Maurizio Porfiri

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Maurizio Porfiri
EducationVirginia Polytechnic Institute, Sapienza University of Rome, University of Toulon
Occupation(s)Institute Professor; Director of the Center for Urban Science and Progress at NYU Tandon
OrganizationNew York University Tandon School of Engineering
TitlePh.D.
Websitewp.nyu.edu/dsl

Maurizio Porfiri (born Rome, Italy) is an engineering professor, mostly noted for his work with robotic fish and aquatic research.[1] His research revolves around modeling and control of complex systems, with applications from mechanics to behavior, public health, and robotics.[2][3][4][5] He is an Institute Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering.[3][6][7][8] He is also part of the core faculty of New York University's Center for Urban Science and Progress.[3][6][7] In 2022, he was appointed the director of the Center for Urban Science and Progress.[9]

As of 2023, Porfiri has authored approximately 400 journal publications, including papers in Nature, Nature Human Behaviour, and Physical Review Letters.[10]

Education[edit]

Porfiri earned his Ph.D. in engineering mechanics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He also holds a Ph.D. in theoretical and applied mechanics from Sapienza University of Rome[11] and the University of Toulon.[12]

Career and honors[edit]

Porfiri is an Institute Professor at New York University Tandon School of Engineering, with appointments at the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department, the Biomedical Engineering department, and the Center for Urban Science and Progress.[4][5][7]

He is the founder and the director of the Dynamical Systems Laboratory which conducts research of modeling and control of complex dynamical systems with a developed expertise in biomimetics and underwater applications.[1][3]

In 2008, Porfiri won the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the dynamical systems division.[12][13] Popular Science listed Porfiri in their "Brilliant 10" in 2010.[14][15][16][17][18] In 2013, he was named the ASME Dynamic Systems and Controls Division Outstanding Young Investigator for his contributions to biomimetic underwater robotics and collective dynamics of networked dynamical systems.[19][20] He earned the ASME Gary Anderson Early Achievement Award that same year.[21][22] In 2015, he won the ASME C.D. Mote, Jr. Early Career Award.[23][24][25] Porfiri was elevated to Fellow by the ASME and of the IEEE, both in 2019.[26][27][28]

He is an alumnus of the U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, organized by the National Academy of Engineering,[29][30] and the World Laureates Forum.[31][32]

Research[edit]

Porfiri's interdisciplinary research spans across animal and human behavior, control and dynamical systems theory, experimental and theoretical mechanics, network science, and robotics.[4][5][6]

Porfiri and his team at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering have designed bio-inspired robotic fish to determine whether they could act as leaders to real fish.[14] The robotic models provide predictable, controllable stimuli alongside live animals which is repeatable and consistent.[33] Porfiri has shown that the tail movement of a robotic fish can influence whether or not a zebrafish will accept the robot as a leader.[34][35] A school of Golden shiner followed the robotic fish in school-like positions in a water tunnel experiment,[36] even though the robot is bigger than the fish and not the same color.[37][38][39] The goal is to lead live fish away from dangerous areas including oil or chemical spill and natural disasters.[40] The research was funded by a NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award.[41]

Porfiri has conducted experiments with robotic replicas which evoke fear responses in zebrafish,[42] and worked with the connection between alcohol and social behavior, finding that alcohol reduces fear in zebrafish.[43] He led a team from both the New York University Tandon School of Engineering and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign which found that female killifish prefer males with yellow fins.[44]

In 2015, Porfiri's research in the directional information flow underlying collective animal behavior was paired with education and outreach activities in Brooklyn public schools.[45]

In recent years, Porfiri and his team developed robots that can contribute to mitigating the threat of invasive fish species by simulating natural predators.[46] 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.[47]

In 2012, Porfiri used robotic rovers to explore the Gowanus Canal 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.[48][49][50] The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.[51]

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.[52][53][54][55][56] The research is now under the support of the National Science Foundation, in one of the first firearm-related funded grants since the Dickey Amendment in 1996.[57][58]

Porfiri and his team have been working on the mathematical modeling of epidemiological diffusion since 2016.[59] With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, he leveraged network theory and high power computing to study the effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions, vaccinations, and reopenings on the spread of the virus.[60][61][62]

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, 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.[63][64][65]

Selected bibliography[edit]

Journal articles[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Maurizio Porfiri". World Science Festival. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  2. ^ "ASME selects Maurizio Porfiri as Outstanding Young Investigator". New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering. October 17, 2013. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d "Maurizio Porfiri | NYU Tandon School of Engineering". engineering.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  4. ^ a b c "Spotlight on Maurizio Porfiri | NYU Tandon School of Engineering". engineering.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  5. ^ a b c "Firearms, fish, and pandemics". narratives.insidehighered.com. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  6. ^ a b c "Newswise Expert | Maurizio Porfiri, NYU Tandon School of Engineering". www.newswise.com. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  7. ^ a b c "Professor Maurizio Porfiri – Dynamical Systems Laboratory". Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  8. ^ Ilan Mester (April 8, 2015). "Ultra-realistic Robotic Predator Scares Fish". Engineering.com. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  9. ^ "Maurizio Porfiri | NYU Tandon School of Engineering". engineering.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  10. ^ "Maurizio Porfiri | NYU Tandon School of Engineering". engineering.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  11. ^ Erin Newton (August 31, 2012). "Creativity As Key To Engineering Innovation". LiveScience. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  12. ^ a b "Maurizio Porfiri". NYU Tandon School of Engineering Profile. NYU Tandon School of Engineering. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  13. ^ "Assistant Professor Porfiri receives prestigious CAREER award from NSF | NYU Tandon School of Engineering". engineering.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  14. ^ a b Susannah F. Locke (November 18, 2010). "Brilliant 10: Maurizio Porfiri, The Water Wizard". Popular Science. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  15. ^ Gaudino, Martina (16 May 2012). "Ricerca e lavora in America, il caso di Maurizio Porfiri (Research and works in America, the case of Maurizio Porfiri)" (in Italian). CorriereUniv. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012.
  16. ^ "NYU-Poly's Maurizio Porfiri Named One of Popular Science's 'Brilliant 10' | NYU Tandon School of Engineering". engineering.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  17. ^ "'Popular Science' names College of Engineering alumnus as one of Brilliant 10". vtechworks.lib.vt.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  18. ^ "Brilliant 10: Maurizio Porfiri, the Water Wizard". Popular Science. 2019-03-18. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  19. ^ "The American Society of Mechanical Engineers Selects Maurizio Porfiri as Outstanding Young Investigator | NYU Tandon School of Engineering". engineering.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  20. ^ "ASME selects Maurizio Porfiri as Outstanding Young Investigator". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  21. ^ "Gary Anderson Early Achievement Award". ASME. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  22. ^ "NYU-Poly Professor Honored for Contributions to Smart Structures and Materials | NYU Tandon School of Engineering". engineering.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  23. ^ "Newsmakers: Maurizio Porfiri, PhD". American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). 2015. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015.
  24. ^ "C. D. Mote Jr., Early Career Award". www.asme.org. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  25. ^ "NYU-Poly Professor Honored for Contributions in the Field of Mechanical Vibration". World Industrial Reporter. 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  26. ^ "Expert in dynamical systems elected a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers". engineering.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  27. ^ "Expert in dynamical systems elected a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers". markets.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  28. ^ "IEEE Elects Two NYU Tandon Professors as Fellows | NYU Tandon School of Engineering". engineering.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  29. ^ "Science X Network :: Phys.org, Medical Xpress, Tech Xplore". sciencex.com. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  30. ^ "Maurizio Porfiri". www.naefrontiers.org. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  31. ^ Allwright, Alice. "Rachel McCrea to deliver presentation at World Laureate Forum | Staff and Student News". Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  32. ^ "wla-frontent-pc". wlf2021.wlaforum.com. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  33. ^ "Lubricant Based on Nanoparticles and Ionic Liquids for Extreme Conditions". AzoNano. April 7, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  34. ^ "Robot-fish interact with live fish". The Royal Society. November 14, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  35. ^ "Robot Fish Could Save Real Ones From Oil Spills and Other Ecological Disasters, Study Suggests". Huffington Post. March 2, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  36. ^ Dave Mosher (February 22, 2012). "Real Fish Welcome Robotic Overlord Into Their School". Wired. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  37. ^ "Real fish follow a robotic one". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  38. ^ Eveleth, Rose. "Robot fish can be just as convincing as the real thing". ZDNet. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  39. ^ "What makes a robot fish attractive? (Hint: It's in the moves)". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  40. ^ Ben Coxworth (March 2, 2012). "Robot becomes a leader among fish". GizMag. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  41. ^ Hallie Deaktor Kapner (February 24, 2011). "Robot Fish Can Trick the Real Thing". LiveScience. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  42. ^ "Ultra-Realistic Robot Fish Can Scare A Real One". Science 2.0. April 9, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  43. ^ Tim Hornyak (August 2, 2013). "Guess what? Drunk fish aren't scared of robot fish". CNet. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  44. ^ "Judging a fish by its color: For female bluefin killifish, love is a yellow mate". Phys.org. September 16, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  45. ^ "With a little help from robotic, researchers investigate communications behind swarming". Phys.org. February 10, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  46. ^ "Robots May Help Reduce Threat of Invasive Species". Inside Science. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  47. ^ McFarland, Alex (2020-08-25). "Researchers Use Robotic Fish to Explore "Behavioral Teleporting"". Unite.AI. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  48. ^ "370 | CitizenScience.gov". www.citizenscience.gov. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  49. ^ "Brooklyn Atlantis: A Robot Captures Life, Litter in the Gowanus With the Help of Citizen Scientists | NYU Tandon School of Engineering". engineering.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  50. ^ Dale, Brady (2013-12-03). "Brooklyn Atlantis citizen science project uses robot boats in Gowanus". Technical.ly Brooklyn. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  51. ^ Vivian Yee (October 14, 2012). "A Robot Plumbs the Depths of the Gowanus Canal". The New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  52. ^ Burke, Cathy. "NYU study finds uptick in gun sales 'unintended consequence' of media coverage of gun control after mass shootings". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  53. ^ ""Dopo ogni mass shooting si vendono più armi"". il manifesto (in Italian). 2019-08-06. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  54. ^ Lavarini, Federica (2020-09-01). "Armi da fuoco negli USA, impennata di acquisti con il Covid-19". OggiScienza (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  55. ^ "Fear of stricter regulations spurs gun sales after mass shootings, new analysis suggests". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  56. ^ "New research indicates media coverage of gun control causes a spike in gun purchases after mass shootings". PsyPost. 2019-10-13. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  57. ^ "Study Ties Gun Purchases to Fear of Firearm Regulations, Kicks Off Major Research". www.forensicmag.com. October 12, 2020. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  58. ^ "Some Big Health Care Policy Changes Are Hiding In The Federal Spending Package". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  59. ^ "Fronteggiare le epidemie si può, è matematico: "Si diffondono con i meccanismi dei Social"". lastampa.it (in Italian). 2016-12-06. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  60. ^ "5 Questions with COVID Researchers: Maurizio Porfiri, New York University | Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub". nebigdatahub.org. 2020-08-28. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  61. ^ "New COVID-19 model shows little benefit in vaccinating high-risk individuals first". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  62. ^ "Mass COVID-19 vaccinations accomplish more than targeted vaccine roll outs". New York Post. 2021-01-24. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  63. ^ "How intricate Venus's-flower-baskets manipulate the flow of seawater". Science News. 2021-07-21. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  64. ^ "Glass sponges have properties for the design of ships, planes and skyscrapers". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  65. ^ "Glass sponges contain properties that may advance the design of ships, planes and skyscrapers". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
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