MIT Italy
Who we are
Carlo Ratti, Co-Director
Carlo Ratti is associate professor at the department of Urban Studies and Planning and founding director of the SENSEable City Laboratory, a new research initiative between the Departments of Urban Studies and Planning and Media Lab. Ratti grew up in several European countries, graduating in engineering at the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris, France, and at the Politecnico di Torino in Italy. He later earned his MPhil and PhD degrees in architecture from the University of Cambridge, UK. In 2000 he moved to MIT as a Fulbright post-doc, working with Hiroshi Ishii the MIT Media Lab. In 2002 Ratti started the design office carlorattiassociati – Walter Nicolino and Carlo Ratti in Turin, Italy. Their work was selected at the 2004 Venice Biennale as one of the top Italian practices. Ratti’s current projects include the headquarters of the Trussardi fashion house in Milan and the ‘digital water’ pavillion at the 2008 International Exhibition in Zaragoza, Spain. A junior fellow of the Aspen Institute, he has co-authored over thirty scientific publications and several patents. He is a regular contributor of articles on architecture to Domus, Casabella and the leading Italian newspapers La Stampa and Il Sole 24 Ore.
Serenella Sferza, Co-Director
Serenella Sferza, born and raised in Milan, came to MIT as Fulbright Fellow from the Universita’ Statale, and stayed to complete her Ph.D. in Political Science. She has taught at several US and European universities, and published numerous articles on European politics. An instructor at the Department of Political Science, Sferza teaches “Working in the Global Economy,” a core course in the Minor in Applied International Studies, and is the advisor to the Minor in Applied International Studies.
Contact Us
MIT-Italy Program
MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI)
292 Main Street, E38-736
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 452-2693
ssferza@mit.edu
The MIT-Italy Scientific Committee
The MIT-Italy Program relies on the expertise and advice of numerous MIT scientists regarding exchanges and collaborations with our Italian partners. Since 2002, the Program has been working closely with the MIT-Italy Scientific Committee composed by faculty who have close collaborations with Italian research insitutions and are representative of the MIT research community. The Committee includes:
- Emilio Bizzi, Institute Professor, Mit-Italy Scientific Committee Chair.
- Rafael L. Bras, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory.
- Bruno Coppi, Department of Physics.
- Forbes Dewey, Mechanic Engineering and Bioengineering.
- Richard Locke, Sloan School of Management and Political Science, MIT-Italy Program Co-Director.
- Nicola Marzari, Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
- Sanjoy K. Mitter, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
- Tomaso Poggio, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.
- Paola Malanotte-Rizzoli, Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science, and Director, Mit/Woods Hole Institute.
- Serenella Sferza, MIT-Italy Program Co-Director
- Francesco Stellacci, Materials Science














