Terzi Sergio
Full Professor
Sergio Terzi is a Full Professor at the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering of Politecnico di Milano. He currently serves as Deputy Head of the Department and is also co-founder of Miraitek 4.0, a spin-off company of Politecnico di Milano.
From 2014 to 2022, Sergio was an Associate Professor at Politecnico di Milano, Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering. In 2008 and 2018, he was a Visiting Professor at the University of Lyon, France. From 2005 to 2014, he served as Assistant Professor and Researcher at the University of Bergamo.
Sergio earned his PhD in May 2005, defending a dissertation entitled “Elements of Product Lifecycle Model: Definitions, Open Issues, and Reference Models.” He was awarded a dual doctoral degree: a PhD in Management Engineering from Politecnico di Milano and a Doctorat en Production Automatisées from Université Henri Poincaré in Nancy, France. He obtained his Master’s Degree in Business Economics and Administration in 2001 from Carlo Cattaneo University (LIUC) in Castellanza, Italy, after earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from the same university in 1999.
Sergio Terzi’s main research interests focus on digital technologies applied to industrial systems (Industry 4.0 paradigm) and the circular economy. He has been involved in numerous European research projects in these fields.
Since 2010, Sergio has been a member of IFIP (International Federation for Information Processing) Working Groups 5.1 and 5.7. From 2020 to 2026, he served as Chair of the Italian Chapter of the IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society (TEMS).
Sergio is the author of four books and more than 300 publications, and he serves on the scientific committees of numerous international conferences. Since 2024, he has been a member of the International Association of Learning Factories (IALF). Since 2023, he has been Director of the Marco Garetti Laboratory, hosted within the Department and dedicated to the study of Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 technological paradigms.
He is currently Co-Director of the Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) at POLIMI Graduate School of Management.
Career
PHD: Management Engineering, Politecnico di Milano and University of Nancy I.
Master of Science: Economics and Business Management, University Carlo Cattaneo LIUC.
Bachelor of Science: Logistics and Industrial Engineering, University Carlo Cattaneo LIUC.
Research
Sergio is author of more than 200 papers and 4 books. In September 2023, Sergio H index (Scopus) is 32, with more than 4082 citations. Sergio’s research career could be described in three main periods: from 2000 to 2005 (young research fellow and doctorate candidate), from 2005 to 2014 (Researcher and Assistant Professor at University of Bergamo), from 2014 till present (Associate and then Full Professor at Politecnico di Milano). During these periods, Sergio has developed his skills, delving into various areas of industrial engineering, from modelling and simulation of manufacturing systems to operations management, from enterprise information systems to product lifecycle management, from design management to factory design, from digital transformation to Industry 4.0, from service design to circular manufacturing.
Sergio is member of several academic associations and networks. In particular, he is vice-chairman of IFIP WG 5.1, member of IFIP WG 5.7, member of IEEE TMC, and member of AIDI. Sergio is member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal on Product Lifecycle Management, as well as Guest Editors of other journals (e.g. Sustainability, International Journal of Product Development, Computers and Industry).
Sergio has a strong experience in international funded projects, with more than 15 European projects funded (for more than 20.000.000 M€ collected), 5 coordinated and more than 50 proposals submitted. He has also a relevant experience in industrial projects and collaborations, with more than 2.000.000 M€ collected from companies and other private institutions. In his research team, Sergio has more than 40 PhD candidates and young research fellows, mainly with management, mechanical and design backgrounds. Sergio as acted as Director of the Industry 4.0 Lab of Politecnico di Milano, as well as DIG Delegate for MADE, the Industry 4.0 Competence Center of Politecnico di Milano. Sergio is currently coordinating the MICS Extended Partnership project, Spoke 5, with more than 100 national researchers involved.
Main research interests:
Circular Manufacturing
Sustainable Manufacturing
Industry 4.0
Selected Publications
Xiao, Jinhua, Bo Wang , Kaile Huang , Sergio Terzi, Wei Wang, Marco Macchi (2025) Intelligent disassembly scenario understanding for human behavior and intention recognition towards self-perception human-robot collaboration system,Journal of Manufacturing Systems, Volume 83, December 2025, Pages 937-962
Xiao, Jinhua; Zhang, Zhiwen; Terzi, Sergio; Anwer, Nabil; Eynard, Benoît (2025) Dynamic task allocations with Q-learning based particle swarm optimization for human-robot collaboration disassembly of electric vehicle battery recycling, COMPUTERS & INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING (ISSN: 0360-8352) Vol. 204, 1 - 17 Vol. 195, 294 - 307
Hassan, R.; Acerbi, F.; Terzi, S.; Rosa, P. (2025) Enabling the twin transition of the textile industry: A systematic literature review WASTE MANAGEMENT (ISSN: 0956-053X)
Acerbi F.| Sassanelli C.| Terzi S.| Taisch M. (2021), "A systematic literature review on data and information required for circular manufacturing strategies adoption", Sustainability (Switzerland), 13, 1-27
Sassanelli C.| Rosa P.| Terzi S. (2021), "Supporting disassembly processes through simulation tools: A systematic literature review with a focus on printed circuit boards", Journal of Manufacturing Systems, 60, 429-448
Sassanelli C.| Da Costa Fernandes S.| Rozenfeld H.| Mascarenhas J.| Terzi S. (2021), "Enhancing knowledge management in the PSS detailed design: a case study in a food and bakery machinery company", Concurrent Engineering Research and Applications, 29, 295-308
Rosa P.| Sassanelli C.| Urbinati A.| Chiaroni D.| Terzi S. (2020), "Assessing relations between Circular Economy and Industry 4.0: a systematic literature review", International Journal of Production Research, 58, 1662-1687
Grants, awards and Honours
Top 2% Scientists 2024, 2025
Community service
Member of the Board of the Department
Coordinator of the International Committee
Deputy Director
Research projects
CERES - Circular Economy innovation ecosystems REdesigning Skills
Project detailsECOTRON - How to minimize the ecological footprint for functional electronics?
Project details
Magazine articles
