The 10 experts of the Regional Forum for Research and Innovation 2023-2025

The members of the second edition of the Regional Forum for Research and Innovation, called upon to support the Lombardy Region in policy-making on R&I-related topics, have been selected and appointed.

The 10 experts, some working in universities abroad, will together form the independent body, which will have advisory, propositional and informative functions.

The regional forum has a three-year term of office. The new experts have taken office as of 1 January 2023.

To get to know the members of the first Forum click here.

The Forum is one of the instruments envisaged by Regional Law 29/2016 “Lombardia è Ricerca e Innovazione” (Lombardy is Research and Innovation), and one of its objectives is to foster a Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) approach: an approach capable of involving citizens in R&I policies and taking into account the potential social impacts of technological innovation.

The members of the Regional Forum were selected by a technical assessment committee from among candidates with highly qualified profiles in the fields of science, social sciences and humanities, with expertise in particular in the relationship between technology, science and society.

Here are the 10 selected experts:

1. Emanuele Carpanzano - SUPSI (Switzerland)

Director of Research, Development and Knowledge Transfer at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland - SUPSI (CH); Member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW) and the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP); Member of the boards of the CLC South of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology for Manufacturing (EIT-M) and of the Competence Centres of Switzerland Innovation Park Ticino.

2. Lucilla Crosta - University of Liverpool (UK)

University lecturer at the University of Liverpool in the international doctorate course in Education, specialising in the field of technologies supporting educational systems; CEO of Smarthink Srl, a start-up active in the field of distance learning, she has taken part in several European research projects.

3. Cristina Grasseni - Leiden University (The Netherlands)

Full Professor at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology at Leiden University after a PhD in Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester, she is an expert in social anthropology, Smart Cities orientation and inclusivity and an appointed member of the European Research Council of the ANVUR (National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research) Advisory Board.

4. Michèle Lavagna - Polytechnic University of Milan

Lecturer at the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology of the Polytechnic University of Milan and national expert for the MUR in Cluster 4, Digital Industry and Space; she is regional contact person for the robotics area to the National Aerospace Technology Cluster, member of the Italian Space Agency's Scientific and Technical Committee, member of the European Space Agency's Advisory Group for Human and Robotic Exploration.

5. Pierangelo Metrangolo - Polytechnic University of Milan

Lecturer in Chemical Foundations of Technologies at the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta” of the Polytechnic University of Milan, he is also responsible for NANOMEDLAB - Laboratory of Nanomedicine and SBNLab (Laboratory of Supramolecular and Bio-Nanomaterials). He is the winner of two European Research Council (ERC) awards.

6. Davide Pandini - STMicroelectronics

A technical director and STMicroelectronics Fellow, an expert in electronic engineering and telecommunications (he has a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Pandini is a member of the European Commission's working group on new advanced materials. He is also one of the five Italian Chartered Market Technicians (CMT) recognised by the CMT Association.

7. Riccardo Pietrabissa - IUSS Pavia

Since 2019 Rector of the Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori (IUSS) in Pavia, an expert in the field of industrial bio-engineering and intellectual property, since 2001 he has been a professor at the Polytechnic University of Milan, where he set up and until 2006 directed the patent office and the technology transfer office (TTO). He is Vice-President of the Scientific Council of the CNR and since 2016 President of the Eucentre Foundation.

8. Danilo Porro - CNR

An expert in Biotechnology, with various collaborations in industry, he is Director of the Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology (IBFM) of the CNR. He is the National Representative of Cluster 6 of the Horizon Europe Programme 2021-2027. He was also pro-rector for Research Enhancement at the University of Milano-Bicocca for six years.

9. Alessandro Reali - University of Pavia

A specialist in various fields of engineering (including numerical simulation, structural and material mechanics, biomechanics), a Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, he is a full professor and director of the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture at the University of Pavia. Responsible for numerous national and international research projects, including one from the European Research Council - ERC.

10. Tullio Antonio Maria Tolio - Polytechnic University of Milan

Full professor at the Department of Mechanics at the Polytechnic University of Milan, former director of the Institute of Industrial Technologies and Automation (ITIA) of the CNR, he is Chairman of the Technical Scientific Committee (STC) of the national cluster “Intelligent Factory” and of the regional cluster “Associazione Fabbrica Intelligente Lombardia - AFIL” (Lombardy Intelligent Factory Association), member of the MISE (Ministry of Economic Development) Industrial Policy Expert Panel, expert of the national delegation of the Horizon Europe Cluster IV Programme Committee for the MUR (Ministry for Universities and Research).

The public call for the selection of experts

In response to the public call, launched by the Lombardy Region from 31 January to 31 March 2022 for the selection of the Forum's experts, no less than 92 applications (of which 87 were valid) had been received from subjects with internationally prominent profiles.

The appointment of the 10 experts was decided by the Regional Council on 21 November 2022.

Attached is the resolution establishing the Regional Forum for Research and Innovation.

This and other documents are available on the webpage of the 2023-2025 edition of the Regional Forum for Research and Innovation, at this link.