Bruno Siciliano (engineer)

Last updated

Bruno Siciliano (Naples, 27 October 1959) is an Italian engineer, academic and scientific popularizer. He is professor of Control and Robotics at the University of Naples Federico II, Chair of the Scientific Council of the ICAROS Center, [1] and Director of the PRISMA Lab [2] at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. [3] He is also Honorary Professor at the university of Óbuda [4] where he holds the Rudolf Kálmán chair.

Contents

Siciliano in 2018. Bruno Siciliano@ Robotex, Tallinn 2018.jpg
Siciliano in 2018.

Education and career

In 1982, Siciliano graduated in Electronic Engineering from the University of Naples Federico II, where he then obtained a PhD in Electronic and Computer Engineering in 1987. Fascinated by the readings of Isaac Asimov's books on science fiction and cybernetics, he decided to approach robotics in terms of research. From September 1985 to June 1986, he was a visiting scholar at the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering of the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Siciliano became an assistant professor of Automatic Control in 1989 at the Department of Computer and Systems Engineering of the University of Naples and then an associate professor in 1992. He moved to the role of full professor in 2000 for the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering of the University of Salerno. Since 2003, he has been a full professor of Automatic Control at the Department of Computer and Systems Engineering, which later became the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology.

Since 2016, he has been Honorary Professor of the University of Óbuda from which he received the chair named after Rudolf Emil Kálmán in 2019. [5]

Siciliano was President of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society from 2008 to 2009. From 2013 to 2021, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the European Robotics Association. [6] In 2019, he was among the founding members of the National Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (I-RIM). [7] He is a member of the I-RIM Board of Directors. Since 2020, he has been on the Board of the International Foundation of Robotics Research. [8] Since 2020, he has been an IFAC Pavel J. Nowacki Distinguished Lecturer. In 2025, Siciliano was appointed as a member of the Technical-Scientific Committee of the National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN).

Research

Siciliano's research concerns the manipulation and control of robots, cooperation between robots and humans and service robotics. He was Director of ICAROS, the Interdepartmental Center for Robotic Surgery, which aims to create synergies between clinical and surgical practice and research on new technologies for computer/robot-assisted surgery. He directs PRISMA Lab, the Laboratory of Projects of Industrial and Service Robotics, Mechatronics and Automation in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (DIETI) of the University of Naples Federico II. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Research Consortium for Energy, Automation and Electromagnetic Technologies (CREATE) [9] where he is responsible for the research program in Robotics.

Among his research projects are EndoTheranostics and RoDyMan, both funded by the European Research Council through a Synergy Grant and an Advanced Grant, [10] respectively.

EndoTheranostics (Multi-sensor Eversion Robot Towards Intelligent Endoscopic Diagnosis and Therapy, 2024–2030) [11] aims to revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer. The project is based on the use of a soft robot capable of deeply exploring the colon, collecting information through advanced sensors, and supporting targeted clinical interventions. The robot also serves as a conduit for transporting miniaturised instruments to the treatment site, thereby enabling combined diagnostic and therapeutic procedures (theranostics).

RoDyMan (Robotic Dynamic Manipulation, 2013–2019) [12] a robot designed to replicate the movements of a pizzaiolo. From a scientific research perspective, it addressed the challenge of creating an automaton capable of manipulating deformable and elastic objects, such as dough made of water and flour. Siciliano has been the coordinator of several projects funded by the European Commission: REFILLS (Robotics Enabling Fully-Integrated Logistics Lines for Supermarkets, 2017–2020) [13] a project aimed at the realization of mobile assistance cobots in supermarkets, EuRoC (European Robotics Challenges, 2014–2018), [14] the largest research program in Europe on robotics competitions, DEXMART (DEXterous and Autonomous Dual-Arm / Hand Robotic Manipulation with sMART Sensory-Motor Skills: A Bridge from Natural to Artificial Cognition, 2008–2012) [15] one of the first European projects on bimanual manipulation. He also co-coordinated ECHORD (European Clearing House for Open Robotics Development, 2009–2013), [16] a pilot project for technology transfer from research laboratories to SMEs.

Educator

Siciliano is active on the MOOC front of the e-learning platform of the University of Naples Federico II with his two Robotics Foundations I [17] & II [17] courses associated with the contents of his textbook, also available on the edX platform, and participation in Industry 4.0 courses, on enabling technologies underlying the new 4.0 paradigm and Pizza Revolution [18] for research and studies on robotics applied to the art of making pizza. [19]

"Keep the gradient" is the motto that Siciliano invented and means the constant search for new ideas and new solutions: [20] [21] a hymn to complexity to seize challenges and opportunities always under the banner of the art of "work and play" as he stated in his TEDx talk [22] in 2016.

Publications

In 2008 with Oussama Khatib of Stanford University, Siciliano published the Springer Handbook of Robotics ( ISBN   9783540239574), which received the PROSE Award [23] from the American Association of Publishers for Excellence in Physical Sciences & Mathematics. A text that is the result of the coordination work of over 200 world-renowned researchers with the aim of combining the manual dimension with the encyclopedic one. With the second edition of 2016 ( ISBN   9783319325521), the book was among the first to have a multimedia support for direct viewing of videos within the text. [24]

In 2009 with Lorenzo Sciavicco, Luigi Villani and Giuseppe Oriolo he published Robotics, Modeling, Planning and Control ( ISBN   9781846286421), a textbook by Springer now in its third edition and translated into Chinese ( ISBN   9787560557847), Greek ( ISBN   9789603307488) and Italian ( ISBN   9788838663222).

Awards

Siciliano received the IEEE RAS Pioneer in Robotics and Automation Award [25] "for fundamental contributions to robotics research in the areas of manipulation and control, human–robot cooperation, and service robotics" (2024, the Engelberger Award for Education [26] "for contributing to the advancement of the Science of Robotics in the Service of Mankind" (2022). He was awarded the IEEE RAS George Saridis Leadership Award in Robotics and Automation [27] "for his outstanding leadership in the robotics and automation community as a research innovator, an inspired educator, a dedicated contributor of professional service, an ambassador of science and technology" (2015) and the IEEE RAS Distinguished Service Award [28] "for outstanding leadership and commitment in promoting robotics and automation and RAS as the number one Society in the field" (2010). He has also won the Guido Dorso Award for the university section (2015) [29] and the IPE Alumni Award (2008). [30]

Siciliano ranks tenth (second among engineers) on the list of the 90 most influential scientists of the University of Naples Federico II. [31]

Personal life

Siciliano is married, with two sons and a daughter. He is a passionate Napoli fan [32] and also an admirer of rock music, gourmet food and fine wines. [33]

References

  1. ↑ Home Archived 12 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine ICAROS - Interdepartmental Center for Advances in Robotic Surgery
  2. ↑ PRISMA Lab - Projects of Robotics for Industry and Services, Mechatronics and Automation
  3. ↑ "Home-eng". DIETI. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  4. ↑ "Prof. Bruno Siciliano is Honorary Professor of Óbuda University – September 2016". www.icaros.unina.it. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  5. ↑ "PRISMA Lab - Professor Bruno Siciliano is the recipient of the "Rudolf Kálmán Professor Title" at Óbuda University – 30 August 2019". prisma.dieti.unina.it. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  6. ↑ https://www.eu-robotics.net Archived 2 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine EuRobotics - euRobotics AISBL Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif
  7. ↑ I-RIM Archived 2 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines
  8. ↑ http://www.ifrr.org/ifrr-board - International Foundation of Robotics Research
  9. ↑ CREATE Consortium Archived 20 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine C.R.E.A.T.E.– Research Consortium for Energy, Automation and Electromagnetic Technologies
  10. ↑ "Robotics Spotlight on ERC projects" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  11. ↑ Home - EndoTheranostics
  12. ↑ "Robotic Dynamic Manipulation | FP7". CORDIS | European Commission. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  13. ↑ "REFILLS - Robotics Enabling Fully-Integrated Logistics Lines for Supermarkets" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  14. ↑ EuRoC Archived 21 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine - European Robotics Challenge
  15. ↑ https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/216239/it – DEXterous and Autonomous Dual-Arm/Hand Robotic Manipulation with sMART Sensory-Motor Skills: A Bridge from Natural to Artificial Cognition
  16. ↑ ECHORD European Clearing House for Open Robotics Development
  17. 1 2 "Federica Web Learning - LMS: Log in to the site". lms.federica.eu. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  18. ↑ Federica Web Learning [ permanent dead link ] - MOOC Pizza Revolution
  19. ↑ "Industria 4.0". Federica Web Learning (in Italian). Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  20. ↑ keep the gradient Archived 14 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine YouTube PRISMA Lab
  21. ↑ ‘This is the future’: a glimpse into the evolution of robotics with Bruno Siciliano | For Librarians | Springer Nature Archived 13 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine – Springer Nature
  22. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01AZm1GSIgE TEDxNapoli – Robotics & Napoli: The Art of Work & Play
  23. ↑ Springer Handbook of Robotics wins PROSE Award Springer
  24. ↑ "Robotics & The Handbook". YouTube . 11 April 2017. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  25. ↑ "2024 IEEE RAS Award Recipients Announced! - IEEE Robotics and Automation Society". 22 March 2024.
  26. ↑ "Six Robotics Pioneers Win 2022 Engelberger Awards".
  27. ↑ "IEEE-RAS - IEEE RAS George Saridis Leadership Award in Robotics and Automation". Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  28. ↑ "IEEE-RAS - IEEE RAS Distinguished Service Award". Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  29. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  30. ↑ Premio Alumni ipeistituto.it (in Italian) Archived 24 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine
  31. ↑ 90 federiciani tra gli scienziati più importanti al mondo Archived 10 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine UniNa (in Italian)
  32. ↑ "Bruno Siciliano, il padre mondiale della robotica che ha preferito Napoli a Stanford". ilNapolista (in Italian). 3 July 2016. Archived from the original on 9 May 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  33. ↑ I nipoti di Galileo, p. 199, Pietro Greco, Baldini Castoldi Dalai Editore, ISBN   978-88-6620-071-0, 2011 (in Italian)

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.