cv

Education

  • 2023 - present
    Ph.D. in Computer Science
    Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
    • Admitted to the 39th cycle with highest-ranking placement in Computer Science.
    • Specializing in Computer Vision and Embodied AI, Socially Aware Robotics, Human-Robot Interaction, and Deep Reinforcement Learning.
  • 2021 - 2023
    M.Sc. in Data Science
    Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
    • Graduated 110/110 cum Laude.
    • Winner of call 4/2022: n. 99 assegni di tutorato.
    • Scholarship winner, Diritto allo Studio 22/23, Lazio Disco.
  • 2016 - 2020
    B.Sc. in Computer Engineering
    Roma Tre University of Rome, Italy

Publications

  • Describe-Then-Act: Proactive Agent Steering via Distilled Language-Action World Models, M. Pappa, L. Romani, V. Sacco et al., ECCV 2026.
  • Robots Ask the Way: Communication-Enabled Social Navigation, V. Sacco, L. Scofano, I. Spinelli, F. Galasso, IROS 2026.
  • Following the Human Thread in Social Navigation, L. Scofano, V. Sacco et al., ICLR 2025 (Spotlight).

Research Experience

  • Feb 2025 - May 2025
    Research Intern
    Panasonic R&D Labs, Silicon Valley
    • Collaborative research on foundational models for robotics.
    • Initiated and presented project proposal during joint session with UC Berkeley, now continuing as part of ongoing research.
  • 2023 - present
    Ph.D. Researcher
    Sapienza University of Rome
    • Researching Socially Aware Navigation, Four-Legged Locomotion, Foundational Models in Robotics, and Embodied Intelligence.

Industry Experience

  • May 2026 - present
    Machine Learning Engineer
    WarmWind AG, Jena, Germany
    • Working on applied machine learning and embodied AI systems in collaboration with the WarmWind AG team.
    • Bridging academic research in robotics and machine learning with production-oriented engineering.
  • 2020 - Dec 2021
    Software Engineer & Tutor
    Starting Finance
    • Frontend Team Leader & Software Engineer.
    • Developed mobile app 'Starting Finance' (Dart/Flutter).
    • Integrated AWS Serverless, Amazon Cognito, AppSync (GraphQL), and CI/CD pipeline for multiplatform release.
  • 2019 - 2020
    Frontend Developer
    Sourcesense
    • Javascript and React.js frontend development in Agile team.

Teaching

  • Teaching Assistant & Lecturer, Algorithmic Methods of Data Mining (AA 2022-23).
  • Hosted AWS Training Camp (High Performance Cloud Computing) for MSc Data Science students (AA 2022-23).
  • Hosted Advant Training Camp (Temporal Data Analytics) for MSc Data Science students (AA 2022-23).

Skills

  • Machine Learning: Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow, Deep Reinforcement Learning, computer vision, embodied AI.
  • Software Development: Dart, Flutter, Javascript, React.js, cloud/serverless integrations.
  • Language: Proficient English. Certificate: Cambridge FCE (B2), Ref. 153IT3030032.