I have worked in Nuclear Fusion R&D for more than 30 years, leading experiments and people, designing and constructing high-tech systems and managing Projects in the Fusion field.
I completed my university studies in plasma physics in Milano with a thesis on Fusion Technology (materials).
In 1998 I joined the JET project in the UK where I worked for 12 years full time and collaborated for 10 years more. I started my career in JET working on first wall materials and on deuterium and tritium retention in plasma exposed surfaces.
I then moved to the JET Plasma Operations group in 1991, and I was the first woman ever to become Session Leader, and later Expert Session Leader. Besides plasma Operations, in this period I also worked on in-vessel component design.
In 2000 I moved to the European Home team of ITER (later called EFDA Garching team). For the next 8 years I continued to work on the JET experiments, and I was Task Force Leader for 3 years. In EFDA I become responsible for the conceptual design of the ITER Electron Cyclotron (EC) Upper Launchers, leading the European contribution to the ITER Electron cyclotron design and integration in ITER, until 2020. I created and managed a team of experts from European labs for the development of the launcher for ITER that still exist today.
I moved to F4E (The European Domestic Agency for ITER) in 2008. I was appointed Head of Unit of the Antennas and Plasma Engineering in 2011. In this role, I managed a team for the development and fabrication of the EC and IC (Ion Cyclotron) heating antennas for ITER. In addition to the leading role that I had been playing in the development of the Electron Cyclotron heating systems for ITER, and in plasma engineering, I directly managed the programme implementation and the execution of the projects in all aspects.
In 2021 I became the Head of Plasma Engineering and Operation Unit in F4E. The scope of the Unit includes the preparation for ITER exploitation (internal and in collaboration with Eurofusion, and with ITER Members), and specific plasma engineering activities (scenarios, control, and other plasma-related simulations).]
Finally, I have written or contributed to hundreds of scientific and technical publications. Some of those have been seminal for the design of the ITER Tokamak and included in the Physics Basis of the ITER Tokamak. My publications cover tokamak physics, material physics, vacuum technology and of course EC engineering and performance analysis for ITER.
I have been member and/or chair of scientific boards of international conferences and workshops, Scientific Advisory boards, and boards of Editors (PPCF). I also participate as chair or members to international selection panels for scientific and technical posts.
