Andrea Giugni dedicated a significant part of his research to designing and constructing innovative experimental apparatuses for optical spectroscopy, plasmonics, and electronics. More recently, he has focused on the design of plasmonic devices for enhanced scattering, sensing applications, and investigation of charge transport at the nano-scale. He realized the first scanning probe hot-electron nanoscopy microscope. Within NFFA-Trieste, he is developing an ultrafast time-resolved optical spectrometer to access the dynamics of a quantum material, phase transitions in out-of-equilibrium conditions and the ultrafast dynamic response to a fs electromagnetic pulse stimulus. The goal is to quantify how coherent control of a phase transformation can allow bi-directional "on-off" switching of material properties at rates that exceed thermodynamic restrictions.