Francesco Cupertino
Francesco Cupertino is Full Professor of Power Converters, Electrical Machines and Drives at the Polytechnic University of Bari, Italy. From 2019 to 2025, he served as Rector of this university. He was a member of the CRUI Executive Board with responsibility for industry relations and ICT, and represented Italy in the European Innovation Council (EIC) and European Innovation Ecosystems configuration of Horizon Europe.
Francesco is currently Chairman of the NEST Foundation (Network 4 Energy Sustainable Transition), member of the Board of Directors of ARTI Puglia, of the Scientific Committee of Criptaliae Spaceport, and Italy’s representative in the OECD Working Group on Research Security and Integrity.
His research focuses on the design and control of electrical machines for aeronautical applications and renewable energy. He is the author of more than 200 scientific publications on these topics. He has promoted the creation of several joint public–private laboratories with leading companies, including AVIO Aero (GE Aerospace), Bosch and Molino Casillo, as well as the BINP – Business Innovation in PoliBA incubator.