Michele Parrinello is an Italian physicist particularly known for his work in molecular dynamics

Molecular dynamics

Molecular dynamics is a computer simulation of physical movements of atoms and molecules. The atoms and molecules are allowed to interact for a period of time, giving a view of the motion of the atoms...

 (the computer simulation of physical movements of atoms and molecules). Parrnello and Roberto Car

Roberto Car

Roberto Car is an Italian physicist, who works on simulation of molecular dynamics phenomena.-Life:Car studied physics and attained a doctorate in 1971 in nuclear technology at the Politecnico di Milano...

  were awarded the Dirac Medal and the Sidney Fernbach Award

Sidney Fernbach Award

The Sidney Fernbach Award established in 1992 by the IEEE Computer Society, in memory of Sidney Fernbach, one of the pioneers in the development and application of high performance computers for the solution of large computational problems as the Division Chief for the Computation Division at...

  in 2009 for their continuing development of the Car-Parrinello method

Car-Parrinello method

The Car–Parrinello method is a type of ab initio molecular dynamics, usually employing periodic boundary conditions, planewave basis sets, and density functional theory, proposed by Roberto Car and Michele Parrinello in 1985, who were subsequently awarded the Dirac Medal by ICTP in 2009.In...

, first proposed in their seminal 1985 paper "Unified Approach for Molecular Dynamics and Density-Functional Theory".

Life and career

Michele Parinello was born in Messina, Sicily and received his Laurea

Laurea

In Italy, the laurea is the main post-secondary academic degree.-Reforms due to the Bologna process:Spurred by the Bologna process, a major reform was instituted in 1999 to introduce easier university degrees comparable to the bachelors...

in physics from the University of Bologna

University of Bologna

The Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating university in the world, the word 'universitas' being first used by this institution at its foundation. The true date of its founding is uncertain, but believed by most accounts to have been 1088...

 in 1968. After working at the International School for Advanced Studies

International School for Advanced Studies

The ' is an international, Italian-state-supported post-graduate teaching and research institute with a special statute, located in Trieste ....

 in Trieste

Trieste

Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...

, the IBM research lab in Zurich, and the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research

Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research

The Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research is part of the Max Planck Society which operates 80 research facilities in Germany. It is a research institute located in Büsnau which is part of Stuttgart, Germany....

 in Stuttgart, he was appointed Professor of Computational Science at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich  in 2001, a position he also holds at the Università della Svizzera italiana

Università della Svizzera italiana

Università della Svizzera italiana is a public university located in Lugano, Switzerland, founded in 1996...

 in Lugano. In 2011 he was awarded the Marcel Benoist Prize

Marcel Benoist Prize

The Marcel Benoist Prize, offered by the Marcel Benoist Foundation, is a monetary prize that has been offered annually since 1920 to a scientist of Swiss nationality or residency who has made the most useful scientific discovery. Emphasis is placed on those discoveries affecting human life...

.