Andrea Ferrone, PhD

Experience

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  Quiksilver

  Sept 2004 - Mar 2008

  Salesperson
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  Selex Galileo

  Jun 2012 - Mar 2013

  Cooperative Education Student

  Development of an interface platform between the Computer Symbol Generator (CSG) and a VGA monitor to represent on a ground computer monitor the symbols of the Eurofighter Typhoon-2000 aircraft.

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  Aviogelt srl

  May 2013 - May 2013

  Engineer Internship

  PCB Hardware Designer Assistant. Development of a PCB for military avionics analog video applications for a heads-up display (HUD). The HUD is the predecessor of what is now called "Augmented Reality" (AR).

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  Italian National Research Council

  Jun 2013 - Feb 2014

  Master Thesis Project

  Experimental thesis in collaboration with the Italian National Research Council (CNR)- Institution of Microelectronics and Microsystem that provided Clean Room facilities and laboratories to develop a new generation of wearable sensors and embedded systems.

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  Italian National Research Council

  May 2014 - Nov 2017

  TECHNICAL SKILLS ACQUIREDContact and maskless optical lithography, wet and dry chemical etching, thin-film coating via physical and chemical vapour deposition, as well as several supporting inspections, characterization techniques and metrology. Experience in micro/nano-fabrication, optical lithography soft lithography, as well as process development, plans, designs and delivers complete micro/nano-fabrication engineering solutions.MANAGEMENT•Managed and supervised three graduate students, led them through their empirical research process.RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT•Produced, in Cleanroom facilities, µ-Electronics components and Thin-Film Transistors on Flexible surface.•Fabricated a polymer stretch sensor to monitor surface deformation to be applied in biomedical devices (smart pills and wearables objects).•Refined and developed the sensor, the experimental tests and the software in JAVA and MATLAB to control equipment, collect and analyze data. Show less Project “Wisedet”- Bilateral collaboration between CNR-IMM and Israel R&D Cooperation Program.PROJECT GOALSResearch and development of Gas sensors for industry and pollution control applications. The aim was to develop novel sensors while maintaining a low cost of production using modern fast prototyping techniques.RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT•Researched and Developed a low-cost polymeric sensor on Al-Micro leaves surfaces for gas detection on Industry applications.•Designed and built a Flowmeter System for high toxic level gas measurements. Show less

  • Associate Researcher

    Oct 2014 - Nov 2017

  • Researcher - Scholarship Holder

    May 2014 - Nov 2014
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  Università degli Studi di Roma Tre

  Nov 2014 - Oct 2017

  PhD Student

  Development of a “Wearable Smart Sensing System” based on Ultra-Flexible TechnologiesIn collaboration with Italian National Research Council (CNR) and Simon Fraser University Canada.

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  Menrva Research Group

  Mar 2016 - Apr 2018

  Research Assistant

  MANAGEMENT• Managed and mentored the Biomedical & Wearables Tech research branch of the Lab (10 engineers and interns).• Coordinated meetings, brainstorming ideas, promoted communication and facilitated research adopting organization tools like Slack, TeamGantt, Coda, Nuclino, Trello and BitBucket. This helped boost the number of journal publications significantly.RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT• Patented a novel stretch sensor for smart garments and e-textile applications (patent application US20190072440A1). Developed a smart wristband, custom sensors, to be able to recognize finger movements.• Promoted the collaboration between the Italian National Research Council (CNR-IMM), NSERC and SFU (Automotive Partnership Italy/Canada - APIC). Show less

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  Movit Technologies Inc.

  Aug 2016 - Aug 2020

  CTO / Co-Founder

  Helped build this technology organization from the ground up, managing a team of engineers in PCB design and Agile software and firmware development. Defined the product strategy, completed market analysis and developed the product roadmap carrying out its execution from ignition to a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Led customer discovery and research for a new device by exploring the behaviors of users via surveys, interviews and usability tests. Presently oversee the design team for the Android App's UX and UI.Selected Accomplishments:• Prototyped three versions of a Bluetooth LE wearable device for approximating the curvature in the lumbar section of the spine within 10 months. • Promoted Agile mindset, which led to the development of seven hardware releases and two desktop apps.• Managed the development of the device firmware using C++ and the Cypress PSoC platform.• Led the R&D of 4 PCB releases for biomedical applications with mixed-signals and serial communication protocols in one year.• Awarded by NRC-IRAP for the project of making the wearable device environmentally-friendly ($10K).• Increased user satisfaction by 30%; raised the perceived value of the product from $49 to $149.• Boosted productivity of the team by reducing task delivery time KPI by 30%• Reduced the production cost of the device by 41%, selecting the best hardware components and suppliers.• Recognized as one of the Top 7 Science Ventures (Venture Prize, 2018).• Featured by New Venture BC acceleration program. Show less

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  Faculty of Applied Sciences at Simon Fraser University

  Apr 2018 - Oct 2020

  Postdoctoral Fellow - Project Lead/Manager

  Currently overseeing a team of researchers in the development of industrial applications, aiding with design and builds. Hire and train employees to support projects valued at $550K. Support the creation of key proposals for research and ethics, securing grants from the government and data collection approvals. Lead trials, including interviews, surveys, focus groups, and user testing. Perform quantitative and qualitative analysis of data. Selected Accomplishments:• Secured $10M in government funding for the High Innovative Centre for Wearable Biomedical Technologies in BC.• Developed five cutting-edge motion-sensing technologies for rehabilitation tasks and posture recognition.• Authored two patents and four papers in less than 11 months.• Introduced Agile methodologies and management tools for task management and collaboration, increased productivity and lowered the Time-to-Learn (KVM) by 40%.• Drove the development of C++, JAVA, and the MATLAB AI model to collect data from wearable devices.• Increased productivity by 22% estimated by the number of journal publications. Show less

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  Myant

  Oct 2020 - now

  • Director - Integration Innovation and Industrialization

    Oct 2024 - now

  • Senior Technology Program Manager - Science, Technology and Partner Integration

    Nov 2022 - now

  • Wearable Device Scientist Lead - Research, Development, and Partner Integration

    Oct 2020 - Apr 2024