Born (December 15, 1949) in Bologna, Italy, he got his Laurea degree (1973) in Mechanical Engineering cum laude at the University of Bologna, and the licence for engineering profession. Assistant Professor of Mechanics of Machines (MM) at the University of Bologna (1974). Military service (1974-75). Associate Professor of MM, (1980). Married with Anna Maria Berti (1982). Full professor of MM (1989).
He has thought courses and advised many Laurea Thesis (Master Thesis) in the field of Mechanics and Biomechanics (University of Bologna, Mogadiscio, Della Calabria, Salerno, Ferrara, Shanghai, Kazakhstan). Advisor of more than 20 PhD Italian and foreign candidates. In 1994-2017 Coordinator of the Ph.D Program in MM at the University of Bologna. In 1996-1999 Chairman of Curriculum for the Mechanical Engineering Laurea degree. In years 2000-2006 Deputy Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department (DIEM), University of Bologna. Since 2005 member of the Advisory Board of the Italian Group of Mechanics of Machines. In 2010-2014 Representative member of the Research Observatory of the University of Bologna for the area Industrial Engineering and Automation. Since 2010 Representative of CISM (International Centre for Mechanical Sciences) in IFToMM. In 2010-2018 visiting professor at Tongji University, Shanghai. Main responsible of many funded projects by the National Science Council, by the Ministry of Education and Technology, by INAIL (Istituto Nazionale Assistenza Infortuni sul Lavoro), by ESA. (European Spatial Agency), and by ITT (Italian Institute of Technology). Member of International Research evaluation Committees.
He authored and co-authored more than 350 scientific publications on the following topics: gas lubrication of journal bearings, methods of machine design, fault diagnosis and monitoring of gears, automated systems for milking machines methods for the kinematic and dynamic analysis of open and closed kinematic chains and robot manipulators, biomechanics. Inventor of four patents on parallel mechanisms and articular prostheses.
Some papers published in international journals have been reported in Applied Mechanics Reviews, in ISMEC, in Advances in Robot Kinematics, Kluwer Academic Publishers, and in Kinematics of Robot Manipulators, edited by J. M. McCarthy, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Research partners: National and International Research Institutions and Universities (Italy, Slovenia, UK, USA, New Zealand, Japan, Tunisia, Germany, Spain, Canada, France, China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Australia).
He has received awards (National Federation of the Knights of Work, 1975), and grants (Fulbright, (1982) and CNR (1983)). Best paper award at IFToMM 2007 World International Congress. D’AURIA Prize 2009 for the best rehabilitation robotic device (human upper arm prosthesis). 2018 IFToMM Dedicated Service Award.
Invited lecturer at several Universities (Lubljana, Seoul, Chicago, Florida, Stanford, Chemnitz, Lodz, Haifa, Shanghai, Beijing, Leuven, Tel Aviv, Almaty, Baku, Changzhou, Adelaide, Twente, Daegu, Denver, Busan, Chongqing, Nanjing, Sheffield, Khalifa (Abu Dhabi), Changsha).
Co-Chair and co-editor of national (Giornate di Studio Ettore Funaioli 2007-2018) and international conference Proceedings (ARK 1992, 1996, and 2018, Workshop on Gear Mechanics (Chicago) 2009, Romansy 2010 and 2016). Editor-in-Chief of the Intl Journal Meccanica, Springer Publishers (2004-2012). Since 2004 member of the Lombardo Institute-Academy of Sciences and Literature. Since 1995 member of the Technical Committee on Robot and Manipulators of IFToMM. Chair of Permanent Commission on Publications of IFTOMM (2001-2005 and 2006-2010). Since 2011 member of the Technical Committee on Biomechanics of IFToMM. IFToMM Italy Chair (2009-2013). Since 2002 Associate Member of the Jozef Stefan Institute of Lubljana. Associate Editor of the international journal Mechanism and Machine Theory (2005-2015). Since 2010 representative of CISM (International Centre for Mechanical Sciences) in IFToMM. Since 2011 member of the Academy of Sciences of Bologna. Since 2012 member of the Scientific Committee of the College of China. Since 2012 member of the Editorial Board of the TWMS (Turkic World Mathematical Society) Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics. Since 2016 Member of the Honorary Advisory Board of the international journal Mechanism and Machine Theory, Elsevier Publisher. Since 2016 member of the EU Academy of Sciences (EUAS).
Chairman of scientific sessions at International Conferences. Reviewer for national and international journals (Journal of Mechanical Design, ASME Transactions, Mechanism and Machine Theory, Journal of Robotic Systems, The International Journal of Robotics Research, IEEE Transactions, Meccanica, Robotica, Journal of Biomechanics, etc). Member of Scientific and Organizing Committees of International Conferences.