I was born in Como on 24 January 1998 and grew up in a small town nearby. I lived there until 2017, when I graduated from high school — including an exchange year in the US from 2015 to 2016.

Mechanics and electronics

I fell in love with mechanics and electronics early on. A lot of my free time went into tuning motorbikes — and at some point I built my own one (kind of) by mounting a 50cc quad engine on an old bicycle. It was fun, though it didn't last long.

The projects kept coming:

• I tried building an instantly rechargeable battery using a supercapacitor.
• I built a really special alarm clock.
• I built a robotic hand that could mimic the movements of a real hand.
• Along the way, I spent countless hours programming Raspberry Pis, Arduinos, and ESP32s.

Sports

I also played a lot of sports:

• Soccer above all — as a goalkeeper, almost professionally.
• Swimming.
• Tennis.

Choosing electronics

By the time I finished middle school, I already knew I would eventually go on to study electronics engineering in university, so I decided to start earlier and also pursue electronics in high school, at ITIS Magistri Cumacini.