# Alessandro Sica [@alessandro\-sica](https://hacklab.so/alessandro-sica) Alessandro Sica is Researcher at The University of Manchester. No AI coding activity was synced in the last 30 days. Robotics researcher and ETH master’s student focused on humanoids, embodied AI and contact\-aware navigation in unknown environments\. Joined: 2026-09-17 0 followers · 0 following ## Links - [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/in/-alessandro-sica) ## AI usage (All time) No activity in this period. ## Accomplishments ### [Europe Embodied 2026 Hackathon winner](https://www.linkedin.com/in/-alessandro-sica) Competition win listed in the professional headline and credentials\. The export does not specify the team, track or project\. ### [School of Engineering student\-community contribution prize](https://www.linkedin.com/in/-alessandro-sica) School of Engineering Outstanding Contribution to Developing Student Community Prize listed in credentials; award year and selection criteria are not supplied\. ### [Contact\-aware navigation experimental validation](https://www.linkedin.com/in/-alessandro-sica) Reports validating the research framework in simulation and on a physical PiPER manipulator with LiDAR and force sensing\. The related paper is described as being prepared for intended IROS 2027 submission\. ### [MATLAB Certified](https://www.linkedin.com/in/-alessandro-sica) MATLAB certification listed in the source; date and credential link are not supplied\. ## Experience ### Researcher — The University of Manchester 2026\-06 – Present Manchester, United Kingdom Continues bachelor\-dissertation research under Xiaoxiao Cheng on contact\-aware navigation in unknown, cluttered environments\. Refined experiments, collected data and validated the framework in simulation and on a physical PiPER manipulator with LiDAR and force sensing\. Analysing results and preparing a paper with an aim to submit to IROS 2027; acceptance is not stated\. ### Robotics Intern – Remote — Maximum Robotics 2025\-09 – 2026\-06 Developed a simulation of two coordinated six\-DOF robotic manipulators on rails for automated plasma\-gun exchange in a digital twin of a Plasma\-Jet\-Driven Magneto\-Inertial Fusion chamber, supporting fusion\-power\-plant maintenance operations\. ### Peer\-Assisted Study Sessions Coordinator — The University of Manchester 2025\-06 – 2026\-06 Manchester, United Kingdom Oversaw PASS Leaders for first\-year small\-group learning\. Scheduled sessions and rooms, coordinated events, provided guidance and held weekly feedback meetings to improve session quality\. ### President / Chair — RoboSoc – University of Manchester Robotics Society 2025\-06 – 2026\-06 Manchester, United Kingdom Led the 2025/26 society with a committee of 20 and over 500 members\. Coordinated seven weekly projects, workshops, talks and events\. The profile reports an annual society budget \>£10,000 and Hackabot hackathon participation \>250 with a budget \>£20,000\. ### Summer Research Intern – AI in Human–Robot Interaction — Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester 2025\-06 – 2025\-07 Manchester, United Kingdom Developed real\-time multimodal emotion recognition from facial expressions and speech\. Modified ResNet18 with custom preprocessing and augmentation for visual affect prediction and applied transfer learning with a custom audio classification head\. Prepared the system for emotionally adaptive chatbot responses; planned Pepper\-robot integration is not claimed as completed\. ### Academic Event Officer — EEESoc – University of Manchester Electrical and Electronic Engineering Society 2024\-10 – 2025\-06 Manchester, United Kingdom Organised academic events, sourced university speakers including professors and PhD candidates, and coordinated event logistics and speaker communication\. ### Peer\-Assisted Study Sessions Leader — The University of Manchester 2024\-09 – 2025\-06 Manchester, United Kingdom Led small\-group study sessions for first\-year course students, guiding discussions, encouraging peer support and sharing study strategies to support the transition to university\. ### Buggy Project Lead — RoboSoc – University of Manchester Robotics Society 2024\-06 – 2025\-06 Manchester, United Kingdom Oversaw more than 100 members working in teams on three\-wheeled Arduino UNO R3 robots programmed to navigate a maze and compete in a maze\-solving competition\. ### Summer Intern — Bonfiglioli 2024\-06 – 2024\-07 Calderara di Reno, Italy Worked with a laser\-guided vehicle for autonomous pallet transport at the EVO Plant\. Oversaw operations, troubleshot issues, analysed a proposed transport path and produced a report with recommendations; participated in safety and implementation meetings\. ### Project Member — RoboSoc – University of Manchester Robotics Society 2023\-09 – 2024\-05 Designed and constructed an autonomous Arduino\-based buggy capable of maze navigation\. ### Summer Intern — Cubbit 2022\-06 – 2022\-07 Bologna, Italy Built a Python Slack chatbot for lunch\-break reminders and nearby restaurant suggestions, including price and vegetarian preferences and settings controlled through chat commands\. Ran on Raspberry Pi and integrated through Slack APIs\. The source links github\.com/AlessandroSica/Lunch\_Organizer\_Bot\. ## Education ### MSc Robotics, Systems and Control — ETH Zürich 2026\-09 – Present Has just started this MSc, as stated in the member's own Hacklab bio\. The exported education entry gives September 2026 and the complete programme title\. Current study is also explicitly stated in the existing member\-provided bio; no end date is supplied\. ### BEng Mechatronic Engineering, First Class — University of Manchester 2023\-09 – 2026\-07 Graduated with a First Class in Mechatronic Engineering, as stated in the member's own Hacklab bio, which says "I graduated this summer"\. No exact date is given\. The exported education timeline supplies September 2023–July 2026; the headline and existing member bio report First Class graduation\. ### High School Diploma, STEAM — Liceo Steam Emilia 2019\-09 – 2023\-07 STEAM high\-school diploma listed for September 2019–July 2023\. ### Pre\-University Science, Technology and Engineering Summer School — King's College London 2022\-07 – 2022\-07 London, United Kingdom Two\-week in\-person programme covering microprocessors, digital logic, robotics, AI, medical imaging and 3D printing through lectures, seminars, labs and a team project\. ### MAST Summer School – Artificial Intelligence — Coesia S\.p\.A\. 2021\-07 – 2021\-07 Bologna, Italy Week\-long AI programme covering neural networks, machine learning and deep learning\. His group trained an artwork\-style/author classifier and reports winning among the participating teams\. ### TechCamp Robotics – The Art of Intelligent Motion — Politecnico di Milano 2021\-06 – 2021\-06 Milan, Italy One\-week robotics summer school covering kinematics, motion planning and control\. Programmed a Dobot Magician robotic arm for practical motion and automation exercises\. ### TechCamp Python Programming — Politecnico di Milano 2021\-06 – 2021\-06 Milan, Italy One\-week Python programme covering data structures, algorithms and automation, followed by data\-analysis and simulation projects\. Developed a game using Pygame\.