Umberto Fugiglando

Umberto Fugiglando is the Head of Research Strategy & Partnerships at the Senseable City Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a multidisciplinary research group that studies the interface between cities, people, and technologies. He leads and manages multi-stakeholder research programs on data science applied to urban technology initiatives, and is in charge of developing and maintaining partnerships between cities, companies and foundations that support the group's research agenda.

Additionally, Umberto serves as an External Expert for the European Commission, working with policy makers on the future of mobility. He also leads the MIT Senseable Dubai Lab, a joint initiative with the Dubai Future Foundation focused on urban mobility research in the UAE — including a partnership with the FIA to study sustainable mobility solutions for major events.

He is co-founder and board member of ReFuse, a social enterprise working on waste recycling in Lebanon, Uganda and Rwanda. ReFuse has handled over 25 tons of expired materials, reduced dumped volume by 80%, and distributed reusable secondary raw materials to over 10 local ventures.

His research has produced 17+ publications with over 340 citations, spanning driving behavior analysis, smart cities, and urban mobility — in collaboration with partners including Audi, Allianz, and Brose. He has delivered keynote talks at the World Economic Forum, Bloomberg CityLab, and the H22 Summit, among others.

Umberto holds a B.Sc. in Applied Mathematics and an M.Sc. in Mathematics and Engineering from Politecnico di Torino in Italy, with an Erasmus exchange at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. He also earned the prestigious ASP Diploma from the joint honors program of Politecnico di Torino and Politecnico di Milano. He has studied in Italy, Sweden, Canada, and the United States.