Short Bio

Prof. Piazza received a B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering, a M.S. in Automation and Robotics Engineering and a PhD degree in Robotics (summa cum laude, 2019) from the University of Pisa (Italy). During her PhD, she had a prominent role in the participation to several international competitions: Mechanical Design Expert of the team UNIPI-IIT-QB in Robotic Grasping and Manipulation Competition at IROS 2016 (I place) and of the team SoftHand Pro in Cybathlon Powered Arm Prosthesis 2016 (V place), and Team Leader of the SoftHand Pro team in Cybathlon Powered Arm Prosthesis Global Edition 2020 (II place). She subsequently moved to Chicago (USA) where she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Northwestern University and the Regenstein Foundation Center for Bionic Medicine, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (former Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago). Since 2020, Prof. Piazza is tenure track assistant professor for Heathcare and Rehabilitation Robotics at the Technische Universität München (TUM). 

Prof. Piazza is currently co-chair of the IEEE/RAS Technical Committees for Robotic Hand, Grasping and Manipulation (since 2022), and IEEE/RAS Technical Committees for Cyborgs and Bionic Systems (since 2023). She has served as Editor-in-Chief for the conference IEEE/RAS/EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob) 2024 and IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM) 2026, as well as Senior Editor for IEEE/RAS/EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob) 2026. She is Associate Editor for the journals IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering (since 2025), Journal of Rehabilitation Methods and Technologies (since 2025), and IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (since 2023). Since 2020, she has served as Associate Editor for the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), IEEE/RAS International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA), IEEE/RAS/EMBS International Conference for Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integrations (SII), and IEEE/RAS/EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob). Prof. Piazza was General Chair of the 16th International Symposium on Human Friendly Robotics (HFR) 2023, and Financial Chair for IEEE/RAS/EMBS Biorob 2024 and IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration (SII) 2025. She is the General Chair of the IEEE/RAS International Conference on Cyborgs and Bionic Systems 2026.

Dr. Piazza has received several academic awards, including the Best Paper Award at the conferences IEEE Humanoid 2012, ADM 2025, and IEEE CBS 2025, as well as the Dr. Kanako Miura Award at IEEE Humanoids 2016, the PhD Talent 2019 award for the best PhD Thesis at the University of Pisa, and the New Generation Star Project Award at IROS 2024.

The research activity of Professor Piazza focuses on the areas of rehabilitation and assistive robotics. Her main research interests include the study of human movement, the design of artificial devices based on soft robotics technologies, and the development of innovative control algorithms to address different levels of amputation and their assessment for robotic and prosthetic applications. The ultimate goal is to build intelligent prostheses and promote a natural integration of bionic limbs. She also has experience in designing and conducting clinical trials with subjects with limb loss, in close collaboration with national and international clinical partners.