Lorenzo’s Life

Biography

Lorenzo Ferrara was born in Castel San Giovanni (PC, Italy) on 29 August 1981.
He studied Electronics Engineering at Università degli Studi di Pavia (PV, Italy) where he got the Master in Electronics Engineering with specilization in Optoelectronics.
In 2010 he obtained a Ph.D in Electronic Enginnering with a research topic in Biophotonics focused on Optical Tweezers and Optical Stretcher.
In 2011 he collaborated with Fondazione Mondino in Pavia in the project REALNET analyzing cerebellar network via 2-photon optical stimulation.
In 2012 he became PostDoc at Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (GE, Italy) working in the project FOCUS in the Nanostructures Department, studying and developing plasmonic substrates for single molecule activation.
In 2014 he obtained a PostDoc position in the Neurosciences and Brain Technology Department, researching in the Si elegans Project, designing optoelectronic setup to emulate an entire connectome.

Work Experience
16 Jul 2014 - Present	PostDoc Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova (Italy) Main Project "Design and development of passive and active optical modules for the emulation of the connectome of the C. elegans. Si elegans Project Department of Neurosciences and Brain Technologies Group:Enabling Technologies for Neuroscience Group Director: Axel Blau Expertise: optoelectronic setup, lithographic techniques, DLP, DMD, gratings, optical components simulation, Sketchup
16 Jan 2014 - 15 Jul 2014	PostDoc Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova (Italy) Main Project "Nanopatterning and characterization of gold droplet on silicon substrate" Department of Nanostructures Department Director: Francesco de Angelis Expertise: lithographic techniques, dual beam, afm, snom, icp-rie, ebl, 2-photon polymerization, clean room expertise
1 Jan 2012 - 31 Dec 2013	PostDoc Jr. Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova (Italy) Main Project "Focus - Nanofabrication of 2D plasmonic substrates for single molecule activation" Department of Nanostructures Department Director: Enzo di Fabrizio Expertise: lithographic techniques, dual beam, afm, snom, icp-rie, ebl, 2-photon polymerization, clean room expertise, Matlab
16 Oct 2011 - 31 Dec 2011	PostDoc Jr. Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova (Italy) Main Project "Design and fabrication of lithographic devices with nanodeposition and nanopatterning through ion and electron beams" Department of Nanostructures Department Director: Enzo di Fabrizio Expertise: lithographic techniques, dual beam, afm, snom, icp-rie, ebl, 2-photon polymerization, clean room expertise, Matlab
1 Feb 2011 - 31 Aug 2011	Term employment contract Fondazione Istituto Neurologico Nazionale “Casimiro Mondino", Pavia (Italy) Main Project "Design of an optical setup for two-photon-fluorescence on neural tissue. REALNET project" Supervisor: Egidio d'Angelo Expertise: Spatial Light Modulator, 2-photon optical setup
1 Dec 2010 - 31 Jan 2011	Research grant Laboratorio di Elettronica Quantistica in Università degli Studi di Pavia, Pavia (Italy) Main Project ""Integrated optical devices for the evaluation of mechanical properties of cellular membranes" Supervisor: Ilaria Cristiani Expertise: optical fiber setup, Labview programming, bio-optics
30 May 2008 - 29 Aug 2008	Term employment contract Laboratorio di Elettronica Quantistica in Università degli Studi di Pavia, Pavia (Italy) Main Project "Fabrication and test of fiber optical tweezers" Supervisor: Ilaria Cristiani Expertise: optical fiber setup, Labview programming, bio-optics
25 Apr 2007 - 1 Oct 2007	Term employment contract Laboratorio di Interazione Laser-Materia in Università degli Studi di Pavia, Pavia (Italy) Main Project "Characterization and installation of EUV filters for UVCI coronagraph".HERSCHEL project Supervisor: Marco Malvezzi Expertise: Labview programming, hollow-cathode source setup, UV spectra characterization

Education and Training
1 Nov 2007 - 24 Jan 2011	PhD in Electronics Engineering EQF level 8 Università di Pavia, Pavia (Italy) Thesis: "Design and Characterization of integrated optical devices for biophotonics" Laboratorio di Elettronica Quantistica Supervisor: Ilaria Cristiani Thesis topics: biophotonics, microfluidics, optoelectronics, optical manipulation, Labview and Matlab programming,nanofabrication (FIB), all-fiber optical setup
29 Sep 2003 - 20 Apr 2007	Master in Electronics Engineering - Optoelectronics EQF level 7 Università di Pavia, Pavia (Italy) Thesis: "Caratterizzazione di filtro EUV per coronografo UVCI" Laboratorio di Interazione Laser-Materia Supervisor: Marco Malvezzi Thesis topics: hollow-cathode source, Labview interface, vacuum system, UV spectrum analysis Final grade: 100/110
25 Sep 2000 - 21 Jul 2003	Bachelor in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering EQF level 6 Università degli Studi di Pavia, Pavia (Italy) Thesis: "Caratterizzazione sperimentale di laser a semiconduttore a due sezioni" Laboratorio di Elettroottica Supervisor: Guido Giuliani Thesis topics: semiconductor laser characterization Final grade: 102/110

Papers
F. Bragheri, L. Ferrara, N. Bellini, K. Vishnubhatla, P. Minzioni, R. Ramponi, R. Osellame, I.Cristiani “Optofluidic chip for single cell trapping and stretching fabricated by a femtosecond laser” J. Biophoton. 3, No. 4 (2010)
N. Bellini, , K. Vishnubhatla, F. Bragheri, L. Ferrara, P. Minzioni, R. Ramponi, R. Osellame, I.Cristiani “Femtosecond laser fabricated monolithic chip for optical trapping and stretching of single cells” Optics Express Vol. 18, No. 5 (2010)
L. Ferrara, E. Baldini. P. Minzioni, F. Bragheri, C. Liberale. E. Di Fabrizio, I. Cristiani “Experimental study of the optical forces exerted by a Gaussian beam within the Rayleigh range” J. Opt. 13(2011)
C. Liberale, G. Cojoc, F. Bragheri, P. Minzioni, G. Perozziello, R. La Rocca, L. Ferrara, V.Rajamanickam, E. Di Fabrizio, I. Cristiani "Integrated microfluidic device for single-cell trapping and spectroscopy." Scientific Reports v.3, 2013
S. Bianchi, V. Rajamanickam, L. Ferrara, E. di Fabrizio, C. Liberale, R. di Leonardo "Focusing and imaging with increased numerical apertures through multimode fibers with micro-fabricated optics" Optics Letters Vol. 8, No 22, 2013
V. P. Rajamanickam, L. Ferrara, A. Toma, R. Proietti Zaccaria, G. Das, F. De Angelis, E. Di Fabrizio and C. Liberale "Suitable photo-resists fortwo-photon polymerization using femtosecond fiber lasers" Microelectronic Engineering, Vol. 121, 135-138 (2014)
G. Messina, M. Malerba, P. Zilio, E. Miele, M. Dipalo, L. Ferrara, F. De Angelis "Hollow plasmonic antennas for broadband SERS spectroscopy" Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology 2015, 6, 492-498
F. Gentile, L. Ferrara, M. Villani, M. Bettelli, S. Iannotta, A. Zappettini, M. Cesarelli, E. Di Fabrizio, and N. Coppedè "Geometrical Patterning of Super-Hydrophobic Biosensing Transistors Enables Space and Time Resolved Analysis of Biological Mixtures" Scientific Reports 2016, 6
M.L. Coluccio, M. Francardi, F. Gentile, P. Candeloro, L. Ferrara, G. Perozziello, E. Di Fabrizio "Plasmonic 3D-structures based on silver decorated nanotips for biological sensing" Optics and Lasers in Engineering 2016, 76, 45-51
N. Coppedè, L. Ferrara, P. Bifulco, M. Villani, S. Iannotta, A. Zappettini, M. Cesarelli, E. Di Fabrizio, F. Gentile "Multiscale modification of the conductive PEDOT:PSS polymer for the analysis of biological mixtures in a super-hydrophobic drop" Microelectronic Engineering, Vol. 158, 80-84 (2016)

Book Chapters
T. Limongi, L. Ferrara, G. Das, M. Moretti, M. Marini, E. Miele, A. Accardo, R. Raimondo, F. Gentile, E. Di Fabrizio "Superhydrophobic Devices and Molecular Detection" Springer book chapter "Novel Approaches for Single Molecule Activation and Detection", Springer 2014
A. Blau, F. Callaly, S. Cawley, A. Coffey, A. De Mauro, G. Epelde, L. Ferrara, F. Krewer, C. Liberale, P. Machado, G. Maclair, M. McGinnity, F. Morgan, A. Mujika, A. Petrushin, G. Robin, J. Wade "The Si elegans Project – The Challenges and Prospects of Emulating Caenorhabditis elegans" Springer book chapter "Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems", Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 8608, 2014, pp 436-438
C. Liberale, G. Cojoc, V. Rajamanickam, L.Ferrara, F. Bragheri, P. Minzioni, G. Perozziello, P. Candeloro, I. Cristiani, E. di Fabrizio "Miniaturized Optical Tweezers through Fiber-End Microfabrication" Springer book chapter "Lab on Fiber Technology"- Springer Series in Surface Sciences, Volume 56, 2015, pp 159-180
L. Ferrara, A. Petrushin, C. Liberale, D. Brannick, B. Connolly, P. Mitchell, A. Blau "Comparison of Electro-Optical Strategies for Mimicking C. elegans Network Interconnectivity in Hardware" Springer book chapter "Advances in Neurotechnology, Electronics and Informatics"- Springer Series in Biosystems & Biorobotics, Volume 12, 2016, pp 79-98

Conference Papers
N. Bellini, F. Bragheri, K. C. Vishnubhatla, L. Ferrara, P. Minzioni, G. Cerullo, R. Ramponi, I. Cristiani, R. Osellame "Dual-beam optical trapping of cells in an optofluidic device fabricated by femtosecond lasers" Proc. SPIE 7589, Frontiers in Ultrafast Optics: Biomedical, Scientific, and Industrial Applications X, 75890D (2010)
N. Bellini, K. Vishnubhatla, R. Ramponi, R. Osellame, F. Bragheri, L. Ferrara, P. Minzioni, I. Cristiani "Trapping and Stretching of Single Cells in an Optofluidic Chip Fabricated by a Femtosecond Laser" Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics,Optofluidic Trapping, Sorting and Manipulation (CTuJJ) (2010).
C. Liberale, E. di Fabrizio, G. Cojoc, G. Perozziello, P. Candeloro, F. Bragheri, L. Ferrara, P. Minzioni, I. Cristiani "Optical fiber tweezers fabricated by two photon lithography" Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe (CLEO EUROPE/EQEC), 2011 Conference on and 12th European Quantum Electronics Conference (2011)
F. Bragheri, L. Ferrara, P. Minzioni, I. Cristiani, K. C. Vishnubhatla, N. Bellini, R. Ramponi, R. Osellame "Single cell trapping and stretching in an optofluidic chip fabricated by femtosecond laser micromachining" Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe (CLEO EUROPE/EQEC), 2011 Conference on and 12th European Quantum Electronics Conference (2011)
F. Bragheri, C. Liberale, G. Cojoc, P. Minzioni, G. Peroziello, R. la Rocca, L. Ferrara, V. Rajamanickam, E. di Fabrizio, I. Cristiani "Biophotonic Device for On-Chip Trapping and Spectroscopic Analysis" Cleo: Science and Innovations, Optofluidic Particle Manipulation (CM1M), 2013
S. Bianchi, V. P. Rajamanickam, L. Ferrara, E. di Fabrizio, R. di Leonardo, C. Liberale "High Numerical aperture imaging by using multimode fibers with micro-fabricated optics" Cleo: Science and Innovations, Mode in Fibers (SM2N), 2014
A. Blau, F. Callaly, S. Cawley, A. Coffey, A. De Mauro, G. Epelde, L. Ferrara, F. Krewer, C. Liberale, P. Machado, G. Maclair, T.M. McGinnity, F. Morgan, A. Mujika, A. Petrushin, G. Robin, J. Wade "Exploring neural principles with Si elegans, a neuromimetic representation of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans" Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress on Neurotechnology, Electronics and Informatics (NEUROTECHNIX 2014)
A. Petrushin, L. Ferrara, C. Liberale and A. Blau "*Towards an electro-optical emulation of the C. elegans* connectome**" Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress on Neurotechnology, Electronics and Informatics (NEUROTECHNIX 2014)
A. Petrushin, L. Ferrara, A. Blau "*The Si elegans* connectome: A neuromimetic emulation of neural signal transfer with DMD-structured light**" Proc. SPIE 9376, Emerging Digital Micromirror Device Based Systems and Applications VII, 93760L (2015)
N. Coppedè, L. Ferrara, P. Bifulco, M. Villani, S. Iannotta, A. Zappettini, M. Cesarelli, E. Di Fabrizio, F. Gentile "Geometrical Patterning of the Conductive PEDOT:PSS Polymer Enables Resolved Analysis of Biological" International Conference on Micro- and Nano-Engineering, (2015)
A. Petrushin, L. Ferrara, A. Blau "Past and recent endeavors to simulate Caenorhabditis elegans" Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress on Neurotechnology, Electronics and Informatics (NEUROTECHNIX 2015)
L. Ferrara, A. Petrushin, A. Blau "An electro-optical connectome prototype for eight neuron representations in FPGA technology" Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress on Neurotechnology, Electronics and Informatics (NEUROTECHNIX 2015)
A. Blau, F. Callaly, G. Epelde, L. Ferrara, F. Krewer, P. Leskovsky, P. Machado, B. Mc Ginley, M. McGinnity, F. Morgan, A. Mujika, A. Petrushin "Si elegans - A neuromimetic emulation platform for exploring C. elegans’ neurobiology and behavior" 20th International C. elegans Conference (2015)
A. Blau, L. Ferrara, A. Petrushin "Approaches to establishing hardware-based neural connectivity" International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, IJCNN (2015)
A. Blau, K. Appiah, F. Callaly, A. Coffey, G. Epelde, L Ferrara, F. Krewer, P. Leškovský, P. Machado, B. Mc Ginley, M. McGinnity, F. Morgan, A. Mujika, A. Petrushin, J. Wade "**Si elegans - An open access neurocomputational platform for testing behavioral paradigms in C. elegans**" Society for Neuroscience Annual meeting (2015)
F. Gentile, L. Ferrara, M. Villani, S. Iannotta, A. Zappettini, M. Cesarelli, E. Di Fabrizio, V. Trunzo, V. Mollace, N. Coppedè "Tailoring Superhydrophobic Properties of Organic Electrochemical Biosensor for Cancer Cell Culture Medium Identification" 2016 MRS Spring Meeting
P.Machado, A. Costalago Meruelo, A. Petrushin, L. Ferrara, N. Lama, D. Adama, K. Appiah, A. Blau, T. M. McGinnity "Si elegans: Evaluation of an innovative optical synaptic connectivity method for C. elegans Phototaxis using FPGAs" International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, IJCNN (2016)
A. Petrushin, L. Ferrara and A. Blau "*Optimization of an electro-optical representation of the C. elegans* connectome through neural network cluster analysis**" International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, IJCNN (2016)