STL TEAM
LEADERSHIP
Luisa Petti
luisa.petti@unibz.it
+39 0471 017156
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Luisa Petti received her M.Sc. in Electronic Engineering from Politecnico di Milano (Italy) in 2011. She obtained her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from ETH Zurich (Switzerland) in 2016 with a thesis entitled “Metal oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors for flexible electronics”, for which she won the ETH medal. After a short post-doc at ETH Zurich, she joined first Cambridge Display Technology Ltd in October 2016 and then FlexEnable Ltd in December 2017 in Cambridge (UK) as a research scientist. Currently she is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy). In December 2019, Luisa has been awarded the 2019 IEEE EDS Early Career Award as a recognition of her early career technical achievements in the field of flexible electronic devices.
Luisa’s work is focused on the design, fabrication and characterization of flexible, printed, and environmentally-friendly electronic devices. In particular, her research activity at Free University of Bolzano aims at the realization of fully autonomous systems incorporating sensing, energy harvesting, storage, read-out and wireless communication functionality, to be used for IoT, environmental, food science, as well as precision agriculture applications.
Electronics, Diagnosis and Quality Control
42317 · ING-INF/01 · Wood Engineering (L-9) · DE
Sensors and biosensors for food processing
44710 · ING-INF/01 · Master Food Sciences for Innovation and Authenticity (LM-70) · EN
Grundlagen der Elektronik
42406 · ING-INF/01 · Bachelor in Elektrotechnik und Cyber-Physische Systeme · IT
Paolo Lugli
paolo.lugli@unibz.it
+39 0471 010201
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Professor Lugli conducts research on nanoelectronics and molecular electronics. After completing his studies in physics at the University of Modena (Italy) in 1979, Professor Lugli moved to Colorado State University in Fort Collins (USA) where he received a Master of Science in 1982 and a PhD in 1985, both in electrical engineering. In 1985 he started working as an assistant in the Physics Department of the University of Modena (Italy). From 1988 to 1993 he was an associate professor of solid state physics in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Rome II (University of Rome Tor Vergata) where he was appointed professor in 1993. From 2002 until 2016 Professor Lugli has held the Chair of Nanoelectronics at the Technische Universität München. He’s the author of more than 350 scientific papers and since 2011 he’s been a member of the Deutsche Akademie der Technikwissenschaften (AcaTech) and a fellow of IEEE.
Electronics, Diagnosis and Quality Control
42317 · ING-INF/01 · Wood Engineering (L-9) · DE
Materials and sensors for Food Engineering and Biotechnologies
46039 · ING-INF/01 · PhD FEB – Food engineering and biotechnology · EN
Sensors and biosensors for food processing
44710 · ING-INF/01 · Master Food Sciences for Innovation and Authenticity (LM-70) · EN
Electronics and Cyber-Physical Systems Engineering
42409 · ING-INF/01 · L-8 Electronics and Cyber-Physical Systems Engineering · IT
RESEARCHERS & ENGINEERS
Pietro Ibba
pietro.ibba@unibz.it
+39 0471 017773
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Pietro Ibba received his bachelor’s degree in Industrial Biotechnologies (2015) and his master’s degree in Food Quality and safety (2017), from Tuscia University, Viterbo, Italy. In 2021, he completed his Ph.D. in “Food engineering and biotechnology” at the free university of Bolzano-Bozen at the Sensing Technologies Laboratory where he also did his post.doc, within the BIOFRUIT and the ELPLANT projects, and where he is currently an assistant professor (RTD junior). His current research work is mainly focusing on the use of Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy methods for the characterization of fruit quality, with a particular a focus on the development and the integration of portable systems, prediction models and contact electrodes.
- Non-detructive methods for fruit quality evaluation
- Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy
- Flexible and Printed Electronics
Giuseppe Ciccone
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Giuseppe Ciccone studied Biomedical Engineering (2016) and Industrial Bioengineering (2018) at Università degli studi di Napoli Federico II. He then worked (2019) at Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata on photoelectrochemical cells for neuronal stimulation. From November 2019, he pursued his PhD on organic electronics and biointerfaces at Technische Universität Dresden, and he graduated in May 2023 discussing the thesis “Novel OLEDs architectures for multicolor Optogenetics”. In October 2023, he joined the Sensing and Technologies Lab as a research assistant, where he is currently working on wearable sensors and bioelectronics. Since 2025 he is a RTDa.
Organic electronics, biointerfaces.
Sahira Carolina Vasquez Baez
SahiraCarolina.VasquezBaez@student.unibz.it
+39 331 4706782
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences
Universitätsplatz 5 – piazza Università, 5
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Sahira Vásquez graduated as a Food Technology Engineer with distinction (Summa Cum Laude) from ISA University (Dominican Republic), in 2013. She received her M.Sc. in Environmental Protection and Food Agricultural Production from Hohenheim University (Germany) in 2015. During her master’s studies, she carried out three-month research stay at Silpakorn University, Thailand. From 2016 to 2019 she worked as a teacher and research advisor in the Department of Food Technology at ISA University.
Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate in the program Food Engineering and Biotechnology at the Free University of Bolzano, where she is working with the development of sensors to monitor the gases produced by the gut microbial community in an in-vitro Human Microbial Ecosystem (SHIME).
- Printing technologies for the fabrication of carbon nanotube-based gas sensors
- Detection of biomolecules produced from the fermentation of the gut microbiota
Giulia Elli
giulia.elli@unibz.it
+39 331 4706782
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences
Universitätsplatz 5 – piazza Università, 5
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Giulia Elli, obtained a bachelor’s degree in Biotecnologia at the Università degli Studi di Milano in 2017. She graduated in 2019 from Lund University (Sweden) with a MSc degree in Biotechnology.
She obtained the PhD title in “Food engineering and biotechnology”, from the Free University of Bozen – Bolzano, with a thesis entitled: “Development of a sensor for nanoplastics detection in environmental and agri-food applications”. The work was carried out together with the Smart Materials group in IIT, Genova. She is now a research assistant in the Sensing Technologies lab, where she carries out work on sensors for food quality analysis.
Ahmed Rasheed
ahmed.rasheed@unibz.it
+39 331 4706782
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Giulia Elli, obtained a bachelor’s degree in Biotecnologia at the Università degli Studi di Milano in 2017. She graduated in 2019 from Lund University (Sweden) with a MSc degree in Biotechnology.
She obtained the PhD title in “Food engineering and biotechnology”, from the Free University of Bozen – Bolzano, with a thesis entitled: “Development of a sensor for nanoplastics detection in environmental and agri-food applications”. The work was carried out together with the Smart Materials group in IIT, Genova. She is now a research assistant in the Sensing Technologies lab, where she carries out work on sensors for food quality analysis.
Wearable Sensors, Flexible Sensors, TFTs and their applications, Energy Harvesters, Sensors for food, environmental and agriculture applications.
Arvind Gurusekaran
arvind.gurusekaran@student.unibz.it
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Arvind Gurusekaran holds a Master’s degree in Printing and Media Technology from a dual-degree program between Manipal Institute of Technology (India) and Technische Universität Chemnitz (Germany). His Master’s thesis focused on ‘Inkjet printing of conductive patterns on textiles for wearable applications’. Additionally, he possesses industrial experience, having served as Assistant Manager (Printed Electronics) at Naxnova (India).
He earned his PhD in “Advanced Systems Engineering” from the Free University of Bozen – Bolzano, with a thesis titled: “Development of coatings and components for space applications”. This research was co-funded by Thales Alenia Space – Italy and conducted in collaboration with HZDR, Dresden. Currently, Arvind is a research assistant in the Sensing Technologies lab, working on an EU-funded project called ‘Sestosenso’ in association with the Field Robotics Lab at NOI Techpark.
Printed Electronics, Additive Manufacturing, and Device Fabrication
Giovanna Gentile
giovanna.gentile@student.unibz.it
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Giovanna Gentile received her M.SC in Functional Genomics from the University of Trieste, Italy in 2018.
After graduation, she obtained an internship on mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson´s disease at the Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research; Bolzano, Italy where she then continued as Junior Research until 2021. She is currently enrolled in the 3rd year of the Ph.D. program in Advanced System Engineering (Inf/Ing-01) at the Free University of Bolzano in collaboration with the Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, Italy.
Her Ph.D. project focuses on the use of semiconductive organic polymers for the optical stimulation of neurons and cardiomyocytes in vitro.
Alessandro Alleva
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Alessandro Alleva is a research assistant in the field of flexible and biodegradable electronics. Alessandro Alleva obtained his Master’s Degree from Politecnico di Milano in Materials Engineering and Nanotechnology in 2021, where he also carried out his PhD focusing on the degradation analysis of battery materials. Currently, he is a research assistant at UniBZ, dedicating his expertise to advancing the development of flexible thin film transistors fabricated with biodegradable and sustainable materials.
Flexible electronics, Material Science, Thin Film Deposition
PHD STUDENTS
Moritz Ploner
moritz.ploner@student.unibz.it
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Moritz Ploner completed his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology from the Technical University of Vienna (2020). He went on to earn his master’s degree in Electrical Energy Engineering from the University of Bologna (2022). During his master’s, he spent a semester at the Electrical Insulation Research Center at the University of Connecticut, to work on his master’s thesis. Currently, he is pursuing his Ph.D. in Advanced Systems Engineering at the “Sensing Technologies Lab” at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy, in collaboration with Empatica, a full-stack digital healthcare company and a pioneer in digital biomarker development and continuous health monitoring driven by AI.
Moritz’s Ph.D. is partially supported by the European Union Next-GenerationEU (PIANO NAZIONALE DI RIPRESA E RESILIENZA (PNRR) – MISSIONE 4 COMPONENTE 2, INVESTIMENTO 3.3 – Decreto del Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca n.352 del 09/04/2022) within the Advanced-Systems Engineering Ph.D. Program at unibz and co-funded by Empatica.
His primary focus is on designing and developing an electrochemical sensor for detecting human biochemical profiles from sweat.
Flexible sensors and electronics for wearable devices in e-health applications
Ciro Allarà
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Ciro Allarà is currently enrolled in the PhD program of Advanced Systems Engineering at Free University of Bozen-Bolzano. He obtained his Bachelor Degree in Biomedical Engineering at University of Naples Federico II in 2017. After the bachelor studies, he concluded his Master’s Degree studies in Industrial Bioengineering at University of Naples Federico II in 2020. The Master’s thesis was based on a novel microfluidic approach to measure the slip extent in air lifted interfaces. In 2021 he won a research fellowship at CSGI (Consorzio Interuniversitario per lo Sviluppo dei Sistemi a Grande Interfase) where he worked on a project in collaboration with Procter&Gamble on the study of mechanical stability, stability to dilution in water and release properties of micron-sized self-assembled capsules using a microfluidic approach. In 2022 he was enrolled in BIO CHECK UP SRL, where he carried out R&D activities in the field of diagnostic imaging and artificial intelligence. He also manages the company’s participation to regional, national, and international projects. The PhD topic regards the bioelectronics, BioPhotonics, and nanomaterial fields.
Guglielmo Trentini
guglielmo.trentini@student.unibz.it
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Guglielmo Trentini earned both his Bachelor’s (2020) and Master’s (2022) degrees in Physics from the University of Trento.
Currently, he is pursuing a Ph.D. in Advanced System Engineering at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, in collaboration with the Micro Nano Facility group (Sensor and Device center) at the Bruno Kessler Foundation in Trento.
His current work focuses on enhancing the selectivity of low-cost gas sensors by developing and characterizing green biopolymers used as filtering membranes.
Gas sensing, gas separations and substrates for flexible electronics.
Camilo Eduardo Tellez Villamizar
camiloeduardo.tellezvillamizar@student.unibz.it
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Moritz Ploner completed his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology from the Technical University of Vienna (2020). He went on to earn his master’s degree in Electrical Energy Engineering from the University of Bologna (2022). During his master’s, he spent a semester at the Electrical Insulation Research Center at the University of Connecticut, to work on his master’s thesis. Currently, he is pursuing his Ph.D. in Advanced Systems Engineering at the “Sensing Technologies Lab” at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy, in collaboration with Empatica, a full-stack digital healthcare company and a pioneer in digital biomarker development and continuous health monitoring driven by AI.
Moritz’s Ph.D. is partially supported by the European Union Next-GenerationEU (PIANO NAZIONALE DI RIPRESA E RESILIENZA (PNRR) – MISSIONE 4 COMPONENTE 2, INVESTIMENTO 3.3 – Decreto del Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca n.352 del 09/04/2022) within the Advanced-Systems Engineering Ph.D. Program at unibz and co-funded by Empatica.
His primary focus is on designing and developing an electrochemical sensor for detecting human biochemical profiles from sweat.
Giada Bombardelli
giada.bombardelli@student.unibz.it
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Giada Bombardelli is a young researcher with a solid background in materials engineering, having completed her master’s degree at the University of Padova. After graduation, she remained in Padova to work on a project focused on the additive manufacturing of ceramics, developing specific expertise in innovative fabrication techniques and material optimization.
She is now in the first year of a PhD program in Advanced Systems Engineering at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano. Her research focuses on the development of sensing materials for gas sensor applications, in collaboration with Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK). Through this collaboration, Giada works at the intersection of materials innovation and advanced technologies, aiming to translate scientific advancements into practical solutions for environmental monitoring and sensing systems.
Sundus Riaz
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences
Universitätsplatz 5 – piazza Università, 5
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Sundus Riaz did her Bachelor in Biochemistry and graduated with highest distinction (Silver Medalist) from Federal Urdu University of Art, Sciences & Technology, Karachi, Pakistan, in 2012. She completed her M.S. in Biomedical Engineering and Sciences from National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2015 on fully funded merit based scholarship. She received a Post Graduate Diploma in Health Care Management from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, Pakistan, in 2016. Her MS research was on “Effect of flavonoid-coated gold nanoparticles on bacterial colonization in mice,” which was focused on nano-medicine to combat bacterial multidrug resistance issues and their biocompatibility. She is a serving Scientific Officer and lead the lab of Food-Biotechnology and Agro-Nano-Biotechnology at the National Agricultural Research Center of Ministry of National Food Security & Research in Pakistan, since 2016. Her research expertise is in the agro-food sector of Pakistan for food safety and security, managing food contaminants such as drug residue, biological contaminants, pesticide residue and pesticide resistance in pest. She manages the regional, national and international food quality and safety project in her organization with the active collaboration of FAO, CIMMYT and CABI. She completed two projects as principle investigator that addressed the over use of pesticide and resistance against pest (for white flies) through nano-biopesticide development and development of biodegradable food wrapping sheets as a colorimetric food sensor.
Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate in the Food Engineering and Biotechnology program at the Free University of Bolzano, Italy in collaboration with Research centre for Agriculture and Forestery, Laimburg, Italy.
Low-cost and novel sensors for fruit maturity assessment along the whole quality chain.
Anna Goncharenko
Anna.Goncharenko@student.unibz.it
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Sundus Riaz did her Bachelor in Biochemistry and graduated with highest distinction (Silver Medalist) from Federal Urdu University of Art, Sciences & Technology, Karachi, Pakistan, in 2012. She completed her M.S. in Biomedical Engineering and Sciences from National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2015 on fully funded merit based scholarship. She received a Post Graduate Diploma in Health Care Management from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, Pakistan, in 2016. Her MS research was on “Effect of flavonoid-coated gold nanoparticles on bacterial colonization in mice,” which was focused on nano-medicine to combat bacterial multidrug resistance issues and their biocompatibility. She is a serving Scientific Officer and lead the lab of Food-Biotechnology and Agro-Nano-Biotechnology at the National Agricultural Research Center of Ministry of National Food Security & Research in Pakistan, since 2016. Her research expertise is in the agro-food sector of Pakistan for food safety and security, managing food contaminants such as drug residue, biological contaminants, pesticide residue and pesticide resistance in pest. She manages the regional, national and international food quality and safety project in her organization with the active collaboration of FAO, CIMMYT and CABI. She completed two projects as principle investigator that addressed the over use of pesticide and resistance against pest (for white flies) through nano-biopesticide development and development of biodegradable food wrapping sheets as a colorimetric food sensor.
Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate in the Food Engineering and Biotechnology program at the Free University of Bolzano, Italy in collaboration with Research centre for Agriculture and Forestery, Laimburg, Italy.
Shamim Torkian
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Shamim Torkian is a PhD candidate in Advanced System Engineering at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT). She earned her bachelor’s degree in Optical Engineering from Bahonar University, Iran, and completed her master’s degree in Materials Physics and Nanoscience at the University of Bologna, Italy, in 2024. Her master’s thesis focused on advanced optoelectronic characterization of 2D perovskite single crystals. Her doctoral research focuses on the fabrication of membranes to enhance the selectivity of ion-selective sensors.
Flexible and Printable Electronics
Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy
Matteo Boggiatto
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Michele Gullino
michele.gullino@student.unibz.it
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences
Universitätsplatz 5 – piazza Università, 5
39100
Bozen-Bolzano
Sundus Riaz did her Bachelor in Biochemistry and graduated with highest distinction (Silver Medalist) from Federal Urdu University of Art, Sciences & Technology, Karachi, Pakistan, in 2012. She completed her M.S. in Biomedical Engineering and Sciences from National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2015 on fully funded merit based scholarship. She received a Post Graduate Diploma in Health Care Management from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, Pakistan, in 2016. Her MS research was on “Effect of flavonoid-coated gold nanoparticles on bacterial colonization in mice,” which was focused on nano-medicine to combat bacterial multidrug resistance issues and their biocompatibility. She is a serving Scientific Officer and lead the lab of Food-Biotechnology and Agro-Nano-Biotechnology at the National Agricultural Research Center of Ministry of National Food Security & Research in Pakistan, since 2016. Her research expertise is in the agro-food sector of Pakistan for food safety and security, managing food contaminants such as drug residue, biological contaminants, pesticide residue and pesticide resistance in pest. She manages the regional, national and international food quality and safety project in her organization with the active collaboration of FAO, CIMMYT and CABI. She completed two projects as principle investigator that addressed the over use of pesticide and resistance against pest (for white flies) through nano-biopesticide development and development of biodegradable food wrapping sheets as a colorimetric food sensor.
Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate in the Food Engineering and Biotechnology program at the Free University of Bolzano, Italy in collaboration with Research centre for Agriculture and Forestery, Laimburg, Italy.
Flexible sensors and electronics in Precision Orchard Management
Federico della Vecchia
Faculty of Engineering
NOI Techpark – Bruno-Buozzi-Straße 1 – via Bruno Buozzi, 1
39100
Bozen-Bolzano