Bio

Education

Nicholas got his BSc and MSc in Informatics (both cum laude) from the University of Bari (Italy) and obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from IMT – Institute for Advanced Studies (Lucca, Italy). His Master’s and Ph.D. theses received two awards from the Italian Association for Automatic Calculus (AICA).

Entrepreneurial experience

In 2011, he obtained a Fulbright scholarship in Technology Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University (California, USA). He founded 4 businesses in the IT space and QIRIS, a non-profit organization devoted to supporting innovation among youth. His companies received more than 20 international awards and in 2015, Nicholas was nominated by MIT Technology Review Italy among the 10 best innovators under 35.

Academic activity

In 2017, he received a prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship in robotics and automation at the University of Salford (Manchester, UK). Then, he served for 2 years as an Assistant Professor in Informatics at Fort Hays State University, where he received 5 best faculty awards.

In 2019, he joined Northern Kentucky University, where he was promoted to the Associate Professor rank in 2023. His teaching and research interests include Human-Machine Interaction, Generative AI, assistive technology, and wearable devices. Nicholas published over 90 peer-reviewed scholarly articles. In 2022, he helped launch the First Year Research Exposure (FYRE) program, dedicated to involving freshmen in research. After launching and serving as the program director of the Bachelor's degree in Applied Software Engineering, he currently servers as the director of the Master's program in Computer Science. In 2023, he established the HCI Lab, one of NKU's largest, most diverse, and prolific research teams. In 2024, he received NKU's Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity award, the Outstanding Mentor Award from NKU's Institute for Student Research and Creative Activity (ISRCA), and the Mid-Mid Career Mathematical, Computing, and Statistical Sciences Mentor Award from the Concul on Undergraduate Research (CUR).

Creative endeavors

He spends his free time writing poems and novels, painting, and composing music. More information about Nicholas and his research can be found at www.cprnhl.com/hcilab.