Filippo Sanfilippo, Professor, IEEE Senior Member

Filippo Sanfilippo received a B.Sc. degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Catania, Italy, in 2009, and an M.Sc. degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Siena, Italy, in 2011. In 2015, he received a Ph.D. in Engineering Cybernetics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway, with Professor Kristin Ytterstad Pettersen (Department of Engineering Cybernetics, NTNU) as main supervisor.

From 2015 to 2017, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Engineering Cybernetics, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway. He was involved with the research project "Control Strategies for Snake Robot Locomotion in Challenging Outdoor Environments (SNAKE)", funded by the Norwegian Research Council. This project aimed at developing new methods and tools to control snake robots for use in challenging real-life operations, in earthquake-hit areas, pipe inspection for oil and gas industry, fire-fighting and search and rescue operations.

From January 2018 to May 2019, he was appointed as an Associate Professor in Software and System Engineering for Robotics Applications at the Dept. of Science and Industry Systems, Faculty of Technology, Natural Sciences and Maritime Sciences, University of Southeast Norway (USN).

From May 2019 to December 2021, he was appointed as an Associate Professor and promoted as Full Professor in December 2021 at the Department of Engineering Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Science, University of Agder (UiA), Grimstad, Norway. Since August 2019, he also hold a 20% position as Professor II in Robotics and Control Theory at the Dept. of Mechanical, Electronics and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Art and Design, Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet), Oslo.

He carries a vast experience in participating to European research programs and various national projects from the Research Council of Norway (RCN), Norway. He is an IEEE Senior Member. He is currently the Membership Development Officer for the IEEE Norway Section. He is also the Chair of the IEEE Robotics and Automation, Control Systems and Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Chapter. He is also the Treasurer of the Norsk Forening for Kunstig Intelligens (NAIS), the Norwegian Association for Artificial Intelligence. He has authored and co-authored several technical papers in various journals and conferences. He is a reviewer for several international conferences and journals.

The main topics of his research include alternative control algorithms for maritime cranes or robotic manipulators, control methods for modular grasping robots or other biologically inspired robots, assessment of risk and situational awareness, wearable haptics. His activity includes a combination of machine learning, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, control engineering and software engineering with an eye to human factors. He specialised in creating physical or virtual prototypes and experimentation with assorted user experience applications. Some of these applications involve the use of haptic devices, actuators and wearable sensors. Different software architectures, frameworks and simulation environments have been created during his research activity for different purposes. Most of these applications are developed by using object oriented programming and based on open-source software and hardware. Strict multi-threading criteria are applied to meet demanding real-time requirements.

Beyond his research, he has been fortunate to obtain a wide-range of teaching experiences including the topics of Embedded Systems, Modelling and Simulation, Real-Time Computer Programming and Mechatronics at both bachelor and master levels, at NTNU, USN and UiA. Several student projects and theses have been supervised. His teaching philosophy is to foster a studying environment that promotes enthusiasm, life-long learning, connection to the real world, organised study, student and teacher accountability and confidence building. He tries every angle and every strategy to help students learn and succeed.

Besides, he is also running a software development and IT consulting company called Inspitivity. This company provides a vaste portfolio of products and services varying from iOS and Android apps developing to website and CMS design with an eye to robotics. He has matured a proficient knowledge in developing mobile applications for different platforms. His experience includes coding and software design, wire-framing and design mockups, graphic design, social network integration, project design and specification documentation. For example, he recently developed some applications for Leth Suez Transit Ltd AS (Norway) and for OCS Onsoft Computer Systems (Norway).

He is fluent in the different programming languages including C, C++, Java, Objective-C, PHP, Python, Matlab/Simulink, several scripting languages and others. He is also proficient with the following environments: Arduino/micro:bit microcontrollers, Unix, Windows and Mac OS. He likes to learn new languages but, most of all, he is passionate about using them to bring new ideas to life.