
• Pattern statistics in rational models (STACS 2005)

Scientific awards include Google CS[4]HS (2011, 2017, 2019) and the Informatics Europe Best Practices in Education (2016). As part of ALaDDIn, she developed teacher training programs and graduate courses on computing education. Her teaching experience covers Algorithms & Data Structures (2013-2023), Computer Science Teaching (2014-2023), and courses for Biotechnology and Geological Sciences programs (2005-2007).