People and Contacts

Andrea Brunello

Project Director

a.brunello [at] jetpropulsiontheatre [dot] org
Mob (+39) 348.3985085


Andrea is JPT's project director. He holds a bachelor degree in physics and mathematics from Cornell University (USA, 1992) and a physics Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook (USA, 1997). He is currently affiliated with the Physics Department of the University of Trento. He has published articles in prestigious physics journals, most notably Physical Review Letters and Physical Review A. In 2001 Brunello decided to follow his artistic side pursuing a full time professional theatre career. In 2010 he graduated from the three year program “SAT - SCHOOL AFTER THEATRE advanced training program” led by the Russian director and pedagogue Jurij Alschitz. SAT is affiliated with the EATC/Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS) of Moscow (Russia).
Brunello is founder and artistic director of Teatro Portland (Trento, Italy – www.teatroportland.it). He is also artistic director of Arditodesìo Company (www.arditodesio.org). In 2012 Brunello co-founded, with the Physical Science Communication Laboratory of the Physics Department of the University of Trento, the Jet Propulsion Theatre.

Pierre Echard

International Development

p.echard [at] jetpropulsiontheatre [dot] org
Mob (+32) 498.102751


Pierre earned his bachelor’s degree in Rural Development Sociology from Cornell University (USA, 1992) and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from ESSEC business school (France, 1994). Since then, he has spent over 25 years managing international partnerships and projects in sustainability and the circular economy. Firm believer in co-creative collaborations at the crossroads between disciplines, he has strategically guided organisations and projects towards innovative solutions to sustainability challenges.
Over the past decade Pierre has been implementing design thinking approaches to stimulate collaboration, creativity and innovation to achieve human-centred solutions. These approaches facilitate the convergence of complementary skills and mindsets among stakeholders, stimulate out-of-the-box thinking, and prototyping in order to propose the best responses to societal and design challenges.
He is also deeply engaged in formal and non-formal education, running regular workshops for students and professionals on a wide range of issues around sustainability, social innovation, circular business models, and design thinking to name a few. He has also co-developed and delivers a Master’s programme in Design for Social Innovation at the Saint Luc Arts College in Brussels.
Pierre leads on JPT’s international development and academic innovation, and collaborates on the design and delivery of innovative and participatory approaches to non-formal education efforts for science communicators.

Stefano Oss

Scientific Advisor
Head of the Physical Science Communication Laboratory of the Physics Department of the University of Trento Italy

stefano.oss [at] unitn [dot] it
Mob (+39) 340.7991077


Stefano is the main scientific advisor of the Jet Propulsion Theatre project. He is Professor of Physics and Head of the Physical Science Communication Laboratory of the Physics Department of the University of Trento (Italy). Stefano Oss is a recognized expert in the field of education especially at the secondary school as well as the university level. Professor Oss will be of fundamental help by providing knowledge and know how in the education techniques and procedures as well as connections with the Italian secondary school network.

Francesca Pegoretti

Project Administrator

f.pegoretti [at] jetpropulsiontheatre [dot] org


Francesca is the administrator for Arditodesìo. She has a wide and proven experience on managing small and medium theatre projects, reporting and book-keeping for local as well as state grants and generally curing the administration of small and medium companies.

Silvia Gasperat

Organization and Distribution

jpt [at] jetpropulsiontheatre [dot] org

Silvia is a graphics and communication expert with a deep passion for science. She joined JPT in june 2019 and has since contributed greatly in developing its communication channels. She is in charge of the distribution of plays and Augmented Lectures and the dissemination of JPT events.

Enrico Piergiacomi

Consultant on philosophical matters

enrico_piergiacomi [at] libero [dot] it

Enrico Piergiacomi is a Research Fellow in the History of Ancient Philosophy and History of Theatre at the University of Trento, as well as a Visiting Researcher at the Center for Religious Sciences of the Bruno Kessler Foundation of Trento (FBK-ISR). Since September 2019, he has also been involved in the project SPIDER (Science and Philosophical Debates: A New Approach towards Ancient Epicureanism), organized by the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. As a scholar of philosophy, science and theatre, Piergiacomi is specialized in ancient theological thought and its moral implications, the Presocratics, Hellenistic philosophers, the reception of Epicureanism in the modern age (with particular reference to Pierre Gassendi), and the philosophical aspects of scientific thought. He has published numerous essays in Italian and international scientific journals of Classical philology and the history of ancient philosophy, such as Apeiron, Cronache Ercolanesi, Elenchos, Méthexis, Philologus, Philosophie antique, and Syzetesis. He is a member of the “Libero Gruppo di Studio e delle Arti Sceniche” directed by Claudio Morganti. He is a regular contributor to the web magazines Doppiozero and Teatro e Critica. For the latter publication, Piergiacomi is working on the scientific popularization project Theatrosophy, dedicated to the reconstruction of ancient philosophers’ ideas about theatre and the art of acting. He is co-author with Prof. Sandra Pietrini of Büchner, artista politico (Università di Trento, Trento 2015), the author of Storia delle antiche teologie atomiste (Sapienza Università Editrice, Roma 2017), and the editor and translator of Phillip Mitsis’ book Libertà, piacere, morte. Studi sull’Epicureaismo e la sua influenza (Carocci, Roma 2018). He has recently concluded a postdoctoral research project on the reception of Lucretius’ De rerum natura in the work of the philosopher Pierre Gassendi, which was funded by the Italia Fenice association of Turin and the Société Internationale des Amis de Cicéron of Paris, and which will lead to the publication of the volume “Amicus Lucretius”. Gassendi, the “De rerum natura” and Christian Hedonism. As part of the Jet Propulsion Theater project, Piergiacomi has been hired as a philosophical consultant for three theatre-science performances by Andrea Brunello: 1) Fly Me to the Moon; 2) We, Robots; 3) Taking Out Grandpa. A complete profile is available on his personal website: unitn.academia.edu