Foreword
The Department of Computer, Control, and Management Engineering Antonio Ruberti (Dipartimento di ingegneria Informatica Automatica e Gestionale - DIAG) is a center for research and education at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Formerly known as Department of Computer and System Sciences (Dipartimento di Informatica e Sistemistica- DIS), it was established in 1983. In 2001 it was named after Antonio Ruberti, the eminent scholar who founded it. Over the years the Department has considerably grown. In 2022 it counted more than 100 faculty members (full, associate and assistant professors), around 200 between PhD students and post-docs and 19 administrative and staff units.
The DIAG research groups are internationally renowned and carry out their activities in the areas of Computer Science, Control Engineering, Management Engineering, Bioengineering, and Operations Research. Over the years they have received numerous national and international awards, European funding, including those of the European Research Council, as well as prizes conferred by the most important scientific associations and substantial competitive funding to innovative start-ups.
DIAG main research objective focuses on fundamental research, with strong emphasis on interdisciplinary research, on applications stimulating fundamental research, as well as on technology transfer, dissemination and exploitation of the obtained results. Every year the Department publishes hundreds of papers in international scientific journals and conference proceedings. Its members participate in program committees and steering committees of the most prestigious institutions and scientific events.
DIAG members collaborate actively with researchers of other universities, research institutions and companies, in Italy and abroad. The department has been identified by MUR (Ministry of Universities and Research) as Department of Excellence for the five-years period 2018-2022. Every year DIAG gets research funds for an average of 2 millions from competitive calls in National and European research programs (including ERC programs) and from contracts with public and private entities.
DIAG plays a central role also in the educational field by training engineers for professional, research and teaching careers either in universities or in industries and public administration. To this end, it provides courses in the Engineering field both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It coordinates courses with curricula in the field of Computer Engineering, Control Engineering and Management Engineering. In the 2021/2022 Academic Year, there were around 2500 students enrolled in these courses. Among the graduate courses we may recall Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Control Engineering, Cybersecurity, Data Science, Engineering in Computer Science, Product & Service Design which are taught in English, and (taught in Italian) Management Engineering, Medicine and Surgery HT. The Department has also promoted and contributed to three new courses taught in Italian and which are unique in Italy: the undergraduate courses in Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence, Mathematical Sciences for Artificial Intelligence, and the graduate course in Human Resources, Labour Sciences and Innovation. It organizes second-level Masters and PhD courses in Automatic Control, Bioengineering and Operations Research, Engineering in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Network Oncology and Data Science and it contributes to PhD courses offered by other departments.
DIAG is also strongly active in promoting internationalization. To this end, it participates to several international double degree programs with foreign Universities at undergraduate, graduate and PhD levels.
DIAG has many labs both for educational and research purposes in the different areas of interest of the department. Through its library it provides access to several online services and to its notable collection of 12,000 scientific volumes and 450 periodicals. It organizes periodic events, such as OpenDiag oriented to high and lower secondary schools, and other specific ones with companies and institutions in the ICT sector.
List of Department's former professors
Antonio Ruberti
There are three main aspects in Ruberti's professional activity, that broadly correspond also to three successive phases in his life. The first was total dedication to research. He contributed to simulation of analog computers, with the design and realization of new components, to the control of AC electric motors based on hybrid simulation techniques, and to the foundations of system and control theory, with new methods for the realization of linear and bilinear systems. He published several scientific articles, and received wide international recognition and several awards for his technical and scientific achievements. As a second main aspect, Ruberti was an excellent professor and educator. He trained several young researchers and created a large school that spread from "La Sapienza" and is now represented in several Italian and foreign Universities.
Last but not least, in the third phase of Ruberti's activity, his political and social engagement pushed him to promote major institutional changes in the Italian university and public research system, as well as in international research and education programs.
In 1969, Ruberti founded the Institute of Automation at "La Sapienza", which he directed until 1976. DIS was born in 1983 as an evolution of this institute. He also created the Center for Control and Computing Systems of the Italian National Research Council (now IASI of CNR) the first research institution in Italy in Automation. Dean of the Faculty of Engineering (1973-1976), then Rector (1976-1987) of "La Sapienza", later Government Representative for Scientific and Technological Research (1987-1989), Ruberti has been from 1989 to 1992 Minister for the University and the Scientific and Technological Research, the first ever in Italy. He promoted several laws that paved the way to autonomy of university and research institutions, put the basis for the creation of new curricula of studies (including university bachelors and masters, and universities for remote teaching), and developed a modern policy for the right to higher education. He strived for a larger involvement of Italy's academic and political institutions in international activities. He published several essays on the politics of research and academy, and on the issues involved in technological innovation (e.g., the two books "Tecnologia domani" (1985) and "Europa a confronto" (1989)). In 1992, he was elected deputy with the socialist party in the italian Parliament, and in 1993 he was appointed european Commissioner for science, research, development, and education. At this EU level, he worked for establishing the Fourth Framework Programme (1994-1998) and other cooperation agreements, also with states of the former Soviet Union and with multinational institutions such as CERN and ESA. He promoted the creation of the European Science and Technology Assembly (ESTA). At the end of his term, in 1996 he was reelected deputy in the italian Parliament, where he chaired the Commission for the Policies of the European Union.