Giorgio Metta is scientific director of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), the Italian counterpart of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The institute has a multidisciplinary approach and is particularly strong in technology transfer. Metta (51), an electrical engineer who graduated from the University of Genoa (from which he also received his PhD), is considered to be the father of the iCub.

This is a humanoid robot designed by several different European universities with the aim of conducting research on human cognition and artificial intelligence.