people
members of the lab
Giovanni Merlino is an associate professor in computer science engineering at the University of Messina, Italy.
His research focuses on mobile and distributed systems with particular emphasis on IoT and Cyber-Physical Systems modeled as software-defined infrastructure, especially in terms of hybrid IT/OT convergence and decentralization protocols.
He conceived the I/Ocloud paradigm and played a key role in the design of the Stack4Things middleware.
He is co-founder of SmartMe.io, an academic spin-off and startup company, and co-inventor and holder of a patent.
He has authored over 130 peer-reviewed scientific publications.
Francesco Longo serves as an associate professor in computer engineering at the University of Messina, Italy.
His research focuses on the design and implementation of secure and autonomous distributed systems.
He played a key role in the design of the Stack4Things middleware.
Additionally, he co-founded SmartMe.io, a startup specializing in hardware and software solutions for the design and management of Cyber-Physical Systems.
He has authored over 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications.
Giuseppe Tricomi holds a Ph.D. in Cyber Physical Systems from the University of Messina.
His research began in mobile and distributed systems and has since shifted toward (orchestrated or federated) cooperation among Cyber-Physical Systems, adaptive environmental behavior, human-aware adaptability, Environmental Continuity, Intelligent Personal Assistants.
He contributed to the design and extension of the Stack4Things middleware.
He is currently on a leave to work as an Assistant Professor in Computer Science and Engineering at the Department of Engineering of the University of Messina, after holding a fixed-term Researcher position at ICAR-CNR.
He was employed by the Italian Ministry of Defence from 2017 to 2023, and has been with the Italian Ministry of Education since 2023.
He has authored over 40 peer-reviewed scientific publications.
Luca D’Agati holds a Ph.D. in Bioengineering applied to Medical Sciences from the University of Messina.
His research focuses on distributed and Cyber-Physical Systems, Cloud–Edge Computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), Smart Cities, and intelligent adaptive environments, with particular interest in compute-continuum infrastructures and Cloud-native solutions.
He has contributed to several research initiatives involving smart environments, LPWAN and LoRa-based infrastructures, renewable energy communities, telemedicine platforms, Edge AI, and intelligent monitoring systems for IoT ecosystems.
He is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Engineering of the University of Messina, where he conducts research on secure distributed systems, cloud-continuum infrastructures, and next-generation IoT environments.
He has authored and co-authored several peer-reviewed scientific publications in the areas of IoT, distributed systems, cloud and edge computing, smart cities, and Cyber-Physical Systems.
Mohammad Ghavidel Vahid is a PhD student in Engineering, working on the softwarization of hybrid IT/OT infrastructures, under the supervision of Professor Giovanni Merlino, with Professor Guido Di Bella as co-supervisor.
Fabio Mirto is a PhD student in Bioengineering, working on safe-by-design cyber-physical biomedical systems, under the supervision of Professor Giovanni Merlino, with Professor Francesco Longo as co-supervisor.
Ilenia Ficili is a PhD student in Engineering, working on incremental federated learning, under the supervision of Professor Antonio Puliafito.
Ghena Barakat is a PhD student in Engineering, working on neurosymbolic AI for safety, under the supervision of Professor Antonio Puliafito, with Professor Giovanni Merlino as co-supervisor.
Manuel Fabiano is a PhD student in Bioengineering, working on reinforcement unlearning techniques, under the supervision of Professor Francesco Longo, with Professor Giovanni Merlino as co-supervisor.
Vincenzo Bucaria is a PhD student in Engineering, working on virtualization approaches for accelerators and FPGAs, under the supervision of Professor Francesco Longo, with Professor Giovanni Merlino as co-supervisor.
Aamod Vyas is a PhD student in Engineering, working on agentic AI for education, under the supervision of Professor Antonio Puliafito, with Professor Giovanni Merlino as co-supervisor.
Tancredi Orlando is a former PhD student in Bioengineering, who worked on runtime-based portability for biomedical embedded systems, under the supervision of Professor Giovanni Merlino.