Franco Cotana (born 22 December 1957 in Marsciano) is an Italian

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

, and a member of the board of directors of the

University of Perugia The University of Perugia ( Italian ''Università degli Studi di Perugia'') is a public university in Perugia, Italy. It was founded in 1308, as attested by the Bull issued by Pope Clement V certifying the birth of the Studium Generale. The offi ...

from 2014 to 2019. He was formerly president from March until October 2014 of the National Commission's IPPC-AIA at the Ministry of the Environment.

Early life

A native of Monte Vibiano-Mercatello (

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

), Cotana obtained a diploma with top honors at the State Technical Institute in 1976, and in 1983 he graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

from the

University of Rome La Sapienza The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

. He financially supported his studies by designing and building

electrical systems Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

and windings for electric motors with a winding machine he designed.

Career

In January 1982, he won a national competition and got a job at

ENEL Enel S.p.A. is an Italian multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas. Enel was first established as a public body at the end of 1962, and then transformed into a limited company in 1992. In 1999, following the liberali ...

, where he worked at the laboratory Measurements and HV lines and, subsequently, in the engineering role at DCO of Viale Regina Margherita where he dealt with the design of

thermal power plants A thermal power station, also known as a thermal power plant, is a type of power station in which the heat energy generated from various fuel sources (e.g., coal, natural gas, nuclear fuel, etc.) is converted to electrical energy. The heat ...

. Showing early sign of an entrepreneurial spirit he quit a secure job at

and, from 1985 to 1990, shared his working time between

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and the

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

where he worked for major American companies (in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

) in the field of test and burn-in on electronic components. In 1991, he won a post as a researcher in the scientific discipline of environmental technical physics at the

Energy Institute The Energy Institute (EI) is a professional organization for engineers and other professionals in energy-related fields. The EI was formed in 2003 by the merger of the Institute of Petroleum (dating back to 1913) and the Institute of Energy ( ...

of the new Faculty of engineering at the

, having helped the growth of laboratories of applied acoustics-electro-acoustics, and thermophysical properties of fluids and environmental controls. In 1998, he won the competition to become an associate professor. In 2001, he became a full professor of industrial and technical physics in the Faculty of engineering at the university to coordinate technical physics section of the Department. Since 2010, he has been a member of the

New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), originally founded as the Lyceum of Natural History in January 1817, is a nonprofit professional society based in New York City, with more than 20,000 members from 100 countries. It is the fourth-oldes ...

. In 2003, he founded the National Center for Research on

Biomass Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how ...

(CRB) which he directed until June 2013 when the CRB was merged in the CIRIAF (Inter-University Research Centre on

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

and the environment with a strong multidisciplinary character that includes hundreds of teachers from 14 universities) of which he became contextually Director until 2015. Thanks to his efforts, a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Engineering was born based in CRB that from 2013 it became an international multidisciplinary doctorate in

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

and

sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

of which Prof. Cotana is Coordinator and President. Today, the CRB-CIRIAF is the only University in

by inter-research that offers a PhD course. Author of over 300 scientific publications in highly interdisciplinary journals and holder of 20 patents, he is an expert evaluator of national and international projects

MIUR The Ministry of Education and Merit (in or MIM) is the ministry of the Italian government for the national education system, the Italian universities and research agencies. The current Italian Minister of Public Education is Giuseppe Valdita ...

with over 20 years of experience. From 2009, he has been the Italian representative in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

for the SET-Plan EIBI (strategic energy technology plan – European industrial

bioenergy Bioenergy is a type of renewable energy that is derived from plants and animal waste. The Biomass (energy), biomass that is used as input materials consists of recently living (but now dead) organisms, mainly plants. Thus, Fossil fuel, fossil fu ...

Initiative). Among his best known patents: PIPENET is an innovative transportation system for light goods at very high speed, TEAM is the energy Tower Multifunctional Environmental for the Smart City; The SEA is the innovative system of cultivation of micro-algae in ocean and marine spaces for Blue Growth, Albedo Control is finally the project for

climate change mitigation Climate change mitigation (or decarbonisation) is action to limit the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change. Climate change mitigation actions include energy conservation, conserving energy and Fossil fuel phase-out, repl ...

. In 2014, after several experiences in various boards of public companies-private, Prof. Cotana became member of the board of directors of the

as one of the 5 members elected by the University Senate representing the Engineering,

Veterinary Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all animal species, both ...

and

Agricultural science Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Professio ...

s. Since July 2023 he is the CEO of RSE https://www.rse-web.it/.

References

External links

* in the House of representatives Commission Hearing of Professor Cotana, October 22, 2015 http://www.camera.it/leg17/1104?shadow_organo_parlamentare=2084 * http://www.crbnet.it/File/Pubblicazioni/pdf/1541.pdf * https://www.unipg.it/files/pagine/137/drN471.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotana, Franco 20th-century Italian engineers Academic staff of the University of Perugia American science writers Living people 1957 births