About
Hands first, then code
I was born in Rome in 1985 and I come from the plant floor: twenty years of industrial automation, where software either works or stops production. That's the advantage I carry with me: I know what happens, physically, underneath the code.
I started as a technician in electronics, electrotechnics and telecommunications, graduating from the I.T.I.S. «A. Einstein» in Rome. Then twenty years of industrial automation: design, development and commissioning in plastics, food, chemicals and tobacco; baggage handling at the Rome Fiumicino and Palermo airports; energy and oil & gas, process control in automotive.
I have commissioned plants in seventeen countries: Italy, Slovakia, England, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Romania, Czech Republic, Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Kuwait, Pakistan, India and the United States. In the field, in person.
Since 2017 I am the founder and sole director of Contech, with an office in Rome and a workshop in Ponzano di Fermo. Since 2016 I've been working on Spotter, where I'm co-founder and co-inventor of the patent. Since 2026 there's also Sagrato.
01The story
The three crises
Contech grew through three moments when the reasonable thing seemed to be stopping. Each time we did the opposite.
201701
Opening at the wrong time
Contech is born while automation slows down after years of growth. I sign anyway, and for about a year I work alone. Then the first small office and a couple of people.
202002
Covid
The whole team worked on the road. From one day to the next, everyone comes home. Many companies of the same kind close. Contech holds on and restarts, stronger than before.
202403
The automation crisis
The war, supply chains, uncertainty. Above all automotive — where Contech works a lot — stops. Instead of retreating, Contech invests: it opens the Fermo operations site, buys the vehicles, sets up the workshop, hires.
It's the same reason I started writing software: waiting for a problem to solve itself has never worked. Not in the factory, not anywhere else.
THE TEAM · ON SITE02Path
The milestones
At a glance
Rome
Born in 1985. Lives and works in Rome.
Technical training
SEAM, Beckhoff TwinCAT 3, ASEM / FactoryTalk Optix, AVEVA System Platform (Application Server + OMI), Carel 1tool, Siemens PCS 7.
Languages
Native Italian, professional English, plus the survival Slovak left over from the field years.
The only social network where you'll find me: linkedin.com/in/andreacontrasto
1999–2004I.T.I.S. «A. Einstein», Rome
Technical diploma in electronics, electrotechnics and telecommunications.
2007–2009Energy Automazione S.r.l. — Automation Engineer
Design, development and commissioning in plastics, food, chemicals and tobacco.
2009–2016Automate S.r.l. — Automation Engineer
Baggage handling at the Rome Fiumicino and Palermo airports. Energy and oil & gas: metering, HVAC, water treatment, thermal and cogeneration plants. Process control and traceability in automotive.
2016Spotter — the idea
The project starts in October 2016. Co-founder since August 2020, co-inventor of the patent granted in January 2023.
2017Contech S.r.l. — Founder and sole director
Rome (Via Bussoleno 11) and Ponzano di Fermo. Industrial automation, Industry 5.0, OT cybersecurity.
2020Centro Studi Musicali E.CO, Rome — Vice president
Since June 2020.
2023The Spotter patent is granted
«Multimedia system for message distribution», IT 102021000000185. Filed with my brother, granted on 18 January 2023.
2024Contech opens the Fermo workshop
In the middle of the automation crisis, the opposite of fear: an operations site in Ponzano di Fermo, vehicles, equipment, new hires.
2025«I robot ti hanno già fregato»
Two hundred and sixty pages on facing AI and technology without being replaced. 5.0 on Amazon across 33 reviews. In Italian.
2026Pleya enters real use
The multi-tenant platform for service companies, with native SDI e-invoicing, in production at an Italian company.
2026Sagrato — Founder
Since April 2026. The parish square, digital.
2026Modsa, the first gSCADA, begins
A SCADA generated from the plant model instead of being drawn page by page. Just started: first gate at the end of November 2026.
2026Serpidex lands on the Play Store
«Snakes of Italy»: recognises snakes from a photo and teaches you to tell vipers from harmless species. Built for Reptile Nation, published by Contech in July 2026.
03Credentials
Things you can verify
Patent
Multimedia system for message distribution
The patent underneath Spotter, filed with my brother and granted in January 2023. A network of displays that chooses what to show based on who is in front of it, without ever identifying anyone.
IT 102021000000185 · GRANTED 18/01/2023
04Outside the workshop
Where my head goes when I switch off
Upwards, mostly: where engineering stops being a trade and becomes a question again.
Astronomy
Looking up, out of habit. The sky is the most reliable system I know.
Physics and astrophysics
How things work, all the way down. Even when it's useless — especially then.
Space exploration
The hardest commissioning there is, on a plant you can't go out and repair.
Artificial intelligence
The way it enters our homes without asking permission. In 2025 I wrote a book about it.
Autonomous driving
Machines that decide on their own. My day job, taken to the road.
Music
Vice president of the E.CO music school in Rome since 2020. Their website, csmusica.it, is mine.
Got a problem worth solving?
Write me what you need to build, even in two lines. I answer personally, usually within one working day.
Tell me about your project