Profile

[Download my full CV in pdf - last update November 2006]

[Download my short Resume (2 pages) in pdf - last update May 2007]

My Orientation

When I was still a high school student I already developed and sold software applications to small companies. Before the end of my degree in Computer Science I also had the opportunity to work as web developer for one of the early e-commerce initiatives in Italy. Already in these early experiences I developed three main beliefs that I have then better defined thanks to the experience I have gathered in research and consulting projects: developing good quality software is not a trivial task (as someone try to sell); understanding what a software system should do to make happy both clients and users is even harder; developing high quality complex software systems in time and cost effective fashion requires engineering methods support but practitioners often find it hard to fully adopt such methods.
Drawing on these points, in my activity I pursue two main interrelated objectives: (1) investigate how to define effective and acceptable (by practitioners) analysis and design methods; (2) apply state of the art requirements analysis and design methods (with special focus on user centered and usable design) to cutting-edge software systems in complex domains such as cancer research and biomedicine.

Briefly about my research and professional experiences

Since October 2005 I am a Research Fellow at the Department of Computer Science, University College London where I am a member of the SSE (Software System Engineering) group. In UCL I am working with Prof. Anthony Finkelstein on requirements analysis, architecture and user interaction models for large scale integrative systems in the biomedical domain and in particular focusing on the cancer research. In this research I am cooperating with the NCRI (National Cancer Research Institute) and EBI (European Bioinformatics Centre) in the UK and the caBIG initiative at the NCI (National Cancer Institute) in the US.

From January 2001 to 2005 I was at the Department of Electronic and Information, Polytechnic of Milan (Italy) as PhD student first and as Senior Researcher at the HOC (Hypermedia Open Center) laboratory afterwards. In HOC I carried out research on design methods for multi-channel Web applications and on usability inspection methods for Web applications. I have been also involved in several National and European research projects and I have been the unit coordinator for two of them.

Between 2001 and 2005 I have also been involved as consultant in several projects in the e-banking, e-financing, insurance and museum domains as requirements engineer, usability expert and information architect. A list of firms I have been working for is reported in my CV (download my CV).

Qualifications


2004	PhD in Information Engineering (Computer Science), Department of Electronic and Information, Polytechnic of Milan (Italy). Major thesis title Conceptual modelling for Multi-Channel Web applications, supervisor: Prof. Paolo Paolini (Polytechnic of Milan). Minor thesis title: A Wish list for Requirements Engineering for Nowadays Information Systems, supervisor: Prof. Chiara Francalanci (Polytechnic of Milan). (March 2001 – April 2004).
2001	Chartered Engineer, Institution of Engineers, Italy. (January 2001).
2000	Laurea Degree in Information Engineering, Department of Innovation Engineering, Engineering Faculty, University of Lecce (Italy). Thesis title: “User Centered Design for Web applications”. Supervisors: Prof. Paolo Paolini (Polytechnic of Milan and University of Lecce). Vote: 110/110 cum laude.