WORK EXPERIENCE
2022 - Current Associate Professor
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Aerospaziale, “La Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy
2019 - 2021 Assistant Professor (tenure-track)
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Aerospaziale, “La Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy
2016 - 2018 Research Scientist (off-campus at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD)
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
2013 - 2016 PostDoctoral Associate (off-campus at NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD)
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
EDUCATION
2009 - 2013 PhD in Aerospace Engineering
“La Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy
2007 - 2009 Master of Science in Astronautical Engineering (with honors)
“La Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy
HONOURS AND AWARDS
2018 Rita Levi Montalcini Award for Young Researchers by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR)
2017 Planetary Science (690) Division Peer Award at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD.
SUPERVISION OF UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS
2020 5 M.Sc. students and 1 Ph.D. student of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, “La Sapienza”, University of Rome, Rome, Italy
2019 2 M.Sc. students of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, “La Sapienza”, University of Rome, Rome, Italy
TEACHING APPOINTMENTS
2020 – Current 3 CFU of the course "Sistemi per l'esplorazione spaziale" for B.Sc. students in Aerospace Engineering. “La Sapienza”, University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
2019 – Current Space Robotic Systems. Course for M.Sc. students in Astronautical and Space Engineering. “La Sapienza”, University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
2019 - 2020 3 CFU of the course Space Missions and Systems for M.Sc. students in Astronautical and Space Engineering focused on spacecraft attitude determination and control. “La Sapienza”, University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
2019 Probability Theory and Statistics in Aerospace Engineering. Course for PhD students in Aerospace Engineering. “La Sapienza”, University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
RESEARCH PROJECTS
2020 - Current Co-Investigator of the Gravity/Radio Science team of the NASA mission Europa Clipper.
2020 - Current Co-Investigator of the Gravity Science team of the ESA mission EnVision.
2020 - Current Co-Investigator of the MORE science team of the ESA mission BepiColombo.
2020 - Current Co-Investigator of the 3GM science team of the ESA mission JUICE.
2019 - Current Co-chair of the Geodesy and Geophysics Working Group of the ESA/JAXA mission BepiColombo
2017 - 2018 PI of the project: "Solar System Planetary Geodesy Research" funded by NASA.
2013 - 2018 Membership in the NASA GRAIL and Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) teams.
2013 - 2018 Membership in the Radio Science Investigation team of the mission MRO.
2013 - 2015 Membership in the Radio Science and Mercury Laser Altimeter teams of the mission MESSENGER.
CONVENER OF SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS
2019 Co-convener of the session “Planetary Dynamics I: Shape, Gravity, Orbit, Tides, and Rotation from Observations and Models” joint European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) - Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS), Geneva, Switzerland, 15-20 September.
2017 Co-convener and chairman of the session “At the Edge of Planetary Geodesy” American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, New Orleans, LA, USA, 11-15 December.
2015 Co-convener and chairman of the session “Planetary Geodesy” American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA, 14-18 December.
INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
2019 – Current Member of the Topical Team in the ESA’s Science Programme Voyage 2050, European Space Agency.
COMMUNICATION AND INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
Research activities reported on the following NASA press releases:
1) Mercury’s Spin and Gravity reveals the Planet’s Solid Inner Core (2019). https://
www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/mercurys-spin-and-gravity-reveals-the-planets-inner-solid-core.
2) Solar System Expansion and Strong Equivalence Principle as seen by the MESSENGER mission (2018).https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/nasa-team-studies-middle- aged-sun-by-tracking-motion-of-mercury.
3) Latest high-resolution gravity map of Mars, which was selected as one of the best science stories of the NASA GSFC of the year. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/ 2016/mars-gravity-map.