Nicola De Pace is an architect, designer, and urban speleologist whose research into the subterranean waterways of the ancient Roman world has recently led to exploration of the Historic Spring of Newport Rhode Island, a site of national interest which can be traced back to Newport’s foundation in 1639. De Pace’s interest in ancient infrastructural systems, territorial land-water management and the 18th-century etchings of Giovanni Battista Piranesi led him to a Fulbright Fellowship in 2005 and to subsequent collaborations and publications on numerous archaeological projects, including Association Roma Sotterranea, the Villa Magna Project and the Petra Routes Project through Brown University’s Joukousky Institute. Between 1996 and 2001, De Pace was project designer for the of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, DC under design architect Friedrich St.Florian. Since 2002, he has designed numerous award-winning residential, commercial and institutional projects through his practice: Ad Hoc/Architecture in Providence, RI. De Pace has taught in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Interior Architecture and Foundational Studies at the Rhode Island School of Design since 1999 and also teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Roger Williams University. In 2012 he was Chief Critic of RISD’s esteemed European Honors Program in Rome where he frequently teaches courses in urbanism and architectural drawing.
Paola Mercogliano is a senior researcher with more than 15 years of experience. She works at CMCC as head of the REgional Models and geo-Hydrological Impacts Division and at C.I.R.A. (Italian Aerospace Research Centre) as Head of research laboratory “Meteo System & Instrumentation Laboratory”. She took part in several national, European and international projects. She is also a consultant in the framework of the EEA-ETC/CCA project, for the EEA 2017 Report on the adaptation of climate change and on the reduction of the risk of natural disasters. She is currently involved in the “National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change” preparation. She is an author to the WHO UNFCCC Climate and Health Country Profile produced in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Health as part of the ‘Climate changes and health within the Planetary Health vision’, where she is responsible for providing all the necessary climate data for all the impact analysis included in the document. She is also leader of a consultancy service for the municipality of PRATO concerning the evaluation of the effects of heat waves on population health since to 2050, with the objective to include the results of the analysis it in a municipal strategic plan.
Raffaele Vaccaro grew up in Brussels, Belgium after leaving Italy at the age of 6. He then completed a Bsc in Marine Biology and Oceanography at the University of Southampton (UK) and an Msc in Environmental Management at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (BEL). He gained experience by working for the European Parliament as an intern MEP assistant focusing on the Environment Committee and International Trade committee. Following the Parliament he moved to the European Commission where he completed a 6-month traineeship in the office managing the LIFE program. His will to understand the Brussels’ European Bubble brought him to accept a position in a public affairs company where he worked for several clients in the environment and energy fields. Following that experience he participated to the Brussels local election with the Belgian Green Party and acquired political and outreach skills. Raffaele’s professional life changed drastically when he met the CEO of IDRABEL Environmental Biotechnology, he decided to go back to Italy to commercialise Idrabel’s technology to increase the quality of wastewater management in his country of origin. After one year of successful commercialisation he founded NISIDA Environment SRL that will have as core activity the development and commercialisation of innovative technologies in the water and wastewater treatment sector.
Roberto Germano is a MSc in Physics from the “Federico II” University of Napoli. Founder and CEO of PROMETE Srl – CNR Spin off Company. Author of numerous articles of experimental physics in international scientific journals (h-index = 11), and of some patents for industrial inventions. Winner of the 2004 award “Roberto Marrama”, a competition in search of young entrepreneurial talents. Advisor of the magazine “Technology Transfer”, founder and member of the Scientific Committee of the Association NOI – Napoli Open Innovation, Former Technology Transfer expert in the issue of the Ministry of Economic Development. Author of the books “Cold Fusion, Modern history of inquisition and alchemy” (Bibliopolis, 2000, second ed. 2003) – Preface by Giuliano Preparata, and “AQUA, Electromagnetic Water and its amazing adventures” (Bibliopolis, 2006 ) – Preface by Emilio Del Giudice, co-author of “Technology Transfer” (Franco Angeli, 2010), and of the “Pocket Manual of Technology Transfer” (Il Denaro, 2010). He is member of the Scientific Committee of the IC-MAST – the International Conference on Materials and Applications for Sensors and Transducers, and Chairman of the Session: LECS, Low Energy Coherent Systems, and of the Scientific Committee of the Aquaphotomics International Symposium, and of the Scientific Committee of the AQUAPHOTOMICS International Symposium (Japan).