Curriculum Vitae

Education

• Ph.D. in Electronics Engineering - "Devices and Electronics Circuits" carried out at the  Dept. of Electronics and Telecommunication of the University of Florence - ITALY. Ph.D. Dissertation Thesis title: "Study of the analog and digital electronics chain for video signal processing aimed at the development of an ASIC-based CCD camera"; IT tr.: "Studio dell'elettronica analogica e digitale di trattamento del segnale video per lo sviluppo di una camera CCD basata su circuito integrato".


• Physics Degree carried out at the Dept. of Astronomy and Space Science of the University of Florence - ITALY.  Degree Thesis title: “A hybrid CMOS detector assessment study for the Solar Orbiter Space Mission”; IT tr.: "Studio di fattibilita' di un rivelatore ibrido in tecnologia CMOS per la missione spaziale Solar Orbiter".


• Technical Diploma carried out at the ITG G. Vasari of Figline V.no (FI) - ITALY.

University and Research fellowships

• 2012-08/2016-08: INAF-National Institute for Astrophysics (Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory)
• 2012-03/2012-06: INAF-National Institute for Astrophysics (Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory)
  
• 2010-01/2012-02: Dept. of Physics and Astronomy - University of Florence
• 2008-2009: CNR - INOA (National Applied Optics Institute)
• 2007: Dept. of Astronomy and Space Science - University of Florence
• 2003-2006: Dept. of Electronics and Telecommunication - University of Florence

Research activities and training

• Technology and instrumentation for Astrophysics, CCD cameras, CMOS detectors and readout electronics. Front-end electronics for solid state detectors and data acquisition systems for telescopes and focal plane instrumentation
• On-board data handling electronics and communication systems for satellite scientific payloads
  
• EGSE (Electrical Ground Support Equipment), OGSE (Optical Ground Support Equipment)
• Diamond-based detectors and fast read-out electronics
• Solar Physics
• Exoplanets
• Polarimetry/Spectropolarimetry
• Control systems for solar concentrators
  

Space and sub-orbital projects experiences

• ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter Mission - METIS Coronagraph (METIS Processing and Power Unit - MPPU, front-end electronics and detectors, EGSE) - Co-Investigator
  
• ESA PROBA3 Mission - ASPIICS Coronagraph, Shadow Position Sensor (SPS) subsystem
  
• ESA PLATO 2.0 Mission - ICU (Instrument Control Unit) System Engineer
• ESA EChO/ARIEL Mission - ICU (Instrument Control Unit) and VNIR channel detector and front-end electronics
• ASI/NRL Herschel/SCORE I/II sub-orbital mission (CCD cameras, on-board electronics and communication system)
• ESA/Roscosmos WSO/UV - World Space Observatory satellite  - FCU (Field Camera Unit) EGSE and calibrations
• ESA EUSO satellite - Extreme Universe Space Observatory (actual Riken/JAXA JEM-EUSO mission) - filter lenses for the MAPMT R8900 photomultipliers, electronics calibrations
  

International field experiences

• U.S. NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY, Washington DC - USA
• WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, New Mexico - USA

Main skills

• Payloads on-board data processing electronics
• Rad-hard processors and FPGAs
  
• CCD cameras and detectors
• CMOS and hybrid detectors
• Diamond detectors
• Front-end electronics, readout electronics
• FPGA, CPLD, VHDL hardware description language
• Microcontrollers and C/C++ languages
• Memories (FIFOs, RAMs, PROMs) and converters (ADC, DAC) 
• Mechanical design (AutoCAD)
• SpaceWire communication protocol for satellites
• Polarimetry/Spectropolarimetry
  
• Knowledge of HW and SW laboratory main equipments

Teaching experiences

• Lectures for the course of Space Technologies for Physics  students of the University of Florence
• Mathematic and Physics courses for the primary school students

Astronomy and Science divulgation activities and outreaches

• OAA - Arcetry Astrophysical Observatory
  
• OPC - Chianti Polyfunctional Observatory

Past working experiences

• 12 years as Technician @ Enel Distribuzione S.p.a. - (Florence)