Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Professor Franco Zambonelli of DISMI was given the international price IFAAMAS Influential Paper Award

Professor Franco Zambonelli, teacher of Software Engineering and Distributed Artificial Intelligence at DISMI - Department of Sciences and Methods of engineering of Unimore, was awarded an important scientific acknowledgment in the field of artificial intelligence. The prize will be officially awarded next July in Stockholm, during the “Federated Artificial Intelligence Meeting”, the world most relevant event in the field of artificial intelligence.

The decision of the prize committee to assign professor Franco Zambonelli the “IFAAMAS Influential Paper Award”, was taken after the significance given to an article written by him in 2003, as it was considered one of the most influential of the last years in the field of distributed artificial intelligence (i.e. autonomous and multi-agent systems).

“The object of long research in the field of artificial intelligence - Unimore professor Franco Zambonelli states -, the study of autonomous and multi-agent systems focuses on defining the strategies and the mechanisms with which multiple autonomous artificial intelligences may cooperate and coordinate with each other to reach higher levels of intelligence than those of the individual, through collective analysis and decisions, as well as the capacity to independently negotiate in the event of conflicts. Relevant applications can be found in e-commerce, industrial robotics, and automotive sectors for a smart coordination of the traffic of autonomous vehicles”.

In this context, the winning article was one the first to classify the main issues relating to the systematic engineering of such systems, and to propose a set of methodologies and guidelines supporting the engineering activities. Such methodologies have radically influenced the research in the field, and are still a reference point for anyone interested in the design and development of multi-agent systems.

The Director of Dismi, professor Eugenio Dragoni, declares that “We are really proud to hear the news of the prestigious award to professor Zambonelli, who has been a colleague of mine of the Department since the early years. First of all, it is an acknowledgement for his constant effort, and for his activity as a high-level researcher who works in an environment so rich in skills as it is our department. This is where renowned teachers in their disciplines work every day with young researchers, all strongly committed and motivated both in the field of teaching methodologies, in research, and in terms of relationships with the local enterprises.”

Franco Zambonelli

A full professor for the “Information processing system” department at Dismi of Unimore (Reggio Emilia headquarters), he obtained the degree in Electronic Engineering and did the PhD in Electronic Engineering and IT at the University of Bologna. He has been a researcher at the Faculty of Engineering of Modena, and an associated professor at the Faculty of Engineering of Reggio Emilia (Unimore). His current research interests include: distributed and pervasive artificial intelligence, and agent-oriented software engineering. In these areas, he published more than 300 articles in international locations, 9 collective books and 2 monographies. He has given several speeches at international conventions and workshops. He took part and still participates in several research projects, both national and European, also playing relevant coordination roles. He is a member of the European Academy, IEEE fellow, and ACM Distinguished Scientist. He was given 4 Best Paper Awards. He is included in the list of the “Top Italian Scientists” of the Virtual Italian Academy.

Categorie: International - english