Sandro Centro
Ordinario di Fisica Sperimentale from 1987

Università degli Studi di Padova
Dipartimento di Fisica "G. Galilei"
Sezione INFN di Padova

via F. Marzolo 8
I 35131 Padova (Italia)

tel  +39 049 827 7056
tel  +39 049 827 7347
cell. +39 3334358752
    
email: centro@pd.infn.it

Scientific activites
SC is active in the field of instrumentation for High Energy Physics since 1968, both for experiments with bubble chambers, in the early period, and
for experiments with electronic techniques.
He was responsible, from 1970 to 1973, for the construction at Dip. of Physics in Padova of an automatic scanning machine for bubble chamber pictures.
The device was using a CRT and it was named PEPR (Precision Encoding & Pattern Recognition).
From 1976 he was member of the EHS (European Hybrid Spectrometer) at CERN.
Since 1980 he was participating to the UA1 experiment of Carlo Rubbia, that discovered the intermediate vector bosons Z0 and W.
From 1984 to 1990 he was responsible of the electronics for the UA1 upgrading programs (muon detector and e-m calorimeter).
He is spokesperson, since 1987, of the Padova group participating to the ICARUS (Imaging Cosmic And Rare Underground Signals) collaboration headed by C. Rubbia.
In the framework of this project he is responsible of the electronics of the 600 tons liquid Argon TPC (Time Projection Chamber) to be installed
at INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) Gran Sasso laboratory in 2008.
Since 2003 he is deputy spokesman of the experiment.
From 1990 he is also member of the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) at CERN for the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) program.
In the framework of LHC he has participated to various R&D programs for detectors and VLSI electronics.
From 1990 to 1994 he was in the DRDC (Detector Research & Development Committee) at CERN for evaluating LHC proposals.
More recently SC is working in the field of analogue VLSI both for experimental physics and medical applications (pace-makers and hearing aids).
From 1994 to 1997 SC was member of LERB (LHC Electronics Review Board) of CERN that co-ordinates the electronics activities for LHC experiments.
Since 1997 SC is responsible for a project funded by EEC, for the development of a Cardiac Imaging Chamber after an idea of George Charpak, 1992 Nobel laureate.
The project is done in collaboration with George Charpak and European small industries and requires the development of analogue and digital VLSI.
He was responsible in 2003 for a research project on liquid Argon TPC, funded by Italian Ministry of Research and University (MIUR) with 200K€,
coordinating groups from Universities of Naples, L'Aquila, Pavia, and Padova.  The project continued in 2005 with addition of Milan University and funded by MIUR with 372K€.
The project evolved toward large mass liquid Argon detectors implementation in 2007 and SC is now coordinating groups from Pavia, L'Aquila and Padova with a MIUR fund of 245K€.
Recently SC has started an R&D project funded by University of Padua and Centro Fermi on Concentrated PhotoVoltaic solar energy.


Visiting positions
Paid Research Associate from 1980 to 1983 at CERN.
Unpaid Research Associate at MIT (Boston) from 1990 to 1994.
Unpaid Research Associate at CERN (Geneva) from 1968 to present.


Managing function
Since 10/2000 SC is member of CERN Finance Committee as Industrial Liaison Officer (ILO) for Italian industry at CERN.
Since 03/2003 SC has been appointed as memeber of the External Network for Technology Transfer from CERN to Italian Industry.
Since 10/2004 SC has been appointed as president of the TT and Patetents Committees of INFN.
Since 10/2008 SC has been appointed as Chairman of the I.L.O. Forum at CERN..


Teaching activities
SC was and is always teaching Electronics courses for Physics curriculum.
From 1990 SC supervised about 25 thesis on the subject of instrumentation for Nuclear and Particle Physics, most of them dealing with VLSI design.
SC has participated to many many International Schools organized by International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste (I) in cooperation
with The United Nations University.
In academic years 2006 and 2007 he was Director of the "Master in Progettazione Microelettronica" organized by Dipartimento di Fisica
dell'Università di Padova in cooperation con InfineonTechnologies, STmicroeletronics, INFN and CERN.

Papers
The scientific activity of SC is documented in more than 200 papers.
In 1992 he was in charge to write the item "Circuiti Logici" for Enciclopedia delle Scienze Fisiche Treccani.

Updated March 2009
 
 



 
 
 


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