Mario Benincasa Email and Phone Number

Development and Engineering of the Payload Data Ground Segment (PDGS) for the FLEX(FLuorescence EXplorer) mission, 8th mission of the ESA Earth Explorer program.The mission is devoted to the study of vegetation fluorescence and its launch is currentlyscheduled for 2026. My role spans from the specification and the architectural definition ofthe PDGS to the management of the industrial partners in charge of the development of itscomponent, from testing and validation of such components to their integration anddeployment in Agency’s operational infrastructure. FLEX mission’s PDGS poses a numberof interesting challenges in terms of computational complexity of the operational processors(both L1 and L2), volume of the mission’s products, and innovative end-user access (cloudbasedplatform to better support the end user base).

Development of a novel approach in the study of coastal sediment deposition and erosion processes, at regional and basin scales, based on a synergic use of satellite remote sensing and numerical ocean modelling. (Research project of my PhD course.)Investigation of machine learning and data-driven approaches and applications in passive optical remote sensing of the ocean. Software development (mainly in Python) for Ocean Colour satellite data processing: implementation of regional algorithms (based on both band maths and Neural Networks) for the retrieval of Optical Properties and Water Constituents of Mediterranean Sea (OLCI sensor), Black Sea (OLCI sensor), and Baltic Sea (OLCI and MODIS sensors).Development and management of satellite oceanography IT infrastructure: High Performance Computing cluster architectures, High Availability cluster architectures, distributed file systems (GlusterFS, GFS, ...) , KVM based virtualization platforms (OpenNebula, QEMU, VirtualBox, ...), SW for data and metadata access and dissemination (THREDDS, MOTU, ...).Participation in Oceanographic Campaigns, to collect in-situ data for the calibration of satellite algorithms.

Software Development, ICT consultancy, Applied Mathematics:Web applications and web sites on LAMP platform (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP), ICT consultancy for enterprises and professionals,Scientific software in C and Fortran90, with MPI and OpenMP parallel computing frameworks,Expert evaluator, for the European Commission, for the research grant assignments of the IRSES – Marie Curie Actions program.

Pre-sale activity in the Telecommunications market in Italy and in Europe, with main focus on mobile operators.Deep knowledge of mobile networks technologies, architectures and protocols (GSM, GPRS, UMTS, LTE, WiFi, WiMAX) focusing on Cisco offering in the segment: Packet Core, SS7oIP, DPI, Policy Framework, Femtocell, WiFi and I-WLAN.My responsibilities spanned from high touch presentations to demo lab setup, from bid answering to product development definition, from business analysis to preparation and teaching professional training courses on Cisco technologies and solutions.

Technical support for GSM mobile network equipment, focusing on Management Systems, Short Message Service Centers (SMSC) and systems for value added services (VAS).In the role I had the opportunity to develop a deep knowledge in the following areas: GSM network architectures and protocols, Unix systems (with focus on HP-UX and High Availaibility solutions), Oracle RDBMS, TCP/IP networking.My responsibilities ranged from commissioning and integration of Nokia networks products and systems, to their operational support, from development of custom network solutions to preparation and teaching professional training courses on Nokia technologies and solutions.

Internal and customer acceptance testing for GSM mobile network equipment (MSC, AuC, SMSC) and protocols (MAP, DTAP, ...).

Software development, with a research team of the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, for pattern recognition algorithms and numerical simulation of artificial neural systems.

National Service - Military radio equipment testing.

Software development, with a research team of the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, for pattern recognition algorithms and numerical simulation of artificial neural systems.