Curriculum Vitae

Education

• Ph.D. in Electronics Engineering carried out at the  Dep. of Electronics and Telecommunication of the University of Florence - ITALY. Ph.D. Thesis title: "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 Dep. of Astronomy and Space Sciences of the University of Florence - ITALY.  Degree Thesis title: "Studio di fattibilità 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

• 2012/03-2012/06: INAF - National Institute of Astrophysics (Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory)
  
• 2010-02/2012: Dep. of Physics and Astronomy - University of Florence
• 2008-2009: CNR – INOA (National Applied Optics Institute)
• 2007: Dep. of Astronomy and Space Science - University of Florence
• 2003-2006: Dep. 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
• EGSE (Electrical Ground Support Equipment), OGSE (Optical Ground Support Equipment)
• Diamond-based detectors and fast read-out electronics
• Control systems for solar concentrators

Space and sub-orbital projects experiences

• Solar Orbiter satellite - METIS Coronagraph (Front-end electronics, Main Power and Processing Unit-MPPU)
• EChO satellite -  DPS (Data Processing System) and VNIR channel
  
• PLATO satellite -  ICU (Instrument Control Unit) HW design
• Herschel/SCORE sub-orbital mission (CCD cameras, on-board electronics and communic. system)
• WSO/UV - World Space Observatory satellite  - FCU (Field Camera Unit) EGSE and calibrations

International field experiences

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

Main skills

• CCD cameras and detectors
• CMOS 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
• Knowledge of main HW and SW laboratory 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

Past working experiences

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