Maurizio Porfiri Explained

Maurizio Porfiri
Occupation:Institute Professor; Director of the Center for Urban Science and Progress at NYU Tandon
Organization:New York University Tandon School of Engineering
Ph.D.
Nocat Wdimage:=yes
Education:Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Sapienza University of Rome, University of Toulon

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.[6] [7] [8] He is also part of the core faculty of New York University's Center for Urban Science and Progress. 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

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

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.

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.

In 2008, Porfiri won the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the dynamical systems division.[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

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

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. 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

Journal articles

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Maurizio Porfiri. World Science Festival. September 11, 2015.
  2. Web site: ASME selects Maurizio Porfiri as Outstanding Young Investigator. October 17, 2013. New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering. September 11, 2015.
  3. Web site: Maurizio Porfiri NYU Tandon School of Engineering. 2021-12-01. engineering.nyu.edu. en.
  4. Web site: Spotlight on Maurizio Porfiri NYU Tandon School of Engineering. 2021-12-01. engineering.nyu.edu.
  5. Web site: Firearms, fish, and pandemics. 2021-12-01. narratives.insidehighered.com. en.
  6. Web site: Newswise Expert Maurizio Porfiri, NYU Tandon School of Engineering. 2021-12-01. www.newswise.com. en.
  7. Web site: Professor Maurizio Porfiri – Dynamical Systems Laboratory. 2021-12-01. en-US.
  8. Web site: Ultra-realistic Robotic Predator Scares Fish. Ilan Mester. April 8, 2015. Engineering.com. September 11, 2015.
  9. Web site: Maurizio Porfiri NYU Tandon School of Engineering . 2023-04-19 . engineering.nyu.edu . en.
  10. Web site: Maurizio Porfiri NYU Tandon School of Engineering . 2023-04-19 . engineering.nyu.edu . en.
  11. Web site: Creativity As Key To Engineering Innovation. Erin Newton. August 31, 2012. LiveScience. September 11, 2015.
  12. Web site: Maurizio Porfiri. October 28, 2021. NYU Tandon School of Engineering Profile. NYU Tandon School of Engineering.
  13. Web site: Assistant Professor Porfiri receives prestigious CAREER award from NSF NYU Tandon School of Engineering. 2021-12-01. engineering.nyu.edu.
  14. Web site: Susannah F. Locke. November 18, 2010. Brilliant 10: Maurizio Porfiri, The Water Wizard. September 11, 2015. Popular Science.
  15. Web site: Gaudino, Martina . Ricerca e lavora in America, il caso di Maurizio Porfiri (Research and works in America, the case of Maurizio Porfiri) . 16 May 2012 . CorriereUniv . it. https://web.archive.org/web/20121027204155/http://www.corriereuniv.it/cms/2012/05/ricerca-e-lavora-in-america-il-caso-di-maurizio-porfiri/ . 27 October 2012 . live.
  16. Web site: NYU-Poly's Maurizio Porfiri Named One of Popular Science's 'Brilliant 10' NYU Tandon School of Engineering. 2021-12-01. engineering.nyu.edu.
  17. Web site: 'Popular Science' names College of Engineering alumnus as one of Brilliant 10. 2021-12-01. vtechworks.lib.vt.edu.
  18. Web site: 2019-03-18. Brilliant 10: Maurizio Porfiri, the Water Wizard. 2021-12-01. Popular Science. en-US.
  19. Web site: The American Society of Mechanical Engineers Selects Maurizio Porfiri as Outstanding Young Investigator NYU Tandon School of Engineering. 2021-12-01. engineering.nyu.edu.
  20. Web site: ASME selects Maurizio Porfiri as Outstanding Young Investigator. 2021-12-01. EurekAlert!. en.
  21. Web site: Gary Anderson Early Achievement Award. ASME. September 11, 2015.
  22. Web site: NYU-Poly Professor Honored for Contributions to Smart Structures and Materials NYU Tandon School of Engineering. 2021-12-01. engineering.nyu.edu.
  23. Web site: Newsmakers: Maurizio Porfiri, PhD . American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150905203606/https://www.asme.org/about-asme/news/asme-news/newsmakers . 5 September 2015 . dead.
  24. Web site: C. D. Mote Jr., Early Career Award. 2021-12-01. www.asme.org. en.
  25. Web site: 2015-07-01. NYU-Poly Professor Honored for Contributions in the Field of Mechanical Vibration. 2021-12-01. World Industrial Reporter. en-US.
  26. Web site: Expert in dynamical systems elected a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. 2021-12-01. engineering.nyu.edu.
  27. Web site: Expert in dynamical systems elected a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. 2021-12-01. markets.businessinsider.com. en.
  28. Web site: IEEE Elects Two NYU Tandon Professors as Fellows NYU Tandon School of Engineering. 2021-12-01. engineering.nyu.edu.
  29. Web site: Science X Network :: Phys.org, Medical Xpress, Tech Xplore. 2021-12-01. sciencex.com.
  30. Web site: Maurizio Porfiri. 2021-12-01. www.naefrontiers.org.
  31. Web site: Allwright. Alice. Rachel McCrea to deliver presentation at World Laureate Forum Staff and Student News. 21 September 2021 . 2021-12-01. en-US.
  32. Web site: wla-frontent-pc. 2021-12-01. wlf2021.wlaforum.com.
  33. Web site: April 7, 2015. Lubricant Based on Nanoparticles and Ionic Liquids for Extreme Conditions. September 11, 2015. AzoNano.
  34. Web site: November 14, 2012. Robot-fish interact with live fish. September 11, 2015. The Royal Society.
  35. Web site: March 2, 2012. Robot Fish Could Save Real Ones From Oil Spills and Other Ecological Disasters, Study Suggests. September 11, 2015. Huffington Post.
  36. Web site: Dave Mosher. February 22, 2012. Real Fish Welcome Robotic Overlord Into Their School. September 11, 2015. Wired.
  37. Web site: Real fish follow a robotic one. 2021-12-01. NBC News. 28 February 2012 . en.
  38. Web site: Eveleth. Rose. Rose Eveleth. Robot fish can be just as convincing as the real thing. 2021-12-01. ZDNet. en.
  39. Web site: What makes a robot fish attractive? (Hint: It's in the moves). 2021-12-01. EurekAlert!. en.
  40. Web site: Ben Coxworth. March 2, 2012. Robot becomes a leader among fish. September 11, 2015. GizMag.
  41. Web site: Hallie Deaktor Kapner. February 24, 2011. Robot Fish Can Trick the Real Thing. September 11, 2015. LiveScience.
  42. Web site: Ultra-Realistic Robot Fish Can Scare A Real One. April 9, 2015. Science 2.0. September 11, 2015.
  43. Web site: Guess what? Drunk fish aren't scared of robot fish. Tim Hornyak. August 2, 2013. CNet. September 11, 2015.
  44. Web site: Judging a fish by its color: For female bluefin killifish, love is a yellow mate. September 16, 2014. Phys.org. September 11, 2015.
  45. Web site: With a little help from robotic, researchers investigate communications behind swarming. February 10, 2015. Phys.org. September 11, 2015.
  46. Web site: Robots May Help Reduce Threat of Invasive Species. 2021-12-01. Inside Science. en.
  47. Web site: McFarland. Alex. 2020-08-25. Researchers Use Robotic Fish to Explore "Behavioral Teleporting". 2021-12-01. Unite.AI. en-US.
  48. Web site: 370 CitizenScience.gov. 2021-12-01. www.citizenscience.gov. en.
  49. Web site: Brooklyn Atlantis: A Robot Captures Life, Litter in the Gowanus With the Help of Citizen Scientists NYU Tandon School of Engineering. 2021-12-01. engineering.nyu.edu.
  50. Web site: Brady. Dale. 2013-12-03. Brooklyn Atlantis citizen science project uses robot boats in Gowanus. 2021-12-01. Technical.ly Brooklyn. en.
  51. Web site: Vivian Yee. October 14, 2012. A Robot Plumbs the Depths of the Gowanus Canal. September 11, 2015. The New York Times.
  52. Web site: Burke. Cathy. NYU study finds uptick in gun sales 'unintended consequence' of media coverage of gun control after mass shootings. 2021-12-01. nydailynews.com. 24 June 2019 .
  53. Web site: 2019-08-06. "Dopo ogni mass shooting si vendono più armi". 2021-12-01. il manifesto. it-IT.
  54. Web site: Lavarini. Federica. 2020-09-01. Armi da fuoco negli USA, impennata di acquisti con il Covid-19. 2021-12-01. OggiScienza. it-IT.
  55. Web site: Fear of stricter regulations spurs gun sales after mass shootings, new analysis suggests. 2021-12-01. EurekAlert!. en.
  56. Web site: 2019-10-13. New research indicates media coverage of gun control causes a spike in gun purchases after mass shootings. 2021-12-01. PsyPost. en-US.
  57. Web site: October 12, 2020. Study Ties Gun Purchases to Fear of Firearm Regulations, Kicks Off Major Research. 2021-12-01. www.forensicmag.com. en.
  58. News: Some Big Health Care Policy Changes Are Hiding In The Federal Spending Package. en. NPR.org. 2021-12-01.
  59. Web site: 2016-12-06. Fronteggiare le epidemie si può, è matematico: "Si diffondono con i meccanismi dei Social". 2021-12-01. lastampa.it. it-IT.
  60. Web site: 2020-08-28. 5 Questions with COVID Researchers: Maurizio Porfiri, New York University Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub. 2021-12-01. nebigdatahub.org. en-US.
  61. Web site: New COVID-19 model shows little benefit in vaccinating high-risk individuals first. 2021-12-01. EurekAlert!. en.
  62. Web site: 2021-01-24. Mass COVID-19 vaccinations accomplish more than targeted vaccine roll outs. 2021-12-01. New York Post. en-US.
  63. Web site: 2021-07-21. How intricate Venus's-flower-baskets manipulate the flow of seawater. 2021-12-01. Science News. en-US.
  64. Web site: Glass sponges have properties for the design of ships, planes and skyscrapers. 2021-12-01. EurekAlert!. en.
  65. Web site: Glass sponges contain properties that may advance the design of ships, planes and skyscrapers. 2021-12-01. www.nsf.gov. 11 August 2021 . English.

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