Biosketch



Current Position

Massimiliano is Professor of Healthcare Technology at Loughborough University, UK, in the School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering (MEME), where he leads the Wearable BioRobotics Research Team in the Sports Technology Institute. , and he continues working with Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, as Visiting Professor of Robotics. [CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS].

Scientific Interest

Among social infrastructure technologies, Robot technology is expected to play an important role in solving the problems of both decrease of birth rate and increase of elderly people in the 21st century.
The observation and the analysis of the human being, an extreme and exquisite example of robotic system, could lead to the clarification of the basic mechanisms underlying human's control of their bodies. This, in turn, will be an extremely important and helpful tool for the aging society in order to realize better health-care systems, human-support devices, teleoperation methods, and so on.


Keywords

Performance evaluation, Skill analysis, Training, Natural and Artificial Emotions, Human-Robot interaction, Humanoid robotics, Teleoperation, Health-care, Human-support, Prosthetics, Orthotics, Robotic Assisted Surgery.


Education

  • March 2003:
    Ph.D. in Biomedical Robotics at Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy, with a thesis entitled "On the development of a cybernetic prosthetic hand", Supervisors: Prof. Paolo Dario, Prof. Angelo M. Sabatini, Prof. M. Chiara Carrozza
  • December 1998:
    Italian State Qualifying Exam into Engineering Profession at the University of Pisa.
  • November 1998:
    Laurea Degree (equivalent to Bachelor+Master) in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Bioengineering at the University of Pisa. Title of the Thesis: “Study of the Cardiac Mechanics: from Magnetic Resonance Images to the Three-dimensional Finite Element Model” (supervisors: Prof. L. Landini, Prof. C. Carmignani, Dr. P. Forte, and Mr. A. Ripoli).


Other interesting courses


Previous Working Experience

  • April 2010 - February 2014:
    Associate Professor of Robotics at ICSEP - International Center for Science and Engineering Programs, Faculty of Science and Engineering of Waseda University.
  • June 2003 - February 2014:
    Researcher at the HRI (Humanoid Robotic Institute) of the Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.
  • September 2010 - September 2013:
    Visiting Associate Professor at the E-JUST - Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology in Alexandria, Egypt, as JICA expert on Robotics.
  • March 2003 - February 2014:
    Project Manager of RoboCasa, a joint laboratory for research on Humanoid Robotics established in 2003 in Tokyo by Waseda University and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy, in the framework of the 7th~10th Executive Program for the Scientific and Technological Cooperation between Italy and Japan.
  • September 2012:
    Visiting Professor at the IIT Hyderabad, India, as JICA expert on Robotics.
  • April 2009 - March 2010
    Assistant Professor for the Global COE "Global Robot Academia" of Waseda University.
  • October 2005 - March 2009
    Research Associate at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Consolidated Institute of Advanced Science and Medical Care (ASMeW), Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.
  • September 2003 - September 2005
    JSPS Research fellow at HRI, Waseda University.
  • February 2003, May 2003:
    Visiting researcher at Bio-Mimetic System Lab of the KIST (Korea Institute of Science and Technology).
  • Mar. 1999 - 2002:
    INAIL RTR Center (“Applied Research Centre on Rehabilitation Engineering,) originated by a joint initiative promoted by INAIL (National Institute for Insurance of Injured Workers) and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna), Functional Substitution Area, P2 Project ("Design and development of innovative components for sensorized prosthetic systems").
  • Nov. 1998 - Feb. 1999:
    Institute of Clinical Physiology of the National Council of Research (CNR), Pisa, at the Biomedical Imaging Lab.