Bio

Nicholas got his BSc and MSc in Informatics (both cum laude) from the University of Bari (Italy) and obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from IMT – Institute for Advanced Studies (Lucca, Italy). His Master’s and Ph.D. theses received two awards from the Italian Association for Automatic Calculus (AICA).

In 2011, he obtained a Fulbright Scholarship in Technology Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University (California, USA). In 2015, Nicholas was nominated by MIT Technology Review Italy among the 10 best innovators under 35. In 2017, he received a prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship in robotics and automation at the University of Salford (Manchester, UK). Nicholas published over 70 scholarly articles and 3 patents. Also, he founded 4 businesses in the IT space and QIRIS, a non-profit organization devoted to supporting innovation among youth; his companies received more than 20 international awards.

After serving for 2 years as an Assistant Professor in Informatics at Fort Hays State University, where he received 5 best faculty awards, currently, he is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at Northern Kentucky University. His teaching and research interests include Interactive systems design, human factors, and pervasive Human-Machine Interaction. In addition to teaching, Nicholas serves as the program director of the Bachelor's degree in Applied Software Engineering and the Coordinator of the First Year Research Exposure initiative.