Role: ICU System Enigineer

Mauro Focardi is a Researcher-Technologist at National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), OAA – Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, Firenze – Italia. He is graduated in Physics and he got a Ph. D. on Electronics Engineering at University of Florence. He mainly works on technology and instrumentation for Space and Ground-based astrophysics, focal plane array sensors, detector readout and control electronics on scientific payloads on-board sub-orbital rockets and satellite platforms.

He has been previously involved on the Herschel/SCORE coronagraph development on-board an US/NRL sub-orbital rocket, successfully launched on September, 2009. Then he took part, as Co-I, on the design and development of the Data Processing Electronics and SW of the METIS Coronagraph on board the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter Mission and on the design of the Shadow Position Sensors (SPS) of the ASPIICS Coronagraph on-board the ESA PROBA-3 satellite.

Presently, he works as System Engineer and as member of the P/L System Team for the design and development of the Instrument Control Units (ICU) of the ARIEL and PLATO Missions (ESA) for the detection and following characterisation of exoplanets and their atmospheres.