Robot developer, ambassador, coach and AI expert
We met Vincenzo Polizzi, a student from Canicattì (Agrigento), in the spring of 2016. He was part of the first team of digital ambassadors for Project Make: Learn: Share: Europe, implemented as part of the European Erasmus Plus Programme’s Forward Looking Cooperation Projects Action.
As an adolescent, Vincenzo loved chess, but also sports, such as football and swimming. In fifth grade, he assembled his first robot, an I-Droid 01. In sixth grade, he published his firs iOS app and by eighth grade he had begun using Arduino.
His educational career crossed paths various times with the Fondazione Mondo Digitale. Thanks to his passion for computer science and electronics, in 2016, he represented his school (Liceo scientifico Sciascia di Canicattì) at the RomeCup (Explorer Category). For his state exam, he wrote a thesis on “Machines: An Evolution of Mankind?” showing how artificial intelligence algorithms can simulate human behaviour. As part of his thesis, he developed a robot that was capable of recognising colours and answer questions via a speech-to-text module.
He participated in the Global Junior Challenge 2017 (“Up to 29 Years Old” Category) with Project Monumenta, an application for the cultural promotion of small towns, becoming an IT Advisor to the Mayor. His app was adopted by the towns of Burgio and Naro. In 2018, he accompanied the second delegation of #MLSEurope digital ambassadors to Sheffield.
He has a degree in automation from the Milan Polytechnic University. During his university career, he worked as a coach for Project Ambizione Italia for Youth. The motto on his profile is Non exiguum temporis habemus, sed multum perdidimus.
Last week, he graduated from the Zurich Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, the Zurich Polytechnic University, one of the most prestigious research centres worldwide, completing another milestone in his educational career.
“Studying at ETH allowed me to meet many brilliant people and exend my horizons,” he has written on his LinkedIn Profile. “I am also enthusiastic about sharing the results of my thesis, conducted at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Robotics and Perception Group, which were accepted for the International Conference on Robotics and Intelligent Systems (IROS 2022)" that will be held on October 23-27 at the Kyoto International Conference Centre in Japan.
Vincenzo is now ready for fantastic new experiences! “Every time that I begin a project, I feel like that ten-year-old child opening the weekly I-Droid packages!"
Congratulations to Vincenzo from everyone at FMD!
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