Ing. Joseph Persampieri
Joseph Persampieri has more than 50 years of experience in the defence sector. He is a graduate in Electronics Engineering from Manhattan College; completed his Masters Degree at Polytechnic University of New York.
He started his career at Union Carbide as a Digital Design Engineer in 1970, then he joined Loral Electronic Systems (today Lockheed Martin ), were he was involved with various Defense Electronic Programs like F-15 RWR, F-16 RWR/ECM, Mirage 2000 RWR/ECM Atlantic and Nimirod, after 7 years Mr. Persampieri left the company as a Principal member of the Engineering Staff.
Joseph continued his career by joining United Technologies Corporation (UTC) as a Senior Engineer were was involved with the design of a Multiple launch Rocket system, for Vough Corporation.
After that he joined Sperry Corporation (now Unisys) as a Senior Systems Management Engineer where he was involved with Defense Electronic Systems, for the Canadian Navy. He went on assignment to Canada with the Canadian Petrol Fregates program as an expert in the field of electronic for technology transfer from the U.S. to Canada. In his position he played a Liaison role between the customer (Canada's ministry of defence) and the suppliers.
In 1989 Mr. Persampieri was offered a position in Alenia Aereonautica as an expert of Electronics and Avionics. In his position he played a liaison role with the partner companies based in the UK, Spain and Germany, in the realization of the EFA program.
Starting in 1999 Mr Persampieri spent 5 years building a Space/Defence division in Eles Semiconductor S.P.A. where in his position he established working relationships with several Finmeccanica Divisions, Elt s.p.a. and other multinational companies like EADS and Thales...
In 2003 Mr Persampieri founded ERA Electronic Systems as President & CEO, he has been leading the company since then.
Eng. Mario Zaccagnini
Effective May 4, 2026, Dr. Mario Zaccagnini will assume the role of Head of Business Electronics at Group level within UmbraGroup S.p.A. and the position of Chief Executive Officer of ERA Electronic Systems.
Mario Zaccagnini is a senior executive with over 25 years of international leadership experience across high-technology and industrial sectors, including rail, electronics, and advanced systems. He has held multiple Managing Director roles, most recently at Rohde & Schwarz Italia, following previous leadership positions in Jenoptik Korea and Ansaldo STS Germany, where he also served as Head of Sales and Business Development. Earlier in his career, he worked at Alcatel leading transport solutions initiatives, building a strong foundation in complex infrastructure projects and global operations.
Mario holds a Doctorate in Electronic Engineering from Sapienza University of Rome and brings deep technical knowledge combined with strong managerial and organizational capabilities.
The appointment to these two roles strengthens the alignment between Group strategy and operational execution, supporting the growth of the Electronic Systems business.