historical corner
Microwave electronics has a long lasting history in Florence. Indeed the term microwaves itself was born in Tuscany.
Nello Carrara (Florence February 19, 1932 - Florence June 5, 1993) published a paper ( “La rivelazione delle microonde [The detection of microwaves],” Alta Frequenza, vol. 1, no. l, Mar. 1932, pp. 7-11), which introduced the term microwaves in scientific literature.
In applied research he attained outstanding results: In 1946 he founded in Florence the Centro Microonde [Microwave Center] of the National Research Council (CNR), which was constituted within the University, and which later acquired a building specifically built for it (1958). The Centro was later named Istituto di Ricerca sulle Onde Elettromagnetiche (IROE) [Research Institute on Electromagnetic Waves](1968) and is now known as Istituto di Fisica Applicata “Nello Carrara” [Istitute for Applied Physics “Nello Carrara”](2002), and occupies a new, much larger, buiding. When it was founded by Carrara, the Centro Microonde was the largest center of the Italian National Research Council.
In industrial applications, in 1953 he co-founded, SMA (Segnalamento Marittimo e Aereo [Sea and Airborne Signaling]) a leading radar and telecommunication company in Florence, of which he was the first president. He was also president of Selesmar, a company specialized in commercial radar navigation and vice president of ISC, a company specialized in the supply of communication equipment for the aerospace industry.
He eventually sponsored the birth of the Faculty, now School, of Engineering in Florence (1972).
Among the side activities of the people at the laboratory there are divulgation and history of Science research.
In particular
Several books have been edited by the group.
Several articles have been published by the group, most notably on the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, of which Prof. G. Pelosi is associate Editor for the Historical Corner, and the URSI bullettin.
A Milestone dedicated to Enrico Fermi has been placed at the School of Engineering thanks to the efforts of the group.