Maurizio Porfiri (born

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy) is an

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

professor, mostly noted for his work with

robotic fish A robot fish is a type of bionic robot that has the shape and locomotion of a living fish. Since the Massachusetts Institute of Technology first published research on them in 1989, there have been more than 400 articles published about robot fish. ...

and aquatic research. His research revolves around modeling and control of

complex system A complex system is a system composed of many components which may interact with each other. Examples of complex systems are Earth's global climate, organisms, the human brain, infrastructure such as power grid, transportation or communication ...

s, with applications from

mechanics Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objects r ...

behavior Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as wel ...

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

, and

robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrat ...

. He is an Institute Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and

Biomedical Engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...

at the

New York University Tandon School of Engineering The New York University Tandon School of Engineering (commonly referred to as Tandon) is the engineering and applied sciences school of New York University. Tandon is the second oldest private engineering and technology school in the United Sta ...

. He is also part of the core faculty of New York University's

Center for Urban Science and Progress The NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress (commonly referred to as CUSP) is a degree-granting technology and research institute in downtown Brooklyn, New York City. It is a graduate school of New York University focusing on urban informatics ...

. In 2022, he was appointed the director of the

Education

Porfiri earned his Ph.D. in

engineering mechanics Applied mechanics is the branch of science concerned with the motion of any substance that can be experienced or perceived by humans without the help of instruments. In short, when mechanics concepts surpass being theoretical and are applied and e ...

from

Virginia Polytechnic Institute Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

. He also holds a Ph.D. in theoretical and applied mechanics from

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a Public university, public research university l ...

and the

University of Toulon The University of Toulon (French: ''Université de Toulon'' or UTLN) is a French university located in Toulon, France, and neighboring areas ( La Garde, Saint-Raphaël, La Valette and Draguignan). It was founded in 1968 and is organized in 6 ...

Career and honors

Porfiri is an Institute Professor at

, with appointments at the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department, the Biomedical Engineering department, and the

. He is the founder and the director of the Dynamical Systems Laboratory which conducts research of modeling and control of complex

dynamical system In mathematics, a dynamical system is a system in which a Function (mathematics), function describes the time dependence of a Point (geometry), point in an ambient space. Examples include the mathematical models that describe the swinging of a ...

s with a developed expertise in

biomimetics Biomimetics or biomimicry is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. The terms "biomimetics" and "biomimicry" are derived from grc, βίος (''bios''), life, and μίμησ ...

and underwater applications. In 2008, Porfiri won the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the dynamical systems division.

Popular Science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...

listed Porfiri in their "Brilliant 10" in 2010. In 2013, he was named the

ASME The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

Dynamic Systems and Controls Division Outstanding Young Investigator for his contributions to biomimetic underwater robotics and collective dynamics of networked dynamical systems. He earned the

Gary Anderson Early Achievement Award that same year. In 2015, he won the ASME C.D. Mote, Jr. Early Career Award. Porfiri was elevated to Fellow by the

and of the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

, both in 2019. He is an alumnus of the U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, organized by the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...

, and th
World Laureates Forum

Research

Porfiri's interdisciplinary research spans across

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

and

human behavior Human behavior is the potential and expressed capacity ( mentally, physically, and socially) of human individuals or groups to respond to internal and external stimuli throughout their life. Kagan, Jerome, Marc H. Bornstein, and Richard M. L ...

control Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controlling ...

and

dynamical systems theory Dynamical systems theory is an area of mathematics used to describe the behavior of complex dynamical systems, usually by employing differential equations or difference equations. When differential equations are employed, the theory is called ' ...

, experimental and theoretical

network science Network science is an academic field which studies complex networks such as telecommunication networks, computer networks, biological networks, cognitive and semantic networks, and social networks, considering distinct elements or actors repre ...

, and

. Porfiri and his team at the

have designed bio-inspired robotic fish to determine whether they could act as leaders to real fish. The robotic models provide predictable, controllable stimuli alongside live animals which is repeatable and consistent. Porfiri has shown that the tail movement of a robotic fish can influence whether or not a

zebrafish The zebrafish (''Danio rerio'') is a freshwater fish belonging to the minnow family ( Cyprinidae) of the order Cypriniformes. Native to South Asia, it is a popular aquarium fish, frequently sold under the trade name zebra danio (and thus often ...

will accept the robot as a leader. A school of

Golden shiner The golden shiner (''Notemigonus crysoleucas'') is a cyprinid fish native to eastern North America. It is the sole member of its genus. Much used as a bait fish, it is probably the most widely pond-cultured fish in the United States. It can be fo ...

followed the robotic fish in school-like positions in a water tunnel experiment, even though the robot is bigger than the fish and not the same color. The goal is to lead live fish away from dangerous areas including oil or chemical spill and natural disasters. The research was funded by a NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award. Porfiri has conducted experiments with robotic replicas which evoke fear responses in zebrafish, and worked with the connection between alcohol and social behavior, finding that alcohol reduces fear in zebrafish. He led a team from both the

and the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

which found that female

killifish A killifish is any of various oviparous (egg-laying) cyprinodontiform fish (including families Aplocheilidae, Cyprinodontidae, Fundulidae, Profundulidae and Valenciidae). All together, there are 1,270 species of killifish, the biggest family ...

prefer males with yellow fins. In 2015, Porfiri's research in the directional

information flow In discourse-based grammatical theory, information flow is any tracking of referential information by speakers. Information may be ''new,'' just introduced into the conversation; ''given,'' already active in the speakers' consciousness; or ''old, ...

underlying

collective animal behavior Collective animal behaviour is a form of social behavior involving the coordinated behavior of large groups of similar animals as well as emergent properties of these groups. This can include the costs and benefits of group membership, the tra ...

was paired with education and

outreach Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...

activities in Brooklyn public schools. In recent years, Porfiri and his team developed robots that can contribute to mitigating the threat of invasive fish species by simulating natural predators. To isolate the determinants of social interactions in fish, he and his team designed a platform that can “teleport” the behavior of fish on a fish replica in real-time. In 2012, Porfiri used robotic rovers to explore the

Gowanus Canal The Gowanus Canal (originally known as the Gowanus Creek) is a canal in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, on the westernmost portion of Long Island. Once a vital cargo transportation hub, the canal has seen decreasing use since the mid-20 ...

in an attempt to learn how the toxic water affects wildlife. He founded the citizen science platform Brooklyn Atlantis, which engaged local communities in the environmental monitoring and control of the polluted waters of the Gowanus Canal. The research was funded by the

. Since 2019, Porfiri has been involved in research in the area of firearm acquisition and violence in the United States. Leading a multidisciplinary team across four universities, he demonstrated that spikes in gun purchases in the aftermath of a mass shooting are associated with the fear that gun access will be soon curtailed by restrictive laws, rather than the desire of self-protection. The research is now under the support of the

, in one of the first firearm-related funded grants since the

Dickey Amendment The Dickey Amendment is a provision first inserted as a rider into the 1996 omnibus spending bill of the United States federal government that mandated that "none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for D ...

in 1996. Porfiri and his team have been working on the

mathematical modeling A mathematical model is a description of a system using mathematical concepts and language. The process of developing a mathematical model is termed mathematical modeling. Mathematical models are used in the natural sciences (such as physics, b ...

of epidemiological diffusion since 2016. With the advent of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, he leveraged

network theory Network theory is the study of graphs as a representation of either symmetric relations or asymmetric relations between discrete objects. In computer science and network science, network theory is a part of graph theory: a network can be defi ...

and high power computing to study the effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions,

vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

s, and reopenings on the spread of the virus. In 2021, he was part of the research team that demonstrated the efficiency of the skeletal motifs of the deep-sea sponge

Venus' flower basket The Venus' flower basket (''Euplectella aspergillum'') is a glass sponge in the phylum Porifera. It is a marine sponge found in the deep waters of the Pacific ocean, usually at depths below 500 meters. Like other sponges, they feed by filtering s ...

, in terms of reduction of drag and of trapping time of fluid inside the body cavity, which is likely to promote selective filter feeding and sexual reproduction.

Selected bibliography

Journal Articles

* Boldini, A., Porfiri M., 2021: “ Inversion of solvent migration in charged membranes”, ''

Physical Review Letters ''Physical Review Letters'' (''PRL''), established in 1958, is a peer-reviewed, scientific journal that is published 52 times per year by the American Physical Society. As also confirmed by various measurement standards, which include the ''Journa ...

'' 127(15), 156001 * Falcucci, G., Amati, G., Fanelli, P., Krastev, V. K., Polverino, G., Porfiri, M., Succi, S., 2021: “ Extreme flow simulations reveal skeletal adaptations of deep-sea sponges”, ''Nature'' 595, 537–541 * Porfiri, M., 2020: " Validity and limitations of the detection matrix to determine hidden units and network size from perceptible dynamics", ''

'' 124(16), 168301 * Porfiri, M., Sattanapalle, R. R., Nakayama, S., Macinko, J., Sipahi, R., 2019: " Media coverage and firearm acquisition in the aftermath of a mass shooting", ''

Nature Human Behaviour ''Nature Human Behaviour'' is a monthly multidisciplinary online-only peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of human behaviour. It was established in January 2017 and is published by Springer Nature Publishing. The editor-in-chief ...

'' 3(9), 913-921 * Zhang, P., Rosen, M., Peterson, S. D., Porfiri, M., 2018: " An information-theoretic approach to study fluid-structure interactions", ''

Journal of Fluid Mechanics The ''Journal of Fluid Mechanics'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of fluid mechanics. It publishes original work on theoretical, computational, and experimental aspects of the subject. The journal is published by Cambridge Uni ...

'' 848, 968-986 * Golovneva, O., Jeter, R., Belykh, I., Porfiri, M., 2017:
Windows of opportunity for synchronization in stochastically coupled maps
, '' Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena'' 340, 1-13 * Zino, L., Rizzo, A., Porfiri, M., 2016: " Continuous-time discrete-distribution theory for activity-driven networks", ''

'' 117(22), 228302 * Mwaffo, V., Anderson, R. P., Butail, S., Porfiri, M., 2015: " A jump persistent turning walker to model zebrafish locomotion", ''

Journal of the Royal Society Interface The ''Journal of the Royal Society Interface'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the interface between the life sciences and the physical sciences, including chemistry, engineering, materials science, mathematics, and physi ...

'' 12(102), 20140884 * Cha, Y., Porfiri, M., 2014:
Mechanics and electrochemistry of ionic polymer metal composites
, ''Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids'' 71, 156–178 * Panciroli, R., Porfiri, M., 2013:
Evaluation of the pressure field on a rigid body entering a quiescent fluid through particle image velocimetry
, ''

Experiments in Fluids ''Experiments in Fluids'' is a scientific, peer-reviewed scientific journal published monthly by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal presents contributions that employ existing experimental techniques to gain an understanding of the und ...

'' 54(12), 1630 * Marras, S., Porfiri, M., 2012: " Fish and robots swimming together: attraction towards the robot demands biomimetic locomotion", ''

'' 9(73), 1856–1868 * Abaid, N., Porfiri, M., 2011:
Consensus over numerosity-constrained random networks
, ''

IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operati ...

'' 56(3), 649-654 * Aureli, M., Kopman, V., Porfiri, M., 2010: " Free-locomotion of underwater vehicles actuated by ionic polymer metal composites", ''IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics'' 15(4), 603-614

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porfiri, Maurizio Polytechnic Institute of New York University faculty Virginia Tech alumni Sapienza University of Rome alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Italian electrical engineers