MATTEO GHERARDI is Associate Professor of nuclear reactor physics and coordinator of the Energy Engineering degree courses at the Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna, within the Department of Industrial Engineering, and member of the Research Group for Industrial Applications of Plasmas. His scientific activity is focused on the development of innovative plasma technologies and their applications, exploring the underlying fundamental aspects with the aim of understanding, controlling and optimising processes. His expertise is rooted in plasma engineering and physics (design, manufacturing and optimization of plasma systems and processes, plasma diagnostics and modeling) and covers both equilibrium and non-equilibrium plasmas, at atmospheric or sub-atmospheric pressures.

His main research interests are i) material processing, ii) metamaterials, iii) microplasmas, iv) plasma processes for sustainable energy systems and v) development of monitoring and control strategies for plasma processes. He has been a member of the International Plasma Chemistry Society since 2011 and of the International Society of Plasma Medicine since 2012; he is currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Society of Plasma Medicine.

ROMOLO LAURITA is Junior Assistant Professor of nuclear reactor physics at the Department of Industrial Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna, and a member of Research Group for Industrial Applications of Plasmas. His main expertise concerns the biomedical and industrial application of plasmas, the plasma chemistry in gas and liquid phase, the interaction of cold plasmas with matter, and the plasma assisted decontamination processed.

He is currently member of COST ACTION CA20114 “Therapeutical applications of Cold Plasmas (PlasTHER)”, WG2 leader of “Antimicrobial effects of Plasmas”, and of COST ACTION CA19110 “Plasma applications for smart and sustainable agriculture”. Since September 2017 he is member of the International Society for Plasma and since 2012 member of the International Plasma Chemistry Society.

GIULIA LAGHI received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Energy Engineering at Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna (Italy) in 2016 and 2018, respectively. She continued her academic studies with a Ph.D. degree in Mechanics and Advanced Engineering Sciences, working on a project focused on the possible control strategies for polymerization processes assisted by atmospheric pressure plasma discharges. At present, she is a Postdoctoral Researcher of the Research Group for Industrial Applications of Plasmas of the University of Bologna. Her main expertise include: 1) the development of plasma devices and plasma-assisted processes for material processing, 2) the advanced electrical and optical diagnostic of plasma discharges, 3) the surface characterization of plasma-treated materials. In the frame of the PULSE project, she will work on the design, the realization, and the characterization of reconfigurable plasma-based metadevices.