We were shocked by the sudden death of Alberto, a great enthusiastic IFToMMist since the early days of IFToMM, happened on Wednesday 25 November 2020 at his home.
Prof Alberto Rovetta has been a great IFToMMist of a polyhedric activity and figure with a dynamic (volcanic) attitude in his ideas and proposals. He has been a very prolific MMS scientist with a great reputation worldwide not only within the IFTOMM community.
He was born in Brescia on 19 June 1940 and he worked out a brilliant academic career at Politecnico di Milano. He started his research activity under the guidance of Prof Giovanni Bianchi, co-founder of IFToMM and former IFToMM president, and got the full professor position for Mechanics of Machinery in 1980. Since then he gave courses on Mechanics of Robots, and many other courses in the domain of Mechanics of Systems with special attention to robots, also abroad in several periods along his career all around the world.
Prof Alberto Rovetta worked positions in several international bodies (IEEE, IFAC, ASME, NASA, NATO, UNESCO and Academies) and mainly in IFToMM for which he was member of IFToMM Executive Council and chair of the TC Micromachines, beside being member in several TCs and PCs also with an initiator activity and continuous participation. He has been member of scientific committees for international conferences and journals as result of his reputation of an intense scientific activity that is documents by more than 400 papers, over 20 books (for teaching and with research results), and several patents. He has contributed to many international projects in different topics, beside Robotics, like in Biomedical devices, Space systems, tele-surgery, Cultural Heritage, and history of engineering and technology. He has been promoter and organizer of events for scientific dissemination and promotion, among which it is to note the 1995 IFToMM world Congress that was held very successfully in Milan. His achievements range from pioneering robot designs like a very first wrapping tendon-driven hand through medical devices like innovative limb prothesis to discovering the ancient machine technologies like in the bearing design in the Tutankhamen chariot. He has been awarded with several honors by local, national and international institution, among which it may heighted the IFToMM Award of Merit in 2010.
Prof Alberto Rovetta has been a prestigious figure, who has been admired and to be taken as inspiration, also for his unique attitude to combine friendships and rigorous scientific activity in working out the true spirit of IFToMM for collaboration, sharing, and improving the technology for the benefit of the society in the welfare of human beings. He is survived by his wife Anna, daughter Chiara, and son Francesco.
We all shall miss his volcanic presence but never lasting memory of him.
Marco Ceccarelli, past IFToMM President
Alessandro Gasparetto, Chair of IFToMM Italy