Micro and Nano-structured Piezoelectric Materials for Energy Harvesting Applications (Energy Harvesting and Storage Europe 2013)

Giancarlo Canavese carried out his diploma's thesis in Chalmers University of Technology in Goteborg (Sweden) and he graduated cum laude in Mechanical Engineering at Politecnico di Torino (Italy) in May 2004. He received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering in May 2008 at Politecnico di Torino. During the following two years, he focused on micro and nano-technologies applied to the development of biosensors based on oscillating micro-cantilevers at the Chilab-Materials and Microsystems Laboratory (Chivasso, Italy). In December 2009 he became a researcher of the Center for Space Human Robotics of the Italian Institute of Technology. He is involved in the development of technologies and design of tactile sensing coatings for robotic applications. Moreover his research activity is focused on the characterizations of piezoelectric materials and devices both for sensing and energy harvesting applications.

The Center for Space Human Robotics mission is to study, design and assemble demonstrators for the future generation of materials, processes and components for space human robotics. The development of these basic functions demands several technologies and structural/functional components, sensor/actuator, MEMS and NEMS devices. It also requires compact and flexible energy supply systems, all based on new structural and functional materials with related process technologies that can also be fruitfully used for the development of the next generation of terrestrial robotics systems and several industrial applications.