Dr. Paola Saccomandi of IEEE Sensors Council

Dr. Paola Saccomandi is a renowned expert in fiber optic sensors and biomedical engineering, specializing in minimally invasive medical technologies, thermal therapies, and advanced diagnostics. With numerous high-impact publications and collaborations, her research has significantly contributed to sensor-based healthcare innovations. She is known for her ability to explain complex concepts effectively, making her a distinguished speaker in academic and professional circles. At the Distinguished Lecture organized by IEEE Sensors Council, MJCET SB, she delivered an insightful talk on “Fiber Optic Sensors for Healthcare Applications: Fundamentals, Applications, and Frontiers,” highlighting their principles, medical applications, and future advancements.

Biography:

Paola Saccomandi is Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI), in the field of Thermal and Mechanical Measurements. She graduated with honours in Biomedical Engineering from Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma in 2010, and obtained the PhD in 2014. In 2016 she moved to the Institute of Image-guided surgery of Strasbourg (France). In 2018 she joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering of POLIMI, where she currently holds an academic faculty position.

She is now the Head of Laboratory of Measurements for Biomedical Applications. Main research interests of Paola and her team include quasi-distributed and distributed fiber optic sensors (FOSs) and imaging (e.g., magnetic resonance and hyperspectral imaging), and the development of light-based approaches for hyperthermal tumor treatment and monitoring. She is also working on SPR-based FOSs for biomolecules and environmental monitoring, and wearable devices embedding FOSs for physiological parameters monitoring during sport and for prosthetics. For the results of her research, in 2023 Paola has been listed among the world’s top 2% scientists.

She is the PI of two European Research Council (ERC) projects and Supervisor of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship. She is the PI and the Unit Responsible of several national grants, from Cariplo Fundation, the Italian Ministry of University and Research and National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work. During her PhD and postdoc, she coordinated many research projects funded by international grants (IHU Institute of Image Guided Surgery of Strasbourg, USIAS Institut d’Etudes Avancées de l'Université de Starsbourg) and has actively participated in Italian projects focused on sensors for biomedical applications. Since 2016 she had the scientific responsibility of 10 research projects for>3 M€. She was recipient of several awards, including Premio Italia Giovane, field Biomedicine, and best paper awards at IEEE conferences.

Since 2012 she is member of IEEE and several societies. Since 2020 she has been elevated to the grade of IEEE Senior Member. She is Co-founder and Officer of the IEEE Italy Sensors Chapter, which was awarded as IEEE Italy Section Best Chapter 2019 and Most Innovative Chapter 2020. She served as Technical Program Chair for MetroInd4.0&IoT 2020 and 2021, and for MeMeA 2021. She was Technical Program Committee member and organized 15+ workshops and special sessions at IEEE international conferences, like EMBC, MetroInd4.0&IoT, MeMeA, I2MTC. Presently she is the elected Chair of the IEEE EMBS Technical Community on Therapeutic Systems & Technologies (first woman from the foundation of the Community), elected vice-Chair of IEEE Women in Engineering (Italy AG) and appointed Chair of IEEE Women in Sensors.

She has authored over 250 peer-reviewed publications related to sensors technology and application to the biomedical sector. She is Section Board Member for Sensors MDPI. She has been invited lecturer in many leading Institutions, including Technion (Israel), Sungkyunkwan University (South Korea), Politecnico di Torino, and organizations, like OPTICA (Biosensors Technical Group).

Address:Lombardia, , Milano, Lombardia, Italy