Matteo Cagnoni is a Researcher at the Department of Electronics and Telecommunications (DET) of Politecnico di Torino . His research focuses on Density Functional Theory , Quantum Chemistry , and Thermoelectric Materials for Solar Cells . He is actively involved in the European Union’s MIRACLE project , developing photonic meta-concrete for radiative cooling solutions. Research Interests: Development of cement-based radiative coolers for solar cell thermal management Computational discovery of intermediate-band solar cell materials Electronic properties of semiconductors and insulators Teaching: Electronic transport in crystalline and organic semiconductors Advanced experimental physics Scientific Contributions: Matteo has published extensively on radiative cooling, perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells, and thermoelectric materials. His work spans journals like Nature Communications , Advanced Functional Materials , and Progress in Photovoltaics , with a focus on simulation engineering , photonic devices , and energy-efficient materials . Labs & Collaborations: He works within the Microwave and Optoelectronics Group (MOG) at DET, collaborating with international institutions on EU-funded projects.
Michele Zorzi is a Professor of Telecommunications at the School of Engineering, University of Padova, Italy, where he has held a faculty position since 2003. He leads the SIGNET (Signal processing and Networking) Research Group, focusing on cutting-edge wireless networking challenges including mmWave communications and underwater networks. His extensive publication record exceeds 600 papers in top-tier journals and conferences, reflecting significant contributions to the field through both theoretical and experimental work. He received his Laurea Degree (1990) and Ph.D. (1994) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Padova. Prior academic appointments include Politecnico di Milano (1993-1996), University of California San Diego (1995-1998), and University of Ferrara (1998-2003), where he progressed from Associate Professor to full Professor. His educational trajectory demonstrates deep roots in Italian academia with international exposure. Professor Zorzi's research spans wireless communications and networking, with current emphases on mmWave networking for vehicular systems, underwater acoustic/optical communications, non-terrestrial networks, and AI-driven networking solutions. His group conducts experimental validations including at-sea trials for underwater systems and testbeds for vehicular networks. Key projects include PRATA for predictive QoS in autonomous driving and IoT-based environmental monitoring of the Venice Lagoon, demonstrating practical applications of theoretical work. Analysis of his 2022-2025 publications reveals strong trends in applying artificial intelligence to networking challenges across diverse environments. There is significant emphasis on vehicular networks (predictive QoS, teleoperated driving), underwater systems (acoustic/optical communications, AUV swarms), and satellite networks (Starlink integration, NTN security). Experimental validation in real-world scenarios like the Venice Lagoon monitoring project and underwater sea trials characterizes his applied research approach. His scientific accolades include: IEEE Fellow (2007) IEEE Communications Society Best Tutorial Paper Award (2008, 2019) Stephen O. Rice Best Paper Award (2018) Multiple best paper awards at IEEE conferences (2005-2020) As principal investigator for numerous European and US research projects plus 20+ industry-funded initiatives, Professor Zorzi has mentored over 35 PhD students and post-docs. Graduates now hold prominent positions at institutions including Stanford, UCSD, CTTC, and Huawei. His SIGNET group maintains active international collaborations and contributes to open-source networking tools via GitHub, demonstrating commitment to community engagement. The SIGNET Research Group, housed within the Department of Information Engineering, operates specialized experimental facilities for mmWave and underwater communications. Current initiatives include AI-based predictive QoS frameworks for vehicular networks, underwater optical communication systems using ultraviolet light, and large-scale IoT deployments for environmental monitoring. The group's GitHub presence indicates strong open-science practices, while recent sea trials confirm hands-on experimental capabilities beyond theoretical work.
Jeffrey T. Checkel is a Full-time Professor in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute (EUI). He joined EUI in 2020 and previously held positions at Simon Fraser University, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Oslo. He earned his PhD in Political Science from MIT and a first degree in Applied Physics from Cornell University. His research focuses on international relations theory, qualitative methods, and identity formation. Key areas include constructivism, international institutions, civil war dynamics, and processual methods. He teaches courses on IR theory, qualitative methods, and philosophies of social science. Checkel's recent work explores 'Institutions at Bay? Regional Integration and Identity,' analyzing how regional organizations shape identity through local and national dynamics. He is Co-Editor-in-Chief of QMMR: Qualitative and Multi-Method Research and President of the APSA Qualitative and Multi-Method Research Organized Section. Education: PhD in Political Science (MIT), B.S. in Applied Physics (Cornell University) Research Interests: Identity formation, process tracing, constructivism, international institutions, civil war, qualitative methodologies. He advises numerous PhD students and post-doctoral fellows, leading working groups on IR theory and qualitative fieldwork. His publications span over 99 works, with a focus on bridging theoretical and methodological divides in social science.
Oswald Lanz is a tenured full professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano , leading the Visual Computing Lab . He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and a Mathematics degree from the University of Trento. Prior to his current role, he was a researcher and head of research at FBK Trento. He is an endowed professor collaborating with Covision Lab , an AI hub in Bressanone, and coordinates the board of professors for the PhD in Computer Science program since 2025. His research focuses on Computer Vision, Deep Learning, and Video Analytics , with applications in sports technology, medical imaging, and industrial automation. Key achievements include the Amazon AWS Machine Learning Research Award (2020) , ACM Multimedia Best Paper (2015) , and Best Student Paper at ICIAP (2007) . He co-organized the ELLIS-VISMAC Winter School (2025) and chaired ICIAP 2019 . His work spans novel view synthesis, action recognition, and anomaly detection, supported by patents in video tracking and detection. He teaches courses like Deep Learning and Artificial Intelligence in undergraduate and graduate programs. Recent projects such as 5VREAL integrate 5G, edge computing, and AI for sports analysis. His collaborations bridge academia and industry, exemplified by his role in Covision Lab and multidisciplinary initiatives like DSS4LCO for food supply chains. Lanz’s publications emphasize spatiotemporal modeling, neural architecture search, and hybrid machine vision systems.
Mauro Conti is a Full Professor at the University of Padua, Italy, where he serves as Editor-in-chief of IEEE TIFS, UniPD Academic Advisor for Entrepreneurship Development, Study Program Coordinator of the MSc degree in Cybersecurity, Head of the SPRITZ Security and Privacy Research Group, and Director of the UniPD node of CINI Cybersecurity National Lab. He also maintains affiliations with TU Delft (NL) and the University of Washington (USA). Additionally, he is the CEO and co-founder of CHISITO and co-founder of DYALOGHI. His research focuses on security and privacy for wireless resource-constrained mobile devices (WSNs, RFIDs, and smartphones), computer system security, computer forensics, access control, and distributed and networked systems. Professor Conti has published extensively in top security venues including ACM CCS, IEEE S&P, NDSS, and USENIX Security, with recent work covering topics such as battery authentication, federated learning privacy, private set intersections, USB peripheral fingerprinting, and ATM PIN inference. He has received numerous prestigious awards including IEEE Fellow, Young Academy of Europe Fellow, EU Marie Curie Fellow, and DAAD Fellow. Professor Conti has advised over 100 students at various levels including PhD, MSc, and BSc, many of whom have gone on to successful careers in academia and industry. His research has been supported by multiple European Commission projects, university grants, and industry collaborations with companies like Cisco and Intel.
Cristina Dondi serves as a Full Professor in the Department of Modern Literature and Culture at Sapienza University of Rome's Faculty of Arts and Philosophy. Her academic work centers on the history of the book with specialized expertise in incunabula (15th-century printed books), early book trade networks, and digital humanities methodologies. She teaches the "History of the Book" course for Global Humanities students, delivering lectures in person at Rome's Faculty of Arts and Philosophy during the 2024-2025 academic year. Her research spans material evidence of early printed books, Venetian printing practices, Dante's textual circulation, and library transformations during religious secularization. She pioneers digital approaches through projects like 15cBOOKTRADE and CERL, developing visualization tools for historical book movement data and collaborative digital infrastructures. Her work bridges traditional book history with computational analysis, emphasizing how physical artifacts reveal cultural and commercial networks. Analysis of her 2021-2023 publications shows consistent integration of digital tools with historical scholarship, particularly regarding Italian incunabula circulation and MEI database applications. She frequently examines Venetian commercial practices, Dante's reception, and collaborative digital resource creation, demonstrating how visual analytics transforms understanding of pre-modern book economies. Scientific Awards: No specific awards were documented in the provided sources. Professor Dondi leads significant research initiatives including the 15cBOOKTRADE project and Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL) collaborations, which involve multi-institutional teams developing digital ecosystems for book historical research. These projects generate scholarly publications, digital tools, and educational resources while securing substantial research funding for infrastructure development and international conferences. She actively shapes the CERL digital ecosystem and 15cBOOKTRADE project framework, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration between historians, librarians, and computer scientists. Her current work focuses on expanding Material Evidence in Incunabula (MEI) applications and creating open-access platforms for analyzing early print culture across European collections.
Michele Ciavarella is a Full Professor at the Polytechnic University of Bari (Politecnico di Bari) in the Department of Mechanics, Mathematics & Management (DMMM). His research focuses on contact mechanics, adhesion, friction, and viscoelastic materials, with applications in mechanical design, wear analysis, and surface topography. His work includes theoretical modeling, experimental testing, and computational approaches to understanding interactions between materials under mechanical stress. He can be contacted at michele.ciavarella@poliba.it.
Sara Vinco is an Associate Professor at the Department of Control and Computer Engineering (DAUIN), Politecnico di Torino, Italy. She specializes in battery simulation, digital twins, and energy-efficient design automation for heterogeneous embedded systems, aligning with Industrial and Information Engineering (Area 0009) and ERC sectors including Computer Architecture and Machine Learning . Her research focuses on advancing cyber-physical systems through simulation frameworks like SystemC-AMS, enabling holistic modeling of analog, digital, and thermal domains. Key projects include data-driven digital twins for EV batteries and low-area digital circuits in industrial/medical applications, supported by commercial contracts such as C-based virtual prototyping. Her recent publications (2022-2023) emphasize machine learning for battery SOH/SOC estimation , energy monitoring in production lines , and multi-domain fault modeling . These works span journals like IEEE Transactions and conferences including DATE and ISLPED. Awarded the FFABR 2017 grant and IEEE FDL Best Paper Award 2011 , she also chairs editorial boards for IEEE Transactions on CAD and DATE Conference. She supervises PhD students Giovanni Pollo (Digital Circuits) and Khaled Alamin (EV Battery Twins), reflecting her leadership in smart systems design.
Daniele Loiacono is an Associate Professor at Politecnico di Milano's Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering (DEIB), affiliated with the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Lab (AIRLab). His research focuses on interdisciplinary applications of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning in medical imaging, radiation therapy, and procedural content generation for games. He leads projects in synthetic image generation for radiotherapy quality assurance, automated treatment planning, and bias analysis in medical AI systems. Key research areas include medical image synthesis using GANs, radiation therapy optimization, and algorithmic game design. His contributions span clinical applications such as total marrow irradiation (TMI) planning and lymph-node segmentation, alongside innovations in shader generation and interactive evolutionary tools for game development. Loiacono collaborates on multi-center studies to validate AI-driven workflows in healthcare and has pioneered methods combining lean Six Sigma with machine learning for treatment process improvement. His work bridges clinical medicine and computer science, addressing challenges in radiation oncology, anatomical imaging, and procedural content automation. The AIRLab serves as a hub for his research, integrating AI advancements into real-world medical and engineering solutions.
Michael Haller is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy, where he serves as founder and director of the Media Interaction Lab. Based at NOI Techpark, his work focuses on next-generation human-computer interfaces, leading a team of over 10 researchers and students in developing innovative interaction technologies for automotive and wearable applications. He earned his Dipl.-Ing. (1997), Dr. techn. (2001), and Habilitation (2007) degrees from Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Austria. Haller's research centers on Human-Computer Interaction with specialized expertise in Smart Textile Interfaces, Physical Prototyping, and Ubiquitous Computing. His lab pioneers user-centered design of next-generation interfaces through industry collaborations with BMW, KTM, SEFAR, and Tratter Engineering. Current work emphasizes sustainable materials for flexible sensors, touchless interaction, and reducing plastic components in automotive interfaces while maintaining ergonomic functionality. His 15 most recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate a clear trajectory toward sustainable sensor technologies, particularly biodegradable substrates (wood, animal-based, stone, gelatin) for temperature and pressure sensing. These works bridge materials science with HCI, targeting automotive interfaces, health monitoring, and eco-fashion through textile-based solutions that prioritize environmental sustainability without sacrificing performance. His scientific accolades include: Erwin Schrödinger Fellowship Award Google Research Award Europrix Top Talent Award Best ACM SIGGRAPH Emerging Technologies Award Microsoft Imagine Cup 7 Best Paper and Honorable Mention Awards at ACM CHI and ACM UIST Haller directs major research projects including SmartCover (2024-2026) for developing smart laminated dashboards that replace plastic components with gesture-based textile interfaces, and iPlayground (2024-2026) establishing an industrial-scale smart textile lab. He mentors researchers in prototyping and empirical evaluation, with industry grants supporting the development of washable touchless fabrics and next-generation vehicle interfaces. His work bridges academic research and commercial product development through direct industry partnerships. The Media Interaction Lab operates from NOI Techpark with industrial knitting/sewing machines, confocal microscopes for surface analysis, and a collaborative Idea Space for rapid prototyping. Current infrastructure enables development of warp-knitted smart textiles for automotive consoles and sustainable fashion applications, focusing on reducing plastic waste while creating intuitive touchless interaction experiences through magnetoresistive and inductive sensing technologies.
Marco Paggi is a Full Professor of Structural Mechanics at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, Italy, since 2017. He previously held academic roles at Politecnico di Torino (Assistant Professor, 2007-2013) and has been an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at Leibniz University Hannover. His research focuses on fracture mechanics, contact mechanics, and computational methods applied to renewable energy systems, composite materials, and multi-scale modeling. Key Themes: Fracture propagation, contact interfaces, phase field modeling, photovoltaic durability, and material heterogeneity. Awards: Stanford Top 2% Scientists (2020-2024) Research.com Top Scientists (2022-2024) European Structural Integrity Society Young Scientist Award (2010) Publications: His work spans tribology, computational fracture mechanics, and material degradation, with recent emphasis on phase field modeling for quasi-brittle materials and photovoltaic systems. He has pioneered methods for multi-scale and multi-physics analysis of structural systems. Mentorship: Supervised 17 PhD graduates and 14 postdocs, including award-winning researchers like Pietro Lenarda and Zeng Liu.
Cristiana De Filippis serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematical, Physical and Computer Sciences at the University of Parma. Her academic journey includes a Bachelor's degree from the University of Torino (2014), Master's from University of Milano-Bicocca (2016), and PhD from the University of Oxford (2020), followed by a tenure-track position at Parma since 2021 and habilitation to full professorship in 2023. Her research focuses on Mathematical Analysis , particularly Regularity Theory for elliptic and parabolic partial differential equations and the Calculus of Variations . She investigates fundamental properties of solutions to nonlinear PDEs, including sharp growth conditions, nonuniform ellipticity, and double-phase functionals. Her work bridges abstract mathematical theory with applications in physics and engineering through rigorous analysis of solution behavior. Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals a concentrated research program in nonuniformly elliptic systems (2022-2025), double-phase variational problems (2023-2024), and gradient regularity under irregular coefficients (2020-2024). Key contributions include establishing sharp growth rates in Schauder theory and developing novel techniques for nearly linear growth conditions. European Mathematical Society Prize 2024 Bartolozzi Prize 2023 (Italian Mathematical Union) Iapichino Prize 2020 (Accademia dei Lincei) Premio per la Cultura Mediterranea 2023 G-Research Prize 2019 Forbes 100 Most Successful Italian Women 2023 European Mathematical Society Young Academy (inaugural cohort) Professor De Filippis has delivered invited lectures at prestigious institutions including Erwin Schrödinger Institute (2025), Charles University Prague (2024), and Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (2022). She teaches Mathematical Analysis courses for Computer Science, Geological Sciences, and Management Engineering programs at undergraduate level. Her research is supported through multiple international collaborations, particularly with Giuseppe Mingione at Parma and researchers at European institutions.
Dr Ting Sun is an Associate Professor in Climate & Meteorological Hazard Risks at University College London , Department of Risk and Disaster Reduction. He earned his BEng (2009) and PhD in Hydrology (2013) from Tsinghua University , followed by a visiting period at Princeton University (2011–2012). After postdoctoral appointments at Tsinghua and the University of Reading , he held a NERC Independent Research Fellowship at Reading (2017–2022) before joining UCL in May 2022. Education PhD in Hydrology, Tsinghua University, 2013 BEng in Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, 2009 Visiting PhD Student, Princeton University, 2011–2012 Research Interests Dr Sun’s work converges on urban climate modelling across scales —from neighbourhood blocks to global grids—focusing on the impacts of weather and climate extremes such as heat waves and extreme rainfall in cities. He is the lead developer of the Surface Urban Energy and Water balance Scheme (SUEWS) and its Python wrapper SuPy , developed in collaboration with Prof Sue Grimmond’s micromet group. He also contributes as a core member of the Urban Multi-scale Environmental Predictor (UMEP) development team. His multidisciplinary expertise integrates hydro-climate dynamics, computational modelling, machine learning, built-environment processes, and public-health linkages . Research Trends from Recent Publications Across the 15 most recent articles, a clear trajectory emerges from high-resolution urban-process modelling toward integrated socio-environmental assessments . Studies published in 2024–2025 couple atmospheric models (WRF-SUEWS) with global building-morphology datasets (GLAMOUR) to quantify how cities alter rainfall patterns, temperature sensitivity, and heat-related mortality. Earlier works progressively refined SUEWS’s physical parameterisations and Python accessibility, while recent outputs leverage deep-learning remote-sensing tools (SHAFTS) and hybrid hydrological-neural architectures to deliver actionable insights for urban planning and climate adaptation. Scientific Awards & Fellowships NERC Independent Research Fellowship , University of Reading, 2017–2022 HEA Fellowship , University College London, 2023 Professional Service & Editorial Roles Topic Editor , Geoscientific Model Development (from 2025) Editorial Board Member , Scientific Data (from 2024) Peer review and consultancy for journals, conferences, and policy bodies Supervision of taught-course projects and research degrees External examining and mentoring Labs, Teams & Collaborations Dr Sun leads and collaborates within the UCL Department of Risk and Disaster Reduction , working closely with the micromet group at the University of Reading (Prof Sue Grimmond) on SUEWS/SuPy development. He is an active member of the UMEP consortium and maintains extensive international collaborations spanning Tsinghua University, Princeton, and numerous European research centres, underpinning a vibrant, interdisciplinary research network focused on urban climate resilience.
Daniele Caviglia serves as Full Professor in the Department of Naval, Electrical, Electronic and Telecommunications Engineering at the University of Genoa, Italy. He holds the position of Coordinator for the Master's Degree in Electronic Engineering and teaches advanced courses including Radio Frequency Electronics, Electronic Devices, and Electronic Systems for Telecommunication across both Bachelor's and Master's programs. His research program focuses on ultra-low-power electronics for biomedical and environmental applications, with three primary thrusts: (1) nW-scale circuit design for bio-signal processing and neural interfaces, (2) advanced beamforming techniques in medical ultrasound imaging, and (3) energy harvesting systems for autonomous environmental monitoring. His group has pioneered inverter-based OTAs achieving sub-10nW operation and developed novel genetic algorithm-optimized apodization methods for plane-wave ultrasound imaging. Recent publications (2024-2025) reveal strong thematic continuity with increasing emphasis on practical implementations - particularly sea wave energy harvesters for environmental buoys and satellite microwave link systems for rainfall monitoring in urban settings. The work consistently bridges fundamental circuit innovation with real-world medical and environmental applications, maintaining high impact in IEEE and Elsevier journals.
Alessandro Battaglia is an Associate Professor at the Department of Environmental, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI) at the Polytechnic University of Turin. He specializes in microwave remote sensing of clouds and precipitation, with expertise in Doppler radar, cloud and snow microphysics, and microwave radiometer technology. His research spans atmospheric physics, meteorology, and climate science with applications in Earth observation from space. Dr. Battaglia's research interests focus on remote sensing of atmospheric phenomena, particularly using advanced radar technologies. His work encompasses cloud microphysics, precipitation measurement, and wind observation from space. He is particularly known for his contributions to the development of spaceborne Doppler radar systems for measuring in-cloud winds, which represents a significant advancement in atmospheric observation capabilities. His research bridges engineering, physics, and meteorology to improve our understanding of Earth's atmospheric processes and climate systems. His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on the WIVERN (Wind Velocity Radar Nephoscope) mission, with research spanning cloud microphysics, snowfall measurement, wind field reconstruction, and innovative radar signal processing techniques. These works highlight the interdisciplinary nature of his research, connecting atmospheric science, engineering, and computational methods to advance space-based Earth observation capabilities. NASA Group Achievement Award (2015) Fellow of the National Center for Earth Observation, UK (2014-present) Dr. Battaglia actively mentors several PhD students including Marco Coppola, Francesco Manconi, Riccardo Rabino, Susmitha Sasikumar, Aida Galfione, and Paolo Martire across Civil and Environmental Engineering and Aerospace Engineering programs. He serves as Principal Investigator for multiple research projects funded by ESA (3 projects), UK-NERC (1 project), UK-NCEO (1 project), and the US Department of Energy (1 project). His current research focuses on the WIVERN mission, EarthCARE mission, and NASA's INCUS mission, with particular emphasis on developing algorithms for spaceborne Doppler radar systems. He leads research teams working on cutting-edge remote sensing technologies for atmospheric observation, with particular focus on developing the next generation of spaceborne instruments capable of measuring in-cloud winds—a capability that has been missing from Earth observation systems until now.
