Rita Asquini (High School Diploma in Computer Science with 60/60, M.Sc. degree in Electronic Engineering 110/110 cum laude from University “Roma Tre”, Qualification to the Engineering profession) received the Ph.D. degree in Electronic Engineering in 2002 from "La Sapienza" University of Rome in Italy (receiving in 2004 a recognition award for the best PhD thesis from the Italian Liquid Crystal Society). In 2017 she obtained the National Scientific Qualification for Full Professor in Electronic Engineering. Currently, she is Associate Professor in Electronic Engineering with the Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications in “Sapienza” University of Rome, where she has been Assistant Professor from 2008 to 2015 and Research Fellow from 2002 to 2008.
She is Deputy Director of the Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications in Sapienza University of Rome.
R. A. is Founder and President of ARAPhEE - Association for the Research Advancement on Photonics and Electronic Engineering, a non profit scientific and cultural association (http://www.araphee.it/).
In 1998, as a consultant, she was appointed by SI.TE.L. (Livorno) for the computerization of port structures with neural networks techniques. In 1998 she also was employed by TIM (formerly Telecom Italia) with a permanent position working on Service Assurance of Communication Networks. In the same period she attended a post-degree specialization course (5 months) in Telecommunications and Management at the "Scuola Superiore di Telecomunicazioni Guglielmo Reiss Romoli" in L'Aquila. In May 2000, having been admitted to the Ph.D. course in Electronic Engineering (XIV Cycle), she quits Telecom Italia to devote herself full time to research. Nevertheless, in 2001 she continued the collaboration with Telecom Italia holding Master Courses for Telecom Italia Lab (formerly CSELT) researchers on "DWDM optical fiber transmission systems" at the aforementioned "Scuola Superiore di Telecomunicazioni Guglielmo Reiss Romoli". In 2006 she was a consultant for RINA Consulting (formerly D'Appolonia) in the framework of an European Research Project for the making of a neural network for image recognition in GPR systems. In 2007 she had a contract in the European project COMUNET-EQUAL as Research Collaborator for the testing of an e-learning community network model.
Since 2000 she held lessons and tutorials for the course "Optoelectronics" of the Faculty of Engineering, University "La Sapienza. She has been adjunct Professor for the course of "Applied Electronics" (from ay 2003/2004 to ay 2007/2008) and for the course of "Innovative electronic devices and molecular electronics" (from ay 2010/2011 to ay 2011/2012). She has been also Professor of the course "Computer Science E-Learning" (from ay 2004/2005 to ay 2007/2008) for the Faculty of Philosophy (now Faculty of Medicine and Psychology), University "La Sapienza".
She is currently Professor of the course "Principles of Electronics and Telecommunications" for the Laurea Degree in Engineering for Technological and Digital Innovation for the Built Environment (Rieti site), "Applied Electronics" and "Electronic Systems for Mechatronics" at the Laurea and Master Degree in Mechanical Engineering, "Photonic Microsystems" at the Master Degree in Electronic Engineering and at the Master Degree in Nanotechnology Engineering, and "Optoelectronic Sensors" at the Master Degree in Atmospheric Science and Technology at the University of Rome "La Sapienza". She is also Professor in the II level Master "Optics and Quantum Information" (Sapienza University of Rome).
Moreover since 2000 R.A. has been supervisor of more than 80 Master and Bachelor Theses students in Electronic Engineering, Nanotechnology Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, and supervisor of 15 PhD students/PostDocs in topics related to Electronic Engineering.
Since 1999 R.A. has been managing and developing the “Optoelectronics Lab” in the Dept. of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications (DIET) in Sapienza University of Rome, supporting the activities of undergraduates and PhD students in the lab and following both experimental and theoretical/design aspects.
She is the RADRL Manager of the Optoelectronics Laboratory at the DIET Department of Sapienza University, responsible for Research Projects and Teaching Activities, coordinating the work of thesis students, PhD candidates, and researchers.
She is also the Head of the “EMPhASys” Laboratory — Electronics, Mechatronics and Photonics Applications & Systems Laboratory (https://sites.google.com/view/emphasys) — overseeing teaching and research activities, coordinating thesis students, PhD candidates, and researchers in topics related to Electronics, Mechatronics, and Photonics.
Her main research interests include modeling, fabrication, and characterization of optoelectronic and photonic sensors and devices, in both guided-wave and free-space light propagation. R.A. has a solid know-how in liquid crystals and polymer micro and nanostructures, made with ion-exchange glass waveguides, polymer waveguides, liquid crystals planar structures, plasmonic structures with metasurfaces, and silicon 2D structures. Among others, she developed several guided-wave photonic devices based on liquid crystals and polymers for switching, routing and filtering operations for telecommunications investigating the spectral and temporal response in electro-optical waveguide switches, integrated Bragg reflectors, filters and add-drop multiplexers, optofluidic structures and biosensors in Lab-on-Chip systems. R.A. is working also on the realization of high-efficiency and low-cost solar cells based on hetero-structures in amorphous/crystalline silicon technology. Other research topics include MEMS micromanipulators, mechatronics, and microcontroller-based systems.
R. A. has been involved in National and European Research Projects, and recently she participated to the Joint IIT-Sapienza LAB Life-NanoScience on Lab-on-chip for biomolecular analysis (2011-2016) and to the COST ACTION (European Cooperation in Science and Technology): IC COST 1208 “Integrating devices and materials: a challenge for new instrumentation in ICT” (IDEM) (2013-2017).
Rita Asquini has been PI and coordinator of regional, national and international projects. Recently, she has been Proponent and Management Committee Member of the European COST action CA16215 “European network for the promotion of portable, affordable and simple analytical platforms” (PortASAP), where she has been elected Working Group Leader of WG5 “New Instrumentation” (2017-2022), coordinating 37 European research groups. As coordinator of the Working Group, Prof. Asquini has been responsible of the approval and requests for the Short Term Scientific Missions (STMS) within the WG5, and the evaluation of the scientific reports at the end of the mission. She organized an International School “Training school – DIY Arduinobased platform for monitoring Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)” in the frame of the european network COST PortASAP (Jul.-Sep. 2021). Recently, she has been PI in the European Space Agency (ESA) project on wind forecast analysis for the Space Rider landing site (2022). She oversees a research collaboration with “LEONARDO Electronics-Space Laser Systems”, heading the research on detectors for the making of a new LiDAR in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She is actually co-PI and critical mass component of the Spoke 7 “Complete photonic-quantum systems”, responsible of the Thematic Line 2 – “Biochips for quantum sensing” in the Partenariato Esteso 4 “NATIONAL QUANTUM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE” and she is critical mass component of the Spoke 1 “Green/autonomic optical networks, systems and integrated devices”, Thematic Line 1 “Engineering photonic devices and systems towards a green optical network infrastructure for 6G (RIGOLETTO)” in the Partenariato Esteso 14 “RESTART - RESearch and innovation on future Telecommunications systems and networks, to make Italy more smart” of PNRR 2022 - funded by European Union, Next Generation Union.
She is also Co-PI and Head of operating unit of the 2-year national project “Study, development and feasibility of innovative instrumentation for measuring air speed fields and relative turbulence, temperature fields and particulate matter with different grain sizes in confined spaces” for Istituto Nazionale contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro (INAIL) Ricerca Scientifica 2022-2025 (Bando BRIC 2022).
She is PI of the project SPLENdIDA (Single Photon detectors for Layer sENsing lIDAr) in the frame of the Optical Technological Roadmap of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), with co-partners Politecnico di Milano and LEONARDO (2025-2027).
R. A. has participated in numerous national and international conferences, presenting more than 40 communications, 22 as invited speaker and she was Keynote Speaker on "Current trends and applications in biosensors" at the 36th International Symposium on Microscale Separations and Bioanalysis (27-30 Sep. 2020, Saint-Malo, France).
She has been General Chair of the International Conference 41st “PhotonIcs & Electromagnetic Research Symposium” PIERS 2019 held on 17-20 June 2019 in Rome – Italy with 1800 participating researchers from 70 world countries (http://piers.org/piers2019Rome/organization.php).
She is member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), of the International Liquid Crystal Society (ILCS), of the Italian Liquid Crystal Society (SICL), of the Italian Electronics Group (GE), of the Research Center on Nanotechnologies applied to Engineering (CNIS) and of the National Inter-University Consortium for Telecommunications.
Since 2008 she is part of the Electronic Engineering PhD Programme Board of University of Rome "La Sapienza". From 2011 to 2014 R. A. has been an elected Representative Member in the Restricted Faculty Council of the Board of the Faculty of Information Engineering, Informatics, and Statistics (Membro eletto della Giunta di Facoltà) as Researchers delegate of the Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications of Sapienza University of Rome.
From 2013 to 2015 she has been an elected member in the Academic Senate (Governance) of Sapienza as Researchers delegate of 12 Departments (about 300 Researchers).
From 2019 (ongoing) she is an elected member in the Academic Senate (Governance) of Sapienza as Associate Professors delegate from 12 Departments and the School of Aerospace Engineering (representative of about 320 Professors), and she has been recently re-elected for a new mandate (2022-2025).
R. A. is reviewer for international journals and she has served in the Editorial Board of Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group) of the Electronics, Photonics and Device Physics section.
She is author and co-author of more than 200 scientific publications and co-inventor of an international patent.
She is author of a university textbook (R. Asquini and F. Zappa "Digital Electronic Components”, Editrice Esculapio, Bologna, 2025, ISBN: 978-88-9385-485-6).