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Isabella Fiorello

Post Doc
Bioinspired Soft Robotics
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About

Isabella Fiorello is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Bioinspired Soft Robotics Laboratory of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa (Italy). She received a Master's Degree in Industrial Biotechnology (with honors) from the University of Turin, in April 2017. In June 2021, she obtained a PhD in Biorobotics (with honors) from Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa. In 2022, she spent a period as a guest scientist at the University of Freiburg (Germany). She received several awards at the national and international level, including the prestigious award "Young Researcher of the Year - ENI Award 2022". Since October 2019, she is a National Geographic Explorer with a project titled “A climbing plant-inspired microrobotic system network for remote vineyard monitoring and conservation.” Her research aimed at the development of bioinspired smart materials and miniaturized soft robots for unstructured environments. During her PhD, she developed microfabricated adhesives with climbing plant-inspired microhooks for reversible anchoring to textiles, skin and plant leaves tissues. These microhooks were successfully used for climbing robot applications and for on-leaf localized sensing and delivery of plant treatments (e. g. pesticides), opening new scenarios of applications in soft robotics and precision agriculture fields.


Education

Title: Master's Degree in Industrial Biotechnology
Institute: Università degli Studi di Torino
Location: Torino
Country: Italy
From: 2014 To: 2017

Title: PhD in Biorobotics
Institute: Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
Location: Pisa
Country: Italy
From: 2017 To: 2021

Title: Bachelor's Degree in Molecular Biology
Institute: Università degli Studi di Torino
Location: Torino
Country: Italy
From: 2011 To: 2014

All Publications
2022
Fiorello I., Margheri L., Filippeschi C., Mazzolai B.
3D micromolding of seed-like probes for self-burying soft robots
2022 IEEE 5th International Conference on Soft Robotics, RoboSoft 2022, pp. 255-260
Conference Paper Conference
2022
Fiorello I., Mazzolai B.
Bioinspired microhooked patches for targeted delivery of molecules in plant leaves
4th Italian Conference in Robotics and Intelligent Machines (I-RIM)
Conference Paper Conference
2022
Fiorello I., Mondini A., Meder F., Mazzolai B.
Climbing plant-like miniature machines for improving natural ecosystems preservation
2022 MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit, Honolulu (Hawaii, USA)
Conference Paper Conference
2021
Fiorello I., Mondini A., Mazzolai B.
Biomechanical characterization of hook-climber stems for soft robotic applications
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 12413 LNAI, pp. 97-103
Conference Paper Book Series
2021
Mazzolai B., Mariani S., Ronzan M., Cecchini L., Fiorello I., Cikalleshi K., Margheri L.
Morphological Computation in Plant Seeds for a New Generation of Self-Burial and Flying Soft Robots
Frontiers Robotics AI, vol. 8
Oral presentations
2022
Fiorello I., Mondini A., Meder F., Mazzolai B.
Climbing plant-like miniature machines for improving natural ecosystems preservation
2022 MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit, Honolulu (Hawaii, USA)
Conference
2019
Fiorello I., Meder F., Tricinci O., Filippeschi C., Mazzolai B.
Rose-Inspired Micro-device with Variable Stiffness for Remotely Controlled Release of Objects in Robotics
8th Int. Conf. on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems, Living Machines 2019
Conference
2018
Fiorello I., Tricinci O., Mishra A.K., Tramacere F., Filippeschi C., Mazzolai B.
Artificial system inspired by climbing mechanism of galium aparine fabricated via 3D laser lithography
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 10928 LNAI, pp. 168-178
Book Series
Awards and Achievements
2022
Fiorello I.
DAAD - Short Term Research Grant
2022
Fiorello I., Meder F., Mazzolai B.
Pre-acceleration startup program - Bocconi4innovation (B4i)
2022
Fiorello I.
Young Researcher of the Year - ENI Award 2022
2021
Fiorello I., Mondini A., Meder F., Mazzolai B.
Finalist at Agrobiodiversity Innovation Challenge
2020
Fiorello I., Mondini A., Mazzolai B.
2nd Best Poster Award at Living Machines 2020, International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid System, Freiburg (online edition), 28-30 July 2020 with the work: "Biomechanical Characterization of Hook-Climber Stems for Soft Robotic Applications".
Editorships
2022
Fiorello I., Meder F.
Biosensors