Grazia LO SCIUTO
Dr. Grazia Lo Sciuto is a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor (RTD-B) within the IIET-01/A group at the Department of Industrial, Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering (DIEEI), University of Catania. She holds a degree in Microelectronics Engineering and a professional engineering license from the same institution. In 2017, she earned her PhD in Applied Electronics from Roma Tre University. Between 2013 and 2024, she secured numerous competitive research positions and fellowships. Her career features a strong international trajectory: she served as an Assistant Professor (Outstanding Young Scientist) at the Silesian University of Technology (Poland) from 2022 to 2024, followed by a role as a Senior Researcher at the Technical University of Sofia (Bulgaria) for the 2025–2026 period. Furthermore, she has achieved the Italian National Scientific Qualification (ASN) as both a Full Professor (2022) and an Associate Professor (2020) in Electrical Engineering (09/E1).
Tenure-Track Assistant Professor (RTD-B) at the University of Catania (2025–2027) and she holds the Italian National Scientific Qualifications (ASN) as both Full Professor (I Fascia, 2022) and Associate Professor (II Fascia, 2020) in Electrical Engineering (Sector 09/E1). With a background in Microelectronic Engineering (University of Catania) and a Ph.D. in Applied Electronics from Roma Tre University (2017), her multidisciplinary expertise bridges advanced academic research and corporate operational excellence.
She has developed robust experience in energy, automation, and preventive maintenance management at prominent companies, including Air Liquide (utilizing SAP PM), N.B.C. S.a.S., and Numidia s.r.l.
Between 2014 and 2018, she significantly expanded my international research footprint at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beer Sheva, Israel), working within the Optoelectronic Organic Semiconductor Devices Laboratory and the Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology in collaboration with Prof. Rafi Shikler’s Microelectronics Laboratory. This synergy was bolstered by a prestigious ENEA fellowship (2015–2018) focused on thin-film photovoltaics under the "ILSE - Joint Italian-Israeli Laboratory on Solar and Alternative Energies."
Her research activities focus on the fabrication, electrical characterization, and defect identification of organic electronic devices. This work integrates numerical simulation techniques and soft computing methodologies, including artificial neural networks, applied to organic solar cells (OSCs), organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), and organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs).
In 2017, her contributions were recognized globally when she was ranked 91st in Europe among Top Young Scientists in Energy (1–5 years academic age). Concurrently, her co-authored research on atmospheric pollution impacts on 3G/4G mobile terminals, published in the International Journal of Energy and Environmental Engineering, achieved widespread media acclaim, including featured coverage by The Daily Observer (The Guardian).
Starting in 2019, her scientific interests expanded into intelligent systems and soft computing at the Department of Mechatronics laboratories within the Silesian University of Technology (SUT) in Gliwice, Poland. Research here focused on magnetic characterization, modeling of magnetorheological fluids, energy harvesting systems, and the automation of magnetorheological clutches using neural networks and advanced algorithms.
In December 2020 she was appointed as a Member of the SUT International Scientific Advisory Board for the Priority Research Area "Materials of the Future." The strong connection with the Polish university was further solidified during the four-year period from 2021 to 2024, holding the position of Assistant Professor - Outstanding Young Scientist after winning two European selection calls under the EURAXESS program at SUT's Department of Mechatronics. Concurrently, she fulfilled the strategic role of ERASMUS+ Coordinator for Research and International Mobility between the Silesian University of Technology and MEF University in Istanbul (Turkey).
Throughout these years, she was granted 19 scientific and economic merit awards by the Commission of the "Pro-Quality Programme" (SUT) under the Polish ministerial excellence initiative "Excellence Initiative - Research University." Notably, these included awards for the editorial quality of 7 international articles indexed in the TOP 1%, TOP 5%, and TOP 10% brackets—focusing on Deep Learning, neural networks, and fuzzy logic—alongside special Pro-Quality Funding grants for research internationalization.
Highly active in public engagement and Science Communication, she appeared as a guest speaker on the official Polish university podcast ("Pogadajmy o nauce: Czy sieci neuronowe moga zmienic produkcj e energii odnawialnej") in December 2023, discussing the impact of neural networks on renewable energy optimization; the interview was subsequently documented in January 2024 in the official academic journal Biuletyn. In 2024, the reference scientific monograph "Neural Network Approach in Renewable Sources" (Wydawnictwo Politechnika Slaska ) was published.
Additionally, she co-invented a patent for an innovative magnetic spring system with cavities filled with magnetorheological fluids, developed and approved by the Centre for Incubation and Technology Transfer (CITT) of Politechnika Slaska with co-inventors J. Bijak and Z. Kowalik. In 2025, a second advanced device for vibrational energy harvesting was successfully patented with P. Kowol, J. Bijak, Z. Kowalik, and A. Pilsniak.
During the 2025–2026 biennium, significant extra-institutional international collaboration was established in Bulgaria, where she serves as a Senior Researcher at the Faculty of Industrial Technology Department of Production Technology and Systems of the Technical University of Sofia. This appointment followed the award of a prestigious fellowship within the framework of the program "Improving research capacity and quality for international recognition and sustainability of TU-Sofia." Research in this context focuses on the integrated use of hydrogen technologies, energy storage systems, and Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing processes.
Keynotes, Conferences & Editorial Roles
This extensive trajectory is underpinned by an established international scientific profile, featuring 1 Plenary Lecture (IOS’2020, Poland), 3 appointments as Session Chair at prominent international congresses (IEEE ICECS 2023, IEEE ECAI 2025, ECAI 2026), and participation as a speaker at 13 peer-reviewed international conferences—including multiple editions of IEEE ECAI, ESARS-ITEC, IEEE ICCEP, IEEE MELECON, and SPEEDAM. These presentations showcased advanced research on the application of neural networks, machine learning, and numerical modeling for power systems, renewable energy, and optoelectronic devices. Furthermore, she holds membership on the International Program Committee for 8 international conferences (including ICYRIME and ISAAC), alongside regular participation since 2015 in the meetings of the Italian National Group of Electrical Engineering Researchers.
Complementing this profile is a robust and highly recognized editorial background: serving as an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports (Springer Nature), an Editor for the Green Electronic Technology collection of the journal Discover Electronics (Springer Nature), and having successfully coordinated as Chief-Guest Editor and Guest Editor of Special Issues across indexed international MDPI journals (Sustainability, Sensors, Electronics, Processes), managing the peer-review process for scientific contributions centered on artificial intelligence and smart power systems.
Her current research interests include the development and investigation of electronic organic devices and sensors, innovative materials, renewable energy technologies, and soft computing techniques, such as artificial neural networks applied to complex systems and computational problems