Stefano Ierace is the General Manager at Consorzio Intellimech, a consortium of companies based in Bergamo, Italy, that focuses on interdisciplinary research in the field of mechatronics. His role involves overseeing the operational aspects of the consortium, which aims to foster collaboration between research and industry to advance technological innovations, particularly in automation and robotics. He obtained a PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 2009 with a thesis on the topic of predictive diagnostics. He initially focused on research in the field of predictive maintenance and diagnostics, later working on technology transfer projects and open innovation activities among companies.