Work experience

Dates

From September 1999

Occupation or position held

Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder

Main activities and responsibilities

Lead technology services development projects and maintenance service delivery engagements with organisations such as the Italian Space Agency, National Research Council and Polytechnic of Milan. Oversee development and installation of weather radars, satellite ground stations and RF systems. Maintain ISO 9001/2008 certification. Manage telecommunication, radar and satellite sites, defining maintenance and quality procedures, overseeing operations, data collection and analysis. Generate customer reports. Manage critical situations. Develop new business, submitting proposals. Manage engineers and contract resources. Develop and maintain relationships with customers, prospects, F&A officials, bankers and other stakeholders.

Specific job experience (last eight years)

Alphasat TDP#5 Ka/Q/V band RTx ground station contract.: Whole project responsibility including civil and telecommunication infrastructure, RF test and validation, electromagnetic compatibility and electric power distribution. Suppliers and sub-contractors management. Interface with government and local agencies to obtain proper authorizations (construction, EMC, etc.). In charge for quality assurance.

Italian Space Agency contract: Development, refurbishment and commissioning of three Ka/Ku/Q/V band antennas, three Ka/Ku band radiometers and one magnetron S-band meteorological radar. Worked closely with representatives from Space Agency, Telespazio, Polytechnic of Milan, National Research Council and directly managed people and suppliers. In charge for quality assurance (ISO9001:2008). Prepared and released all technical documentation (about 50 documents) related to assessment and project risks, technical requirements and specifications, development, implementation and testing phases.

Development and supply of the UHF telecommunication system for stratospheric balloons. Developed high reliable transmitters and receivers and worked closely with representatives from Space Agency. Managed all project activities including quality assurance. Prepared and released whole technical documentation

In charge for several contracts for the installation, upgrade and maintenance of klystron, magnetron, TWT and solid state S and C band meteorological radars for customers such as the Italian Civil Protection, the National Research Council and the Polytechnic of Milan. Responsible for the development of a Digital IF (30MHz) Receiver for a magnetron based S band radar.

Contract for the development, supply and maintenance of the Campania weather radars network. In charge for the development of a specific WAN radar control software. Prepared and released whole technical documentation. Successfully managed project refocusing required by customer.

Responsible for the maintenance and 24/7 operation of two GPM-500C 500KW peak power klystron based weather radars.

Key Accomplishments:

Developed new hardware and software systems used in radar, space and research programmes.

Generated new business, adding government agency and private sector clients to increase turnover 20% per year and administering contracts and collections.

Rapidly built firm reputation for quality and ability to handle complex technology projects, maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction.

Successfully implemented and maintained ISO 9001/2008 quality standards to improve operations and secure additional opportunities.

Name and address of employer

Type of business or sector 

IDF Srl, Via Torino 24/11, 20063 Cernusco S/N, Milan, Italy

www.idf-projects.it

Specialised satellite, radar and RF engineering company offering turnkey telecommunications and technology solutions and maintenance services for private industry, government and educational institutions.

Dates

From January 2000 to December 2002

Occupation or position held

Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder

Main activities and responsibilities

Launched start-up operations and grew business capabilities to meet client requirements. Managed software and hardware development projects using Windows OS and C++ language. Oversaw software development teams and managed customer relationships. Negotiated profitable sale of business.

Key Accomplishments:

Identified potential new application for customer’s professional product and persuasively presented business case to launch company.

Prepared initial business plan, negotiated contracts to launch successful business and subsequently negotiated sale to customer.

Name and address of employer

World Net Projects Srl, Via Torino 25, 20063 Cernusco S/N, Milan, Italy

Type of business or sector

Dates

Occupation or position held

Main activities and responsibilities

Name and address of employer

Type of business or sector

Dates

Occupation or position held

Main activities and responsibilities

Name and address of employer

Type of business or sector

Start-up company created to develop software for a leading public electronics corporation; specialised in developing applications to control digital (MPEG) encoders.

From January 1997 to August 1999

Project Manager

Managed €15m communication, security and access control system project for the Italian National Railways, directing a team of 15 and overseeing purchasing, development, operations and F&A functions. Maintained high quality standards and ensured suppliers met requirements, designing a new supplier quality assurance procedure that was widely adapted throughout the company. Successfully delivered project on time.

Philips Spa, V.le Casati 23, 20052, Monza, Italy

Electronics

From September 1995 to December 1997

Proposal Manager

Played a key role in developing technical contract and preparing bid for €300m Telecom Italy project. Worked with technical teams from a variety of companies participating in the joint venture. Supervised 3 staff and worked with cross-functional teams to develop hybrid fibre coax (HFC) network technical specifications and produced several thousand pages of documentation. Visited Philips factories and research centres in the US, Austria and France and liaised with hardware development and manufacturing contacts.

Philips Spa, V.le Casati 23, 20052, Monza, Italy

Electronics

Dates

Occupation or position held

Main activities and responsibilities

Name and address of employer

Type of business or sector

From September 1991 to August 1994

Researcher / Team Leader

As researcher and then research team leader at Philips Research Labs I was involved into the development of HDMac and Mpeg encoders and channel coding algorithms for optical laser disks.

Philips Research, V.le Casati 23, 20052, Monza, Italy

Electronics

Education and training

Dates

From September 1994 to December 1995

Title of qualification awarded

Executive Master of Business Administration

Principal subjects/occupational skills covered

Management

Name and type of organisation providing education and training

SDA Bocconi School of Management, Via Bocconi 8, 20136 Milan, Italy

Dates

From October 1983 to July 1990

Title of qualification awarded

Master of Science in Electronic Engineering

Principal subjects/occupational skills covered

Electronics and Telecommunications

Name and type of organisation providing education and training

Polytechnic of Milan, P.za L. da Vinci 26, Milan, Italy

Dates

From 17 to 21 January 2011

Title of qualification awarded

Wireless Communications Engineering

Principal subjects/occupational skills covered

Wireless Communications

Name and type of organisation providing education and training

IEEE Communications Society

Dates

Title of qualification awarded

Principal subjects/occupational skills covered

Name and type of organisation providing education and training

Dates

From 4 March to 15 April 2013

Foundation of Business Strategy

Business strategy

University of Virginia (Coursera MOOC)

  From 28 to 30 September 1998

Title of qualification awarded

Project Management Training

Principal subjects/occupational skills covered

Project Management

Name and type of organisation providing education and training

Philips BV

Personal skills and competences

Programme / Project Management • Radar & Satellite Communications • Research & Development

IT Operations • Problem Solving • Telecommunications • Site Maintenance • Proposals • Product Management • Technical Support • Business Development • ISO 9001/2008 Standards • Reports

Software / Hardware Development • Relationship Management • Critical Incident Resolution

Mother tongue(s)

Italian

Other language(s)

English, French (basic)

Social skills and competences

Ability to adapt to multicultural environments.

Organisational skills and competences

Large experience in project and program management. Able to achieve results in a stressing working environment.

Technical skills and competences

Telecommunications • Radars • Ground stations • Wireless Networks • Electronics • RF

Computer skills and competences

Microsoft Office Suite • Microsoft Project • Open Office • Linux • CAD • C/C++ • Java • Android • Labview

Driving licence

Category B

Additional information

Publications:

Improvements on the Aries-C weather radar Tuscany network;

IEEE RadarCon 2008;

Authors: P.G. Dal Farra, Antonini A., Farruggio F., Melani S., Pieri M.

The Meteorological Weather Radar;

The Milan Order of Engineers magazine, 2007;

Author: P.G. Dal Farra.

2009-2010 GEOSS (IEEE Group on Earth Observations) volunteers coordinator.

Member: IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)

Member: ASDA (Executive MBA alumni network)

Member: Milan Order of Engineers