List of Italians - Engineers

Engineers

• Ettore Bellini (1876–1943), engineer, co-inventor with Alessandro Tosi, of Radio direction finder (RDF)
• Enrico Bernardi (1841–1919), engineer and one of Italian automobile pioneers. Inventor of the "Pia Engine", the first petrol engine
• Luigi Bezzera (... – ...), engineer, created the first espresso machine (1901) which used steam to make coffee
• Giovanni Branca (1571–1645), engineer and architect who provided the first known description of a steam turbine (1629)
• Mario Calderara (1879–1944), engineer and aviation pioneer, designer and constructor the first seaplane (1911)
• Matteo Campani-Alimenis (1620–1678), engineer, mechanician and natural philosopher. Inventor of the Magic lantern (1678)
• Secondo Campini (1904–1980), engineer, one of the pioneers of the jet engine
• Alessandro Capra (born 1620, date of death unknown), engineer and mathematician. Inventor of the first speedometer for coaches (1678)
• Giovanni Battista Caproni (1886–1957), aeronautical engineer, civil engineer, electrical engineer, and aircraft designer who founded an aircraft-manufacturing company bearing his name (1908)
• Mario Castoldi (1888–1968), aeronautical engineer who designed the renown Macchi MC.200, Macchi MC.202 and Macchi MC.205 World War II Italian fighter airplanes
• Bernard Castro (1904–1991), industrial engineer. Inventor of the modern convertible couch
• Leonardo Chiariglione (born 1952/1953), engineer. Inventor of the MPEG format (1988) and precursor of MP3
• Corradino D'Ascanio (1891–1981), aeronautical engineer. Inventor of motor scooter (Vespa in 1946)
• Luigi de Cristoforis (... – ...), engineer. Inventor of the carburetor (1876)
• Luigi Emanueli (1883–1959), engineer. Inventor of oil-filled cable (1924)
• Federico Faggin (born 1941), physicist and electrical engineer, designed first microprocessor (1970–1971)
• Enrico Forlanini (1848–1930), engineer and aeronautical pioneer. Inventor of the helicopter (1877) and hydrofoil (1900)
• Giovanni da Fontana (c. 1395–1455), engineer, designed a surface-running rocket-powered torpedo for setting enemy ships on fire (1420)
• Francesco Lana de Terzi (1631–1687), Jesuit, mathematician, and naturalist. Called the father of aeronautics for his pioneering efforts
• Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), artist, engineer, and scientist. Perhaps no one in history achieved so much in so many different fields
• Giovanni Luppis (1813–1875), engineer and officer, co-inventor with Robert Whitehead, of the torpedo (1860)
• Arturo Malignani (1865–1939), engineer, developed the technique of coating components of incandescent lamps with red phosphorus (1895)
• Giovanni Battista Marzi (1860–1927), engineer who invented the first automatic telephone central in the world (1886) and electric loudspeaker (1906)
• Felice Matteucci (1808–1887), hydraulic engineer, co-inventor with Eugenio Barsanti, of the internal combustion engine (1854)
• Antonio Meucci (1808–1889), chemical and mechanical engineer. Inventor of the telephone (1871)
• Carlo Montemagno (... – ...), biomedical engineer. Inventor of the first molecular motor
• Peter Mule (1891–1960), engineer, founder of Mole-Richardson lighting kits
• Camillo Olivetti (1868–1943), electrical engineer, founder of Olivetti
• Pier Giorgio Perotto (1930–2002), engineer, pioneer in computer science; designer of the Olivetti Programma 101 programmable electronic calculator (1965)
• Giovanni Battista Piatti (1812–1867), civil engineer. Inventor of the pneumatic rock-drilling machine
• Giuseppe Pirelli (... – ...), engineer. Inventor of the electric cable (1884)
• Ignazio Porro (1801–1875), engineer and optician, invented Porro prism binocular (1875)
• Piero Puricelli (1883–1951), civil engineer and entrepreneur, called the father of the motorway
• Agostino Ramelli (1531–1600), engineer, invented the hydraulic motor (1588)
• Raffaele Rossetti (1881–1951), engineer and military naval officer, creator of the first human torpedo
• Carmelo Scuderi (1925–2002), engineer. Inventor of the Scuderi Engine
• Germain Sommeiller (1815–1871), civil engineer. He directed the construction of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel between France and Italy; introduced the first industrial pneumatic drill for tunnel digging
• Lorenzo Thione (born 1978), engineer, co-founder with Barney Pell, of Powerset, Inc., an innovative search startup founded in 2005 and sold to Microsoft in 2008
• Juanelo Turriano (c. 1500–1585), clockmaker, engineer and mathematician. He built the Artificio de Juanelo