"Professor Emanuele Biondi fully deserves the recognition that our Politecnico proposes to offer him for his exceptional career as a scientist and teacher. Indeed, Professor Biondi enjoys undisputed prestige in the scientific community, is well-known beyond Politecnico and has had a constant commitment to organisational work within the University over the years.
In particular, Professor Biondi:
- was an initiator and proponent of important scientific disciplines in the field of academia (mainly Automation and Bioengineering) and was the main reference point for strong cultural initiatives in his areas of study;
- he was the founder of the Centre for Systems Theory of the CNR (National Research Council), which he directed from its foundation (1971) until 1990 and opened the Department of Bioengineering at Politecnico di Milano (currently still the only Department of its kind in Italy), which he directed from its foundation (1989) to 1991;
- started the Ph.D in Bioengineering in Italy;
- at a national level, he was the main figure behind the launch of study programmes in Biomedical Engineering (from the University Diploma, to the Five-Year Single-Cycle Programme, to the Undergraduate Degree, to the Master's Degree, etc.);
- he was Co-ordinator of the Ph.D in Bioengineering from its establishment in 1982 until 2001 and President of the Degree Programme Board in Biomedical Engineering from its establishment in 1997 until 2001;
- he is co-director of the series of books on Biomedical engineering (Editore Pàtron) supported by the National Bioengineering Group (GNB);
- he was President of the Milan section (1968-1969) and subsequently of the national section of ANIPLA (National Association for Automation).
Furthermore, Professor Biondi authored several books in his specialised disciplines (Electrotechnics, Automation and above all Bioengineering) and of many scientific publications of interest in the same fields, where he has made a fundamental contribution in studies related to the modelling of sensory systems, the organisation of the central nervous system and the processing of neuronal information.
For those who have had the pleasure of personally knowing him, Professor Emanuele Biondi has been a constant stimulus to scientific curiosity and precise analytic practice and has always shown human and moral qualities of the highest level."
[extract from the 2004 nomination statement]