Carmen Panepinto
Carmen Panepinto Zayati is an Italian model, beauty pageant titleholder, and engineer. She was crowned Miss Universo Italia 2023 and represented her country at Miss Universe 2023.
Biography
Panepinto Zayati was born in Vittoria, a city and comune in the province of Ragusa, Sicily. She holds a bachelor's degree in Electronic engineering from the University of Pisa and a master's degree in Bionic engineering from the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies and the University of Pisa. As of 2026, Panepinto Zayati is a Biorobotics PhD student at the Biorobotics Institute of the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies.Miss Universo Italia 2023
Panepinto Zayati, representing Marche, was crowned Miss Universo Italia 2023 in a pageant held in Canosa di Puglia in October 2023.Panepinto Zayati went on to represent Italy at Miss Universe 2023, held in El Salvador in November 2023. She finished outside of the top 20 and was therefore excluded from the final parts of the pageant.
Activism
Panepinto Zayati's activism has been focused on encouraging women and girls to pursue an education and career in STEM. After her crowning as Miss Universo Italia 2023, she stated: "my mission focuses on empowering women in STEM . I understand that one of the main challenges women face in this field is the lack of female role models."She was an ambassador for the so-called "STEM law", that established the Italian national week of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.