Irene Fassi received a PhD degree in Industrial Technologies and an MSc degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano, in 2001 and 1997, respectively. Since 1998, she has been a full-time researcher with CNR-ITIA (now CNR-STIIMA), where she founded and leads the research group MEDIS. She is currently an adjunct professor in robotics, precision engineering, and advanced manufacturing systems at the University of Brescia and the Politecnico di Milano. She is a member of the executive board of SIRI (Italian Robotics and Automation Association), AITeM (Italian Association of Manufacturing Technologies), and the ASME/DED Technical Committee on Micro and Nano Manufacturing. She also serves as President-Elect for the International Institution for Micro Manufacturing.