Awards and Honours

• Invited Speaker, "Innovazione e robotica per l'uomo'', Rotaract Napoli Sud-Ovest, Napoli, Italy, December 2016.
• Panelist, "Robotics and autonomous systems'', 14th International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics, and Vision, Phuket, Thailand, November 2016.
• Keynote Speaker, "Aerial robotic manipulation'', 14th International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics, and Vision, Phuket, Thailand, November 2016.
• Keynote Speaker, "The RoDyMan platform for robotic dynamic manipulation'', Heidelberger Tag der Robotik, Heidelberg, Germany, November 2016.
• Invited Speaker, "Robotics & Napoli: The Art of Work & Play'', TEDx Napoli, Napoli, Italy, September 2016.
• Honorary Professor of Óbuda University, ``For his outstanding achievements in improving and increasing the international quality of education, scientific research and academic activities of Óbuda University'', Óbuda University, Budapest, Hungary, September 2016.
• Invited Lecturer, "Past present and future of robotics applications and challenges'', "Robot interaction control'', DISC Summer School – A Systems and Control Perspective in Human—Robot—Environment Interaction, Zandvoort, The Netherlands, June 2016.
• Invited Speaker, "Industrial robotics in Europe'', Ordine degli Ingegneri di Napoli, Napoli, Italy, May 2016.
• Invited Speaker, "Industrial robotics in Europe: Status quo, ongoing challenges and future prospects'', Re-Industrialisation of the European Union 2016, Bratislava, Slovak Republic, May 2016.
• Invited Speaker, "Robotic Dynamic Manipulation'', Robotics for Assembly, Today and Future Perspective, Parma, Italy, March 2016.
• Panelist, "Envision the future with robots'', Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia, March 2016.
• Invited Speaker, "Robotic dynamic manipulation", International Expert Days 2016, Hausen, Germany, February 2016.
• Invited Speaker, "Robotics @ PRISMA Lab", International Bejczy Day, Budapest, Hungary, January 2016.
• Keynote Speaker, "Vision for robotic manipulation", BMVA Workshop on Visual, Tactile and Force Sensing for Robot Manipulation, London, UK, December 2015.
• Invited Speaker, "Roboter, die dem Menschen immer ähnlicher werden", Festival Geist Heidelberg 2015, Heidelberg, Germany, December 2015.
• Keynote Speaker, "Amico Robot: il sogno di creare macchine abili e intelligenti come noi", Congresso Nazionale di Futurologia, Naples, Italy, November 2015.
• 36th Guido Dorso Award for the section `University', Associazione Internazionale Guido Dorso, Rome, Italy, October 2015.
• Invited Speaker, "From pizza to the care of humans, the ability of RoDyMan", Robofood 2015, Milan, Italy, October 2015.
• Keynote Speaker, "Amico Robot: il sogno di creare macchine abili e intelligenti come noi", Science 2 Day, Pula, Italy, October 2015.
• Keynote Speaker, "Industrial robotics in Europe — Status quo, ongoing challenges and future prospects", 14th International Conference on Intelligent Software Methodologies, Tools and Techniques, Naples, Italy, September 2015.
• Keynote Speaker, "Robotic dynamic manipulation", 2015 IEEE International Workshop on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts, Lyon, France, July 2015.
• Keynote Speaker, "Mobile industrial robotics in Europe — Status quo, ongoing challenges and future prospects", Mobile robotter i produktionsindustri, Odense, Denmark, July 2015.
• 2015 IEEE RAS George Saridis Leadership Award in Robotics and Automation, "For his outstanding leadership in the robotics and automation community as a research innovator, an inspired educator, a dedicated contributor of professional service, an ambassador of science and technology", IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, Seattle, WA, May 2015.
• Panelist, "Arte & Impresa --- Innovatori a Palazzo", Fondazione Premio Napoli, Naples, Italy, February 2015.
• Panelist, "New Frontiers of Robotics", International Colloquium Dedicated to the 8th Birthday of Antal K. Bejczy: Robotics in the XXI Century, Budapest, Hungary, February 2015.
• Invited Speaker, "Strengthening industry--academia cooperation: Challenges and opportunities for European service robotics", 3rd Italian Business Forum, Ljubljana, Slovenia, February 2015.
• Keynote Speaker, "Vision for robotic manipulation", Puresafe Final Conference, Genčve, Switzerland, January 2015.
• Keynote Speaker, "Postural synergies for human-like grasping and manipulation with anthropomorphic hands", Convegno Annuale AISC--CODISCO, Rome, Italy, December 2014.
• Keynote Speaker, "Vision for robotic manipulation", One Day BMVA Symposium, London, UK, December 2014.
• Keynote Speaker, "Neuroscienze e robotica", III Congresso Congiunto LIMPE/DISMOV-SIN, Salerno, Italy, November 2014.
• Keynote Speaker, "Robotic dynamic manipulation", GDR Robotique 2014, Paris, France, October 2014.
• Keynote Speaker, "Grasping and control of multi-fingered hands", 2nd RSI International Conference on Robotics and Mechatronics, Tehran, Iran, October 2014.
• IEEE RAS Distinguished Ambassador Seminar, "Controlling interaction between robots and humans", IEEE IES/RAS Hungary Joint Chapter, Budapest, Hungary, September 2014.
• Plenary Speaker, "Grasping and control of multi-fingered hands", Austrian Robotics Workshop, Linz, Austria, May 2014.
• Plenary Speaker, "Grasping and control of multi-fingered hands", 1st Iberian Robotics Conference, Madrid, Spain, November 2013.
• Plenary Speaker, "Grasping and control of multi-fingered hands", 24th International Conference on Information, Communication and Automation Technology, Sarajevo, Bosnia–Herzegovina, November 2013.
• Invited Lecturer, "Grasping and control of multi-fingered hands", Xperience Summer School, Cala Millor, Spain, October 2013.
• Invited Lecturer, "Grasping and control of multi-fingered hands", Puresafe Summer School, Darmstadt, Germany, September 2013.
• IEEE RAS Distinguished Ambassador, "Robots moving closer to humans", IEEE CSS/IAS/IES/PELS/RAS/VTS Argentina Joint Chapter, Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 2013.
• IEEE RAS Distinguished Ambassador, "Robots moving closer to humans", IEEE RAS Egypt Chapter, Cairo, Egypt, January 2013.
• Plenary Speaker, "Robot interaction control using force and vision", 2012 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation, Chengdu, P.R. China, August 2012.
• Invited Speaker, "Grasping and control of multifingered hands", International Expert Days 2012, Hausen, Germany, February/March 2012.
• Invited Speaker, "Strengthening industry–academia cooperation: Challenges and opportunities for European service robotics", Taller de Robótica de Servicio, Bilbao, Spain, December 2011.
• Invited Speaker, "Grasping and control of multifingered hands", International Expert Days 2012, Hausen, Germany, February/March 2012.
• Invited Speaker, "Perspectives and future of robotics", Symposium on Challenges in Robotics: Down to Earth, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, November 2011.
• Keynote Speaker, "Robots moving closer to humans", 4th International Workshop on Human-Friendly Robotics, Enschede, The Netherlands, November 2011.
• Keynote Speaker, "Robots moving closer to humans", 8th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics, Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, July 2011.
• Keynote Speaker, "Robots moving closer to humans", 11th International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics, and Vision, Singapore, December 2010.
• Panelist, "Control — The Present and The Future", 11th International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics, and Vision, Singapore, December 2010.
• Plenary Speaker, "Interaction control for robots cooperating with humans", 7th International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots and Ambient Intelligence, Busan, Korea, November 2010.
• Keynote Speaker, "Force and visual control for safe human–robot interaction", Symposium on Brain, Body and Machine, Montréal, Canada, November 2010.
• Invited Speaker, "I robot: sogno e bisogno della vita quotidiana", Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Montréal, Canada, November 2010.
• Keynote Speaker, "Robots moving closer to humans", International Mediterranean and Latin American Modelling Multiconference 2010, Fes, Morocco, October 2010.
• Plenary Speaker, "Tightening the chord between academia and industry for European robotics", 9th Portuguese Conference on Automatic Control, Coimbra, Portugal, September 2010.
• Plenary Speaker, "Robot interaction control using force and vision", 2010 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, Montréal, Canada, July 2010.
• Invited Lecturer, "Robot force control", International Summer School on Robotics, Dubrovnik, Croatia, June 2010.
• Invited Speaker, "Robots moving closer to humans", Eurobot Conference 2010, Rapperswil, Switzerland, May 2010.
• Invited Speaker, "I robot: sogno e bisogno della vita quotidiana", Societŕ Elettrica Sopracenerina, Locarno, Switzerland, May 2010.
• IEEE RAS Distinguished Service Award, "For outstanding leadership and commitment in promoting robotics and automation and RAS as the number one Society in the field", Anchorage, Alaska, May 2010.
• Invited Speaker, "Fast visual grasp of unknown objects with a multi-fingered hand", International Expert Days 2010, Hausen, Germany, February 2010.
• Invited Speaker, "L'era della robotica", Futuro Remoto 2009, Napoli, Italy, November 2009.
• Invited Speaker, "Roboter!", Wissenschaft beim Göttinger Literaturherbst, Göttingen, Germany, October 2009.
• Invited Speaker, "Robot: sogno e bisogno", Come alla Corte di Federico II, Napoli, Italy, May 2009.
• Election to IFAC Fellow, "For outstanding contributions to research and education on theory and application of automatic control to robotic systems, and for professional leadership in the field", May 2009.
• PROSE Awards for Excellence in Physical Sciences & Mathematics, and for Engineering & Technology, Springer Handbook of Robotics, American Association of Publishers, Washington, DC, February 2009.
• Invited Speaker, "What robots sense and do", ICT 2008, Session: Sensing, Understanding Robotics, Lyon, France, November 2008.
• Plenary Speaker, "The importance of close collaboration between academia and industry — Successful examples from recent years and future challenges", IEEE/IFR Joint Forum on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Robotics and Automation, München, Germany, June 2008.
• Award of IPE Alumni Association, Napoli, Italy, June 2008.
• Invited Speaker, "DEXterous and autonomous dual-arm/hand robotic manipulation with sMART sensory-motor skills: A bridge from natural to artificial cognition", 2008 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Tutorial: Is human-like dexterous manipulation within our robotic grasp?, Pasadena, California, May 2008.
• Invited Speaker, "DEXterous and autonomous dual-arm/hand robotic manipulation with sMART sensory-motor skills: A bridge from natural to artificial cognition", International Conference on Cognitive Systems (CogSys 2008), Karlsruhe, Germany, April 2008.
• Invited Speaker, "Robotica per la sicurezza: problematiche di ricerca, evoluzione dei sistemi e prospettive del settore", Forum Expo Safety & Security, Roma, Italy, October 2007.
• Invited Lecturer, "Robot force control", International Master on Robotics, Università di Genova, DIMEC, Genova, Italy, February 2007.
• Invited Speaker, "Force and visual control for physical human-robot interaction", International Symposium on Advanced Robotics and Machine Intelligence, Beijing, China, October 2006.
• Invited Speaker, "The future of robotics in medicine and health", 22nd Annual Meeting of the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe, Rome, Italy, September 2006.
• Invited Speaker, "Toward future robotics", New Trends in Automation and Industrial IT '06, Västerĺs, Sweden, September 2006.
• Invited Speaker, "Force and visual control for physical human-robot interaction", Workshop CASY on Advances in Control Theory and Applications, Bertinoro, Italy, May 2006.
• Invited Lecturer, "Robot interaction control", Doctorate Course in “Automática y Robótica”, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, ETSII, Depto. de Automática, Ingenieria Electrónica e Informática Industrial, Madrid, Spain, February 2006.
• Election to IEEE Robotics and Automation Society President-Elect, October 2005.
• Plenary Speaker, "Robotics for medical innovation and technology", 17th International Conference of Society for Medical Innovation and Technology, Naples, Italy, September 2005.
• Appointment as IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Distinguished Lecturer, May 2004.
• Invited Lecturer, "Interaction control", Course on Robotics, Prof. Yoshihiko Nakamura, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, November 2003.
• Invited Speaker, "Research experience on service and rescue robotics", Workshop on Research on Humanoid, Service and Rescue Robots in Italy and in Japan, Tokyo, Japan, November 2003.
• Election to ASME Fellow, December 2002.
• Advisor of Gianluca Antonelli's doctorate thesis: ex-aequo winner, and of Ciro Natale's doctorate thesis: finalist, EURON Ph.D. Thesis Award, Pisa, Italy, February 2002.
• Panelist, "A new generation of robots – New tasks for control", 6th IFAC Symposium on Robot Control, Wien, Austria, September 2000.
• Master Class Tutorial, "Force control", European Advanced Robotics Systems Masterclass and Conference – Robotics 2000, Salford, UK, April 2000.
• Election to IEEE Fellow, "For contributions to dynamic modeling and control of robotic systems and for leadership in robotics education", January 2000.
• Invited Speaker, "Robot force control", Workshop on Industrial Robotics, Lisboa, Portugal, November 1999.
• Plenary Speaker, "On the use of quaternions for robot interaction control tasks", 5th International Symposium on Methods and Models in Automation and Robotics, Miedzyzdroje, Poland, August 1998.
• Master Class Tutorial, "Force control", European Advanced Robotics Systems Masterclass and Conference – Robotics 2000, Salford, UK, April 2000.
• Invited Tutorial, "Robot manipulator interaction with the environment: force and motion control", 5th IFAC Symposium on Robot Control, Nantes, France, September 1997.
• Advisor of Ciro Natale, whose Laurea thesis received the UCIMU National Award for the best thesis of the section "Robot Design and Applications'', Milano, Italy, December 1996.
• Invited Tutorial, "Force-motion control of robot manipulators", 2nd World Automation Congress, Montpellier, France, May 1996.
• Consultant, Directorate General XII Science, Research and Development – Directorate C: Industrial and Materials Technologies, European Commission, 1996–1998.
• Panelist, "Relevance of dynamic models in analysis and synthesis of control laws for flexible manipulators", 9th CISM-IFToMM Symposium on Theory and Practice of Robots and Manipulators – Round Table: The Role of Dynamic Control in Contemporary and Tomorrow's Robotics, Udine, Italy, September 1992.
• Requested letters of recommendation for tenure, promotion to associate and full professor, fellowship/award of more than 40 foreign scholars, 1992–pres.
• Grantee of a Science and Technology Agency (STA) Fellowship to spend an 18-month research activity period at a Japanese institution: declined, September 1989.
• Best Presentation Award for Session TA4 "Control of Motion Systems" at 1988 American Control Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, June 1988.
• Jean Vertut National Award for the best paper published on Robotics by an Italian scholar under 35, December 1986.
• Grantee of an ESA Research Fellowship to spend a 1-year research activity period (with possible 1-year renewal) at the European Space Research and Technology Center (ESTEC), Spacecraft Technology Department: declined, March 1986
• Grantee of a NATO Research Fellowship (Sensory Systems for Robotic Control Panel) to spend a period of research activity on "Adaptive control for light-weight flexible robotic arms" at the Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Mechanical Engineering, 1985–1986.