Rinaldo's Electronic Cradle

When, in the middle sixties, Prof. Giuseppe Biorci (1930-2002) was called at the University of Genoa to take the chair of ?Circuit Theory?, and became director of the ?Istituto di Elettrotecnica? he was able to bear copious fruits from his research experience at MIT. He was an innovator in many respects: research, teaching, organisation and administration. In particular he pressed his young collaborators to gain direct experience in international research environments. These new policies resulted in a strong push to the researches carried on in the field of electronic circuits and devices: a group of young scientists ?took the ball? and gave birth to the Biophysical and Electronic Engineering section of the Institute: led by Alessandro Chiabrera together with Paolo Antognetti and Giacomo M. Bisio they were very active in the field of semiconductor device modelling and established many contacts on the Italian side with SGS-ATES (later on the Italian leg of ST Microelectronics) and with universities in the USA. Giacomo went to Stanford working on GaAs devices, Paolo established a strong link with U.C. Berkeley (where he had studied), specifically in the field of circuit and device simulation.