Role
Associate Director for Robotics and Director of the Bioinspired Soft Robotics Lab at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT)
Bio
After graduating in Biological Sciences from the University of Pisa in 1995, she continued her education with a Master's degree in Environmental Management from the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna and a PhD in Microsystems Engineering from the University of Rome Tor Vergata in 2011. From 1999 to 2009, she worked as a researcher at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa, launching pioneering research lines in biorobotics and robotic engineering applied to environmental monitoring.
In 2009, she joined the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) as Team Leader of the Center for Micro Bio-Robotics (CMBR), of which she became coordinator in 2011. In March 2021, she took on the role of Associate Director for Robotics at IIT and Director of the Bioinspired Soft Robotics Lab . Her scientific activity focuses on bio-inspired and soft robotics, developing flexible robots and systems that employ smart materials . She is internationally known for having created 'Plantoid', the world's first robot inspired by plant roots and their adaptive soil exploration capabilities.
Author of numerous publications in leading journals such as Science, Nature, and Science Robotics, she is on the editorial boards of Soft Robotics and Bioinspiration & Biomimetics. Among the major awards she has received are the Marisa Bellisario Prize (2010), the Medal of the Senate of the Republic with the Pio Manzù Prize (2013), and inclusion among the 50 most inspiring women in technology with InspiringFifty (2021).