Our Stories
Our Stories
Tommaso Frizzi
Along the way that, from a degree in Telecommunications Engineering, led him, after a period as a PhD candidate and researcher in the field of Electronic Engineering, to found XGLab – a high-tech company specialized in radiation detectors born as a spin-off of Politecnico di Milano and today part of an international group such as Bruker Corporation – Tommaso Frizzi has been able to combine his “technical” soul with the visionary spirit of the entrepreneur.
His is a success story that has the passion for technology and innovation as a common thread, as well as the desire to continually put himself out there and reach new goals.
Tommaso, tell us a little about yourself: what is your educational and professional path?
In 1997 I enrolled in the degree course in Telecommunications Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano. In 2003, immediately after I got my master's degree with a thesis on my collaboration with Alcatel, my perspectives suddenly changed because of the crisis that hit the telecommunications sector that year. I have always been attracted to the world of research and innovation, so I decided to take up an academic career and I took the opportunity to carry out a PhD in Information Technology at the Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria. During my doctoral years, I specialized in the field of nuclear electronics, dealing with integrated circuits for reading signals from X radiation detectors under the supervision of Prof. Antonio Longoni and Prof. Carlo Fiorini.
Those have been very formative years, during which I had the opportunity to learn many new things. I was so passionate about my job that, after getting my PhD, I kept working with my team for another two years as a postdoctoral fellow. It was then that, together with my colleagues and a few teachers, I started to think about embarking on an entrepreneurial adventure in the form of a Politecnico di Milano spin-off. So, we developed a detailed business plan and submitted it to the commission that has the task of evaluating this kind of proposal. After some time and a lot of hard work, our proposal was approved and in 2009 XGLab was founded.
We started as an authentic start-up. At the beginning there were only two of us, despite the fact that the company structure also included professors from the Politecnico and other PhDs and students. Today we have more than 20 employees and in 2017, eight years after the company’s foundation, we became part of a large international group listed on NASDAQ. Our path was the typical one for start-ups, even if – unlike what happens in the United States and, to a lesser extent, in the rest of Europe – we have never received external funding. Apart from some nonprofit contributions we received from Regione Lombardia and other public bodies for research and development activities, we have always financed ourselves with funds obtained on the market.
What does XGlab do?
XGlab operates in the field of radiation detectors and electronic instrumentation for X-ray spectroscopic analysis and Gamma imaging and deals with the design and construction of advanced ionizing detection systems. There are many different applications for this kind of technology: environmental monitoring, analysis of materials used in industry, study and conservation of artistic and cultural heritage ... Our specific know-how, however, is the development of high-performance electronic components including integrated and printed circuits. Over the years, we have produced components that have revolutionized the sector and that have given us a lot of satisfaction also financially speaking. Currently, this activity takes up more than 2/3 of our time and resources and it is the one that is most linked to the skills I learned at the Politecnico. Later we also started to develop comprehensive tools, in particular X-ray spectrometers based on fluorescence. In this context, we have built a “niche” in the field of restoration and conservation of cultural heritage. All over the world, in laboratories and museums, our instruments are used for diagnostic purposes as they allow to accurately examine artifacts without risking damages.
What is your role within the company?
I am a founding partner and CEO of the company. Since we joined Bruker I am also part of the management of the Bruker Nano Analytics division, based in Berlin, for which I hold the role of vice-president of the XGC business unit, acronym of “X and Gamma Ray Components”.
What are you working on right now?
In Italy, XGLab is increasingly playing the role of R&D center for the division to which we belong. Our task is to develop new components and innovative solutions for future Bruker Nano Analytics tools. This is exactly what we wanted to do when we founded the company: developing in Italy technologically advanced projects in the nuclear electronics sector. Among the reasons that led me and my partners to conceive XGLab, there was also the fact that on the market we could not find a job as satisfying as the one we have been able to build for ourselves. Even as part of a larger group, this ability to look ahead has been acknowledged and we have kept the role of innovators that has always characterized us.
What do you like most about your job?
One of the most satisfying things for me, which undoubtedly derives from my studies, is the ability to fully understand what my company is doing. The other satisfying aspect, as I already mentioned, is being able to keep alive the vocation for innovation that was the initial spark of the project. Furthermore, I must confess that, despite having started my professional career as an engineer, the role I hold now gives me great satisfaction because it allows me to have an overview of all the aspects of the company, to design its strategy and therefore to plan its future.
What did studying at the DEIB mean for you? How important was this experience for your career and what is the most valuable thing you learned at the Politecnico di Milano?
When I was a student, the experience at the Politecnico di Milano was very important to me because it gave me specific skills and, most of all, a working method, a way of dealing with situations, of tackling and solving problems. Equally important for me was the possibility of developing my study plan with a certain degree of freedom, integrating curricular courses with subjects and exams from other degree courses of the Politecnico and even of the Faculty of Physics of the Università Statale di Milano. In short, it was a formative experience in every sense, which allowed me to complete in the best possible way a path of personal and intellectual growth that began in high school.
Later, the PhD allowed me to take a specific path that has been fundamental for my career: that of radiation detectors. I began to see my work from a broader point of view, different from the purely technical one, to relate to the outside world, dealing with companies and also with people from other countries. Above all, I was able to be part of a real project, with deadlines and expectations to meet. It was an extremely formative experience in view of my future insertion into the job market, to the point that when I got my PhD I felt ready to get involved with something bigger and more ambitious, as it actually happened with XGLab.
In light of all this, it can be said that the role that the Politecnico has played in my professional career has been enormous. Most likely, XGLab would never have existed otherwise because, as I said, the company stems mainly from the passionate work that I was doing within my research group, with the aim of doing it also outside the academy. The stimulus and the encouragement on the part of the teachers was fundamental in this, in particular Prof. Fiorini and Prof. Longoni, who has been a real mentor for me.
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Do you want to stay updated on all the research activities, events and other initiatives taking place at the Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria of the Politecnico di Milano? Subscribe to the DEIB Community newsletter!
