Alfredo Ronchi

Interview

• "Digital projecton and telearning" (Roma, 19/12/95)
• "Projects for virtual universities and museums" (Milano - SMAU, 19/10/1996)

Biography

Alfredo M. Ronchi teaches Assisted Building Design in the Department of Engineering of Building Systems in the Engineering Faculty of Milan Polytechnic. Born in Milan in 1956, he graduated in Engineering in 1981 and was appointed as researcher in 1984.

In 1975 Ronchi became interested in the use of information technology in the field of assisted design. Since 1983 he has worked on the possible applications of Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems to building design. He has been actively working on Virtual Reality since 1989, bringing together his experience in computers, multimedia and lighting engineering.

In 1994 he organised the "First International Day of Virtual Reality and advanced Computer Aided Architectural Design" in Bologna. He is an active member of the ECAADE (Education in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe), Eurographics, ACM Siggraph and IES (Illuminating Engineering Society).He is currently working on multimedia, virtual reality and computer-aided building design.

Ronchi has put forward a series of projects for the promotion and study of cultural heritage through the use of IT, in particular adapting techniques from computer graphics and multimedia applications. Since 1993 he has presented a number of projects to the European Community within the framework of Telematics Application, Info2000 and TEN Telecom.

After two successful results in TA, the project Mosaic Net Virtual Museums presented in the TEN Telecom 96 programme for cultural heritage was approved and financed by the European Community. The projects currently under development include among their partners the Lombardy region, the Province of Milan, the Chamber of Commerce and Telecom.