Department Presentation

Presentation

 

The Department of Information Engineering (DINFO), one of the 21 Departments of the University of Florence, serves as a reference point for the ICT (Information and Communications Technology) sector.

Its advanced research activities cover electronic engineering, computer engineering, telecommunications, automation, electromagnetism and measurement, and extend to operations research, bioengineering, and electrical engineering.

 

The Department studies and designs electronic devices and advanced sensors, including radar, ultrasonic and satellite systems, antennas, and wireless systems. It develops control systems, robotics, remote sensing technologies, and telecommunication networks. DINFO also designs advanced software and Artificial Intelligence systems, addressing the processing and interpretation of data, signals, and multimedia content, decision support, information security and protection, as well as technologies for health and energy.

Research activities span fields that may appear diverse, yet are all characterized by the acquisition, processing, transmission, and use of information and knowledge, key resources of contemporary society.

 

DINFO is also a member of several inter-university centres and consortia, including CNIT (National Inter-University Consortium for Telecommunications), CINI (National Inter-University Consortium for Informatics), and MECSA (Microwave Engineering Center for Space Applications). The Department also hosts the MICC (Media Integration and Communication Center), a centre of excellence established by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) in 2001, and the CITMQSA (Interdepartmental Center for Microsystems Technologies for Environmental Quality and Safety).

 

DINFO comprises more than 210 staff members, including professors, researchers, technical and administrative staff, postdoctoral fellows, and PhD students, and is actively and successfully engaged in securing significant public and private research funding. The Department offers three Bachelor’s degree programmes (L8–L9 Biomedical Engineering, L8 Electronic Engineering, L8 Computer Engineering), five Master’s degree programmes (LM21 Biomedical Engineering, LM29 Electronic Systems Engineering, LM32 Computer Engineering, LM32 Artificial Intelligence, LM25 Robotics, Automation, and Electrical Engineering), and three PhD programmes (Information Engineering, Smart Computing, Smart Industry), with a total student population of approximately 1,500.

 

From the Institute of Electronics to DINFO

DINFO represents a significant Italian academic institution, forward-looking while deeply rooted in the history and tradition of the University of Florence.

In the early years following the Second World War, Nello Carrara, a fellow student of Enrico Fermi, established in Florence the IROE (Institute for Research on Electromagnetic Waves) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). This pioneering group of researchers in the fields of electronics and microwaves would later play a key role, in 1972, in the establishment of the Faculty of Engineering in Florence, which has since maintained strong ties with high-technology industries.

 

In March 1972, the Institute of Electronics was founded. As research evolved and new disciplines emerged, during the 1980s the Institute gave way to two distinct structures: the Department of Electronic Engineering (DIE), later renamed the Department of Electronics and Telecommunications (DET) in 1999, and the Department of Systems and Informatics (DSI).

In January 2012, these two academic traditions were brought together to address the challenges of the modern information society: the DET and a large part of the DSI merged into the newly established Department of Information Engineering (DINFO), creating a single reference hub for ICT technologies.

 

Since its establishment, the Department has been directed by Professor Enrico Del Re (Full Professor of Telecommunications, Director from 2012 to 2016), Professor Enrico Vicario (Full Professor of Information Processing Systems, Director from 2016 to 2024), and Professor Giorgio Battistelli (Full Professor of Automatic Control, Director from 2024 to the present).