Antonio Ancona received his Ph.D. degree in Physics from the University of Bari in 2002. Then he became a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Physics of the University of Bari. He used to be the First Researcher at the Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN), CNR (Italian National Research Council). Since 2020, he has become an Associate Professor at the Department of Physics, University of Bari. He is also a Professor in Production Technologies at the Högskolan Väst, Sweden. His research activities range from the study of laser-matter interaction processes with high-power, short-pulse and ultrashort-pulse laser sources, with a focus on the study of laser welding processes, laser additive manufacturing, ablation and surface micro/nano-structuring, as well as the development of sensors and systems for real-time monitoring and control of industrial laser machining processes.