Prior to joining CSI in 2015, he earned a B.S. degree in Physics in 1995 from the University of Milan (Italy) with the highest honors (Summa Cum Laude), and a Ph.D. in Physics from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland) in 2003. He went to Georgia Tech (Atlanta, GA) as a postdoc in 2003, and at Georgia Tech, he joined the faculty of the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2008, and in 2014 he also joined the faculty of the School of Physics. In 2015, he joined the Chemistry Department at CSI. His research interests include quantum mechanical computational methods, high-performance computer simulations, atomistic theories/modelling, and condensed matter systems. Current research efforts focus on the modelling and study of low-dimensional materials, surfaces and interfaces, and ionic transport phenomena.