Federico started his BSc in Material Science at Universita' di Genova, where he spent two years, to then move to complete his studies the Dublin Institute of Technology, as exchange student for the EU's Erasmus Lifelong Learning Programme. His early steps on research involved characterization of smart materials for drug delivery purposes. 
 
 He then received a Chemical Engineer MSc from Universita' di Bologna and Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (UPV). During this period he was also visiting student at Rice University in the lab of Prof. Pasquali, where he worked on characterization and spinning of carbon nanotube fibers.
 
 After a short period of research on electrospinning in the R&D department of DSM in the Netherlands, he joined the Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials of Prof. Fontcuberta i Morral at EPFL for his PhD.
 
 He is currently working on nanowire growth of III/V semiconductors, and their integration with Si.