Marco Cataffo

About me

I am Marco Cataffo, I come from the old city (about 4K y.o.) of Napoli, Italy; fun fact, its name literally means new city. It kind of put things in perspective, I guess. I am currently a PhD Student in 'Design, Production and Management' at Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy.

my academic profile; my pubblications

My research topic is framed as Service Robotics for Agricultural Applications. My field of interest revolves around Systems Science and is informed by different disciplines, ranging from Cybernetics to Ecology; the current principal body of knowledge I refer to develop my methodology goes by the name of Complex Adaptive Systems. Within this framework, activities such design, production, use, consumption and management are highly interdependent, constantly influencing each other knowledge, competencies and practices.

Designing Self-Reproductive Systems

Analysis and Synthesis

A huge part of my work is understanding what systems are. How do they behave, of which elements are composed and in what kind of context they operate. The word 'fuzzy' comes in handy when trying to describe a system for what it is, since its functions are very much related to its observer's perspective. Social systems, transport systems, production systems, biological systems have no clear line separating them. Cities, populations, organizations and such are in a constant state of becoming and evolution; given the high degree of interconnectedness, we are part of a process of co-evolution, seeking states of dynamic equilibrium.