IEEE Robotics and Automation Award 2024 to Paolo Dario, emeritus professor of the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna 'for establishing and advancing bionics and biorobotics as key research areas worldwide'

'For establishing and advancing bionics and biorobotics as key research areas worldwide, integrating robotics and medicine'. With this motivation, the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) has awarded Paolo Dario, emeritus professor of the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, with one of the recognitions of the IEEE Technical Field Award 2024. Specifically, Paolo Dario was awarded in the 'IEEE Robotics and Automation Award' category for his research in the fields of bionics and biorobotics.

"I am proud, but also a little embarrassed to have received this award," says Paolo Dario. "I think this award goes above all to the system (the schools, the passionate teachers who have educated and inspired me, my family, the University of Pisa and the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, the extraordinary relationships with so many colleagues, students and pupils: my country in general) that has allowed me to carry out the work that the international robotics community has deemed it necessary to award.

The pioneer of biorobotics in Italy and Europe

A graduate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pisa, Paolo Dario was director of the Institute of BioRobotics at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna from 2011 to 2017. Paolo Dario's main research interests are in the field of biorobotics, and robotics for surgery, microendoscopy and rehabilitation. On these topics he has published over 180 articles in international journals (ISI), and over 300 international book chapters and articles in proceedings of international congresses. He holds around 50 international patents.

"I have always been immersed in an international reality,' Dario continues, 'but I wanted to stay in Italy, also to accept a challenge that many said was impossible: that is, that Italy could also be a place where to conceive, design, and carry out research of international value capable of producing useful scientific and technological results with a high social impact. I would like this prize not only to be a source of personal satisfaction, but above all to serve as an example for many young people who instead think that our country is not able to provide them with the opportunity to carry out great scientific endeavours, and to derive personal satisfaction from them".