FABRIZIO PINTO
Contact Information:
cell:
(KSA) +966(0)54 358 4426;
eFax:
(815) 331-5179
Business address:
Department of Physics
Faculty of Science
email: fpinto@jazanu.edu.sa
Jazan University
fabriziopinto2013@gmail.com
P. O. Box 114, Jazan, 22822
http://colleges.jazanu.edu.sa/sites/en/sci/physics/Pages/Default.aspx
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
POSITIONS
February 2014-present: Co-Director of the Laboratory for Quantum Vacuum Applications: Sensing, Actuation,
Energy Storage, and New Materials., Department of Physics, Jazan University, Gizan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Casimir force manipulation and actuation, Capacitive sensing, detector physical modeling.
• Casimir force computation, future propulsive systems, hyperhigh density energy storage, nanooscillators, actuators, adaptive optics, and sensors enabled by Casimir forces. Prototyping, patenting, and technology transfer of Casimir force applications to micro- and nano-technology.
• Effects of static gravitational fields and gravitational waves on Casimir forces, Casimir forces due
to the gravitational field.
May 2013-present: Assistant Professor of Physics, Dept. of Physics, Jazan University, Gizan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Class teaching, mentoring, developing international collaborations and pedagogical materials. Laboratories Development Committee Chair; SIMFP2014 international workshop Spokesperson.
1999-present:
President & CEO, InterStellar Technologies Corporation.
• As Entrepreneur and Founder, raised over USD 3.5 million in Series A and B private capital investment on behalf of the first privately-owned corporation in the world focusing on micro- and
nano-technology applications of dispersion forces to energy conversion and storage, sensors, actuation, adaptive optics, medicine, and advanced spacecraft propulsion.
• Extensive experience in technology-transfer, business plan writing, and presentation to investors in
critical, “high-stake” meetings in Silicon Valley.
• Ten (10) US patents issued to me as the sole Inventor for Casimir force-enabled breakthrough
technologies. Some patents also issued under the PCT in the European Union and Japan.
• Published in leading journals in dispersion force physics (theory and experimentation), numerical
computation, and gravitation.
• Gravity Research Foundation international awards; many colloquia, seminars, and interviews.
• Established a fully featured, professional dispersion force research facility. Cutting edge R&D
laboratory with clean room, vacuum chamber, custom nano-testing equipment and Cray minisupercomputer running Fortran 90/95 and Mathematica.
1996-1999:
Scientist, NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology,
Navigation and Flight Mechanics Section, Outer Planet Navigation and Solar System Dynamics.
• Spacecraft Orbit Determination with data from the Deep Space Network and from beacon asteroids
particularly in support of the New Millennium Deep Space 1 (ion engine) technology validation
1999:
mission. Unbalanced attitude control modeling for the StarDust spacecraft. Contributed to the
Caltech exploratory study of the Interstellar Probe Science and Technology Definition Team. Orbit
Determination Specialist for the E19 Europa flyby of the Galileo spacecraft.
Astrophysics lecturer (part-time), Univ. of Southern California. Stellar evolution, cosmology (senior level).
1997:
Physics lecturer (part-time), Santa Monica College (junior college). Calculus-based physics.
Dr. Fabrizio Pinto, Jazan University, fpinto@jazanu.edu.sa
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1995-1996:
Assistant Professor of Physics, with Portland State Univ., Portland, OR & Instructor,
Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR.
• Original, award-winning research program focused on the study of experimental and observational
tests of the effects of intense, dynamical gravitational fields on excited atomic systems, such as
gravitational waves on Rydberg atoms and molecules.
• Extensive teaching experience at all levels, from introductory courses to graduate thesis supervision,
in physics, astronomy, mathematics, and history of science. Obtained a Space Telescope Science
Institute grant under the IDEA program for CCD astronomy.
• Implemented a history of science course – from the origins to the Scientific Revolution.
1993-1995:
Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics, with Boise State University (4 yr. program), in Boise, Idaho.
• Received a NASA/state grant for celestial mechanics research in general relativity theory.
• Reorganized astronomical observatory facilities and activated undergraduate research work.
• Obtained two high-grade CCD cameras through an AAS, NASA-funded Small Research Grant.
• Developed and published on the active use of CCD sensors for student interactive learning.
• Supervised award-winning student project in classical celestial mechanics.
1989-93:
Full Professor of Physics (tenure-track, resigned after tenure recommendation to move to BSU),
with Ricks College, Rexburg, ID (24” Cassegrain telescope in domed observatory).
• Published the first practical approach to introduce mechanics students to parametric resonance.
• Proposed, implemented, and taught an introductory history and philosophy of science class.
• Supervised award-winning experimental student projects with computer-interfaced instrumentation.
1987-89:
Research Assistant on Internship and Teaching Assistant, BYU
• Implemented sophisticated Fortran code to model primeval supersonic turbulence in protogalaxies.
Extensive experience with N-body problem integrators and Monte Carlo simulations, including
output to visual media and animations.
• Extensive background in galactic dynamics, stellar motions, star cluster evolution.
1985-86:
Full Professor of Electronics and Systems (tenured), with the “Giovanni Paolo II” Institute Rome, Italy.
• Teaching of classes in analog and digital electronics, system simulations and their labs.
1984-86:
Field Artillery Officer, Second Lieutenant, Italian Army (NATO member). Honorable discharge.
• Responsible for training, scheduling, and division-level artillery activities of 15-120 personnel.
• Atmospheric correction computations in support of US-made M109 Paladin howitzer accurate fire
in both conventional and nuclear-biological-chemical battlefields.
1981-84:
Research Assistant, The University of Rome, Italy “La Sapienza.”
• Thesis research on galactic halo star formation processes. Dynamical effects of gas expulsion.
• Capacitive, gravitational-wave detection technology applied to develop a He-cooled IR-detector to
be used for experimental cosmology research on the 3K background radiation.
EDUCATION
— Ph.D., (1989); 3.87 GPA, BYU – Physics and Astronomy, Sigma Xi award-winning dissertation:
A theoretical scenario for the dynamics of formation and early evolution of globular clusters in galaxies.
— Laurea (thesis program), University of Rome, Italy “La Sapienza” (1984); cum laude, in Physics.
FURTHER TRAINING
— Private Pilot Certificate (US), Ratings: Airplane, Single and Multiengine Land, Instrument.
— native-like/native English/Italian; formal education in Greek/Latin; also basic German, Arabic, Turkish.
Dr. Fabrizio Pinto, Jazan University, fpinto@jazanu.edu.sa
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ISSUED PATENTS
US: 8,299,761; 8,174,706; 8,149,422; 6,920,032; 6,842,326; 6,665,167; 6,661,576; 6,650,527; 6,593,566; 6,477,028
Japan: 4488630
European Union: EU WO 02/054030 A2 (US 6,477,028); US 6,661,576 as well granted in the EU.
SELECTED AWARDS
2014, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2002, 2000: Honorable Mentions in the Gravity Research Foundation
international competition for short essays on gravitation.
1994: Third Prize Gravity Research Foundation for Rydberg Atoms as Gravitational Wave Antennas.
1991: Third Prize by the Griffith Observer forGiants’ Talk, on the Kepler/Galileo correspondence .
1990: Outstanding BYU Doctoral Dissertation Award, by Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society (only
4 out of 79 projects selected).
1982: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei ”Enrico Persico” scholarship (highly competitive award).
SELECTED INTERVIEWS AND SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
• UPCOMING EVENT, “Dispersion Force Manipulation in Nonlinear Oscillating Nanocavities as a Novel
Approach to Efficient, Multi-source Energy Harvesting and Storage,” BIT’s 2nd Annual World Congress of
Smart Materials, 4 – 6 March 2016, Singapore.
• UPCOMING EVENT – INVITED SPEAKER, 5th International Conference on Mathematical Modeling in
Physical Sciences (IC-MSQUARE 2016), 23 – 27 May 2016, Chania, Crete, Greece.
• “Gravitational-wave detection by dispersion force modulation in nanoscale parametric amplifiers,” Topics in
Astroparticle and Underground Physics, 7 – 11 September 2015, Turin, Italy.
• “Gravitational-wave response of parametric amplifiers driven by radiation-induced dispersion force modulation,” XIV Marcel Grossmann Meeting, Rome, Italy, 12 – 18 July 2015.
• KEYNOTE SPEAKER, “On van der Waals force engineering and its role in breakthrough space propulsion
systems,” First International Symposium on Sustainable Aviation, 31 May – 1 June 2015, Istanbul, Turkey.
• INVITED SPEAKER, “Modeling the nonlinear dynamics of nanotube cores driven by interlayer dispersion
force modulation: New developments and future applications,” 5th International Advances in Applied Physics
& Materials Science Congress & Exhibition (APMAS2015), 16 – 19 April 2015, Fethiye-Mugla, Turkey.
• PLENARY SPEAKER, “Engine cycles with Casimir forces: Open issues, experiments, and technology transfer,” AMOP, Saudi Physical Society Meeting, 1 April 2015, Al-Jouf University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• “Casimir force manipulation as a paradigm for technology transfer How the weak became disruptive,” King
Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), 6 November 2014.
• “Dominance of Dispersion Forces at the Nanoscale: Theory and Technological Applications,” King Fahd
University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), 17 November 2014.
• “Dense energy storage with ultrafast charge/discharge from dispersion forces in nanotubes,” Euro-Asia
Economic Forum 2013, Xi’an, China.
• “Nanopropulsion from high-energy particle beams via dispersion forces in nanotubes,” 48th AIAA
Conference; Atlanta/July 2012.
• INVITED SPEAKER, International Space Development Forum in Chicago (2010).
• INVITED SPEAKER, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, UC Santa Barbara (2008).
• “Casimir force computations in non-trivial geometries,” International Mathematica User Conference 2008.
• INVITED SPEAKER, Humanity 3000 Foundation for the Future Workshop on Energy Challenges (2007).
• P. Ball, Nature.com, “Popular physics myth is all at sea,”
http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060501/full/news060501-7.html
Dr. Fabrizio Pinto, Jazan University, fpinto@jazanu.edu.sa
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SELECTED PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS
Pinto, F., TO APPEAR: INVITED REVIEW, The development of dispersion force engineering and its future aerospace industry applications: Sensing, nano-actuation, energy-storage and advanced propulsion,
Prog. Aerosp. Sci. (2015-2016).
Pinto, F., Nanomechanical sensing of gravitational wave-induced Casimir force perturbations,
Int. J. Mod. Phys. D, 23, 12, 1442001 (2014).
Pinto, F., Energy storage from dispersion forces in nanotubes, INVITED CHAPTER, in “Nanotube Superfiber Materials,” M. Schulz, V. N. Shanov, and Y. Zhangzhang, Eds. (Elsevier, New York, 2013), Ch. 27.
Pinto, F., Reflectance modulation by free-carrier exciton screening in semiconducting nanotubes,
J. Appl. Phys., 114, 024310 (2013).
Pinto, F., Improved finite-difference computation of the van der Waals force: One-dimensional case,
Phys. Rev. A, 80, 042113 (2009).
Pinto, F., Membrane actuation by Casimir force manipulation , J. Phys. A, 41, 164033 (2008).
Pinto, F., Adaptive optics actuation by means of van der Waals forces : a novel nanotechnology strategy to
steer light by light, in Optomechatronic Technologies 2008, Otani, Yukitoshi et al, Eds.
(SPIE, Bellingham, WA, 2008), 726616.
Pinto, F., The Economics of van der Waals Force Engineering, in Proc. of Space Technology Applications
and Int. Forum (STAIF-08), M. S. El-Genk, Ed. (American Inst. of Physics, New York, 2008), p. 959.
Pinto, F. Discrepancy between published Laplace difference equations on cylindrical dielectrics,
Am. J. Phys., 75, 6, 513 (2007).
Pinto, F. A trapped dipolar BEC interferometry test of E=mc2 , Int J. Mod. Phys. D, 15, 12, 2235 (2006).
Pinto, F. Progress in Quantum Vacuum Engineering Propulsion, J. Br. Interplanet. Soc., 59, 247 (2006).
Pinto, F., Resolution of a Paradox in Classical Electrodynamics, Phys. Rev. D, 73, 104020 (2006).
Pinto, F., Analytical and Experimental Investigation on a Vibrating Annular Membrane attached to a Central
Free, Rigid Core, J. Sound and Vibration, 291, Issue 3-5, 1278 (2006).
Pinto, F., Casimir Force between a Gravitational Field and a Finite Object, Int J. Mod. Phys. D, 11, 10,
1567 (2002).
Pinto, F., On the role of the Planck mass in cold atom beam scattering by a massive sphere, Mod. Phys.
Lett. A, 15, 36, 2229 (2000).
Pinto, F., On the Engine Cycle of an Optically Controlled Vacuum Energy Transducer, Phys. Rev. B, 60,
21, 14740 (1999).
Pinto, F., (with P.J. Wolff, B.G. Williams, and R. M. Vaughan), Navigational Considerations for Low-Thrust
Planetary Missions, in the Proceedings of the 1998 AAS/AIAA Meeting in Monterey, CA (1998).
Pinto, F., Rydberg Atoms as Gravitational Wave Antennas, J. Gen. Rel. Grav., 27, No. 1, 9 (1995) .
Pinto, F., Rydberg Atoms in Curved Space-Time, Phys. Rev. Lett., 70, No. 25, 3839-3843 (1993).
POPULAR AND PEDAGOGICAL PUBLICATIONS
Pinto, F., Engines Powered by the Forces between Atoms, American Scientist, 102, 280 (2014)
Pinto, F., “I am the Prince of Eternity” – Famous attempts to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics,
Griffith Observer, 1997, Issue 5 (1997).
Pinto, F., CCDs in the mechanics lab – A competitive alternative? (in two parts) The Physics Teacher, 33,
436 and 520 (1995))
Pinto, F., Parametric resonance: An introductory experiment, The Physics Teacher, 31, 336 (1993)
Pinto, F., Giant’s Talk – The correspondence between Galileo and Kepler, Griffith Observer, 1992, 9, (1992).
SOCIETIES
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society (Honorary Member); APS; ACS; IEEE; ACM; AIAA