As a physicist, I worked for twenty years on particle and radiation detectors for space and underground applications. In particular, I contributed to two cosmic-ray detectors in space (AMS-01 and AMS-02), one underground detector (ATLAS), and two X-ray detectors in space (STIX and MiSolFA). Next I moved from research to industry in March 2018, with the role of Head of the Space R&D at Cosylab. In May 2019, I became the General Manager of Cosylab Switzerland. In July 2023 I co-founded Fly High Engineering, a company offering business and engineering services.
While doing basic research, I performed a number of scientific studies, ranging from cosmic-ray and particle astrophysics to the search and discovery of the Higgs boson, from thermodynamics to solar physics. In addition, I studied statistical inference and contributed to the development of the field of objective Bayesian inference. And of course I wrote many papers on all these subjects!
Over the years I was challenged by a number of technical aspects related to particle and radiation detectors and this was a great motivation to learn about so many things. Along with theoretical and particle physics, I took several courses in computer programming, spanning the entire range from embedded and real-time programming to high-performance and parallel computing. During the development of these detectors I learned about sensors, front-end and powering electronics, data acquisition systems and communication protocols, trigger logics and system design. All along with a lot of Physics! Moreover, doing things in space brings a lot of additional complication, hence I had to learn about careful risk analysis and management, failure analysis, redundant design, etc. Very useful when dealing with critical systems like medical devices or airplanes!
Becoming more expert (and older...) I started coordinating the activities of larger groups. I also had the pleasure to supervise the work of many excellent students, from whom I learned at least as much they learned from me. At some point I realized that I was missing a formal training in project management, hence I decided to study it together with program and portfolio management. An important milestone of this effort was the certification as Project Management Professional (PMP)® by the Project Management Institute in July 2017. This helped me a lot transitioning to the industrial world, where I got into general management as a role and education (I completed an International Executive MBA at IEDC in December 2022), before taking the courage of becoming an entrepreneur.
When I look back, I'm astonished by how much this wide variety of things actually helped me moving forward and helping many people achieving their own goals. Celebrating success together with my colleagues and partners is the thing I like most :-)