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Development of novel sustainable materials and complexes for biomedical and industrial applications Emiliano Laudadio (SIMAU) Project area ENGINEERING Presentation Supervisor Project Idea Goals The title of this topic is: development of novel sustainable materials and complexes for biomedical and industrial applications. T...he first target of the present project for biomedical applications includes the study of small molecules and nanoformulations to develop optimal drug delivery systems. This step is completely focused on the atomistic simulations, which will provide many different information about the predicted physical and chemical properties of the models. Hence, systems and small molecules based on the first phase are expected to be fully studied considering the environment in which they should operate (type of solvent, number of salts, different temperatures, and pressures). The final aim is to develop the theorized formulations in laboratory to provide new strategies in specific therapies. Regarding the industrial applications, soft and hard materials will be investigated in silico, more, interface phenomena between different properties will be considered as well as the effects of different layers on optical and electrical properties. The entire project is based on a combined computational-experimental approach able to provide all the required information to fabricate prominent devices saving costs, times, and promoting a major sustainability reducing the amount of waste. |
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Structural Health Assessment of Bridges during and after FLOOD events (FLOOD-SHAB) Fabrizio Gara (DICEA) Project area ENGINEERING Presentation Supervisor Project Idea Goals The proposed action "Structural Health Assessment of Bridges during and after FLOOD events" (FLOOD-SHAB) aims to investigate the s...tructural behaviour of critical infrastructures such as bridges, focusing on the studying and assessing the structural response of bridges during and after flood events. The main objective is to improve the understanding of bridge structural behaviour under various health conditions and enhance the capacity to detect structural damage caused by component failure or foundation scouring. Climate changes increasingly impact our life. Climate has become less predictable. Droughts, floods, and new temperature records are becoming more common worldwide, including in Europe. The rising global temperature intensifies the water cycle, which increases wet and dry extremes and affects the critical infrastructure essential for the functioning of a society and economy. Bridges are vital in transportation networks, enabling people, vehicles, and goods to move over rivers and other obstacles. Bridges are also necessary for allowing access to essential services such as healthcare, emergency response, education, and employment. Due to their significance, bridges need protection from potential hazards, including natural disasters and ageing. Flooding can significantly impact bridges. The increased water levels result in the additional force from fast-moving water, which can lead to structural damage, and scouring of bridge foundations. Regular inspections, continuous structural health monitoring (SHM) (especially during flood events), and maintenance programs are vital to ensure bridges' structural integrity and safety. |
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Participatory models for planning cultural landscapes Francesco Rotondo (DICEA) Project area ENGINEERING Presentation Supervisor Project Idea |
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Applicability and tuning of numerical models to evaluate extreme weather and air-pollution events Giorgio Passerini (DIISM) Project area ENGINEERING Presentation Supervisor Project Idea Goals Climate Change is altering the state and the evolution of the Earth atmosphere rapidly and profoundly. This poses several challeng...es and possible stresses to atmospheric modelling. First, the modelling community and the models themselves struggle to keep up with rapidly changing weather patterns. Then, today models often operate in borderline conditions to predict and/or diagnose extreme events that are becoming increasingly frequent and intense. Extreme weather and air pollution events represent a risk both in the short and in long term through direct and indirect effects. The short-term effects are readily visible including flash floods and Medicanes (i.e., tropicallike cyclones that occur over the Mediterranean Sea). Extreme meteorological settings also trigger intense pollution episodes mainly due to the persistence of exceptional environments (e.g. extremely high temperatures and pressures exacerbate photochemical smog episodes) but also due the transport of air masses (e.g. Saharan dust intrusions). At our laboratory, the analysis of extreme events is routinely performed through regional meteorological models such as the Weather Research and Forecasting model also coupled with chemistry (WRF-Chem), space-borne observations, local monitoring and meteorological reanalysis. In this framework, the candidate MSCA Postdoc will focus on the performance and the likely tuning of the physical parameterization of the above models to enhance their applicability and robustness in the Mediterranean Basin and other comparable environments. |
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PhysioECG: toward the next-generation digital electrocardiography Laura Burattini (DII ) Project area ENGINEERING Presentation Supervisor Project Idea Goals Despite electrocardiographic testing being a proven clinical tool, the physiological content provided by the electrocardiogram (EC...G) has grown little in the last decades and several issues related to its physiological interpretation remain unsolved. These limitations are mainly due to its characterization in terms of temporal and/or morphological features, typically provided by traditional signal processing techniques. Thus, this project aims at exploiting explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) and innovative data analysis techniques to further investigate the ECG physiological content. Data from all kinds of digital electrocardiography (from the standard 10-second 12-lead ECGs, to the 24/48-hour Holter ECGs, to the body surface ECGs) acquired in either humans and animal models will be analyzed and fused with data from different sources (demographic, related to other physiological systems, and metadata) with the aim to achieve new insights on the electrical physiology and pathophysiology of the heart, not only in relation to age and gender, but also to lifestyle (especially physical activity and diet) and living environment. Hence, this project will provide a contribution to a more modern digital electrocardiography, ultimately finalized to noninvasively identify subjects at increased risk of major cardiac events to be treated with preventive actions. |
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Characterization and control of the polar coupling to electric fields in the novel ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal phase Liana Lucchetti (SIMAU) Project area ENGINEERING Presentation Supervisor Project Idea Goals The novel ferroelectric nematic phase (NF) exhibits a peculiar combination of fluidity and polar coupling to electric fields. The ...proposal focusses on a crucial consequence of such a combination: the readiness by which NF can displace polarization charges at the interfaces by small collective rotations of the mean molecular axis. This extreme electric responsivity leads to the cancellation of the electric fields inside the material, a condition reminiscent of the electric properties of conductors, but made more complex by the possible formation of bulk polarization charges due to divergences of the polarization field. This effect is at the core of preliminary observations on the response of NF to electric fields that revealed a variety of unprecedented behaviors, such as the explosion of sessile droplets, the guiding of electric field along winding paths and the formation of soliton-like field-responsive defect structures. The project idea deals with a set of experiments in which NF is in contact with electro- and photo-active surfaces and placed in electric fields within complex confined geometries. The final goal is to understand and govern the coupling of fluid polarity and electric fields, and to exploit it to control fluid motion and polarization patterns. |
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Development of novel Materials-based Devices and Systems for Ultra-Fast electronics Luca Pierantoni (DII) Project area ENGINEERING Presentation Supervisor Project Idea Goals The first target of the present project will include the study of nanomaterials to identify the best configurations for reconfigur...able antennas encompassing oxide-based RF-switches, which can change their characteristics on ns and ps time scales. These switches preferably design in a coplanar structure that will show ultra-low insertion losses (<0.2 dB), high isolation (>25dB), and switching times in the range of 100 ps up to 100 ns. Hence, devices based on phase change materials are expected to be characterized by a wide bandwidth from 1 GHz up to 100 GHz. The main goal is to integrate such kind of devices in an ultrafast reconfigurable phased antenna array Regarding the ferroelectrics (FE)-based ultra-high frequency devices, it is expected the realization of low TRL prototypes of miniaturized phase shifters, filters, antennas, and antenna array. Another outcome is represented by the fabrication of rectennas, and RF harvesters based on metal-insulator-metal (MIM) tunnelling diodes. The project is based on a combined computational-experimental approach able to provide all the required information to fabricate prominent devices saving costs, times, and promoting a major sustainability reducing the amount of waste. |
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Design and cryptanalysis of post-quantum cryptographic schemes based on codes Marco Baldi (DII) Project area ENGINEERING Presentation Supervisor Project Idea Goals The research project will address the challenge of devising new, efficient post-quantum cryptographic primitives based on codes an...d assessing their security. In fact, codes and lattices are the primary mathematical objects employed in the development of post-quantum cryptosystems. Although lattices are already efficiently used for both encryption and signatures, codes are mostly efficient for encryption. The main reason for this limitation is that existing digital signature schemes relying on codes are either inefficient or susceptible to security vulnerabilities. However, from the literature we notice that attacks on lattice-based cryptosystems are not yet fully consolidated, leaving room for a relatively high likelihood of new advancements in their cryptanalysis. Based on these premises, the project aims to establish new, improved alternatives based on codes to offer robust replacements for lattice-based schemes. This target is pivotal for enhancing the diversity and robustness of post-quantum digital signature schemes. In addition to this, current post-quantum encryption schemes based on codes will be revised, with focus on those using iteratively decoded codes (like QC-LDPC and QC-MDPC codes), with the aim of improving their efficiency and providing more robust security guarantees against chosen ciphertext attacks by accurately predicting their decryption failure rate. |
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Sustainable and Safe Built Environments through User-Centered approaches supported by Immersive Virtual Environmens Marco D'Orazio (DICEA) Project area ENGINEERING Presentation Supervisor Project Idea Goals The project highlights are: - People spend about 90% of time indoors, thus buildings shape our comfort, behaviour, work efficienc...y, perception and physiology (dependent variables), - Complexity of human-building relationship due to the presence of several indoor environmental factors (independent variables) at a time, - A user-centered approach to building design is needed to establish a sustainable and conducive indoor environment for individuals, - Oversimplified comprehension of human responses in the scientific sector due to the difficulty in testing different stimuli in lab studies, - Virtual reality is a useful research tool in terms of speed of execution and possibility of tests replication by easily varying the environments design. The research methods are: - Physiological measurements, - Questionnaires, - Cognitive tasks, - Actions. The objectives are: - Supporting the definition of standardized and consolidated protocols for design, testing and training in immersive virtual environments, - Designing building (interactive) components and systems according to users needs, perceptions and experiences, thus improving human-building interactions, - Developing decision-support and control frameworks for built environments based on users experience and interactive elements, - Developing training tools to improve users awareness and interaction with the built environment. |
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Human centred automation of shoe
processing Massimo Callegari (DIISM) Project area ENGINEERING Presentation Supervisor Project Idea Goals The focus in the shoe market is mainly on product quality and customization possibilities, two areas in which Italian creativity a...nd know-how are unmatched in the world. Therefore the digital transition of small companies in this sector must combine the potential of emerging technologies with the exploitation of the human capital and know-how available in the workshops, according to the guidelines of the Industry 5.0 paradigm. The project aims at the development of collaborative robotic processes for shoe making and finishing by: advanced human-cobot interfaces ergonomic evaluation of operator-robot cooperation motion tracking, reactive control and dynamic task planning smart end-effectors, exploiting IIoT capabilities and developed for specific applications modelling of behaviour of human operator programming in virtual environments (human-in-the-loop) The project will contribute to placing the human at the centre of the automation of craft processes, thus increasing the social and environmental sustainability of production. |
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MultIfunctional Materials for innovative rEgenerative strategies (MIME) Paolo Mengucci (SIMAU) Project area ENGINEERING Presentation Supervisor Project Idea Goals Aim of the proposed fellowship is the 3D printing fabrication of devices with enhanced functionalities, for implants made of biore...sorbable materials for dental and orthopedic applications. Surface properties play a crucial role for the clinical success of bone-contact materials. Therefore, this project aims to investigate the relationships between the microstructure, the surface, and the reactions that they generate on the biological surrounding cells and tissues. The personalization of the implant will be fulfilled through the development of multifunctional coatings, i.e. able to show functions on-demand. The rationale behind this aim is to develop a personalized approach to the different parts of the implant, that are in contact with different tissues and environments. The final validation of the materials and the surfaces developed by this approach will consist in assessing their biological performances through standardized cytocompatibility, hemocompatibility, and bacterial tests. The research activity will be carried out in collaboration with colleagues from Dept. DISCLIMO-School of Medicine of UNIVPM (biological characterization), Dept. of Engineering of UNIMORE (3D printing and mechanical characterization) and the LBB at Laval University in Canada (surface functionalization), while the nanostructure characterization will be performed by using the laboratory equipment available at SIMAU and at the European large scale facilities (synchrotron radiation and neutron sources). |
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Development and characterization of Sustainable Biopolymer-Based Food Biosensors using Polylactic Acid (PLA) Simona Sabbatini (SIMAU) Project area ENGINEERING Presentation Supervisor Project Idea Goals The title of this topic is : Development and characterization of Sustainable Biopolymer Based Food Biosensors using Polylactic A...cid (PLA) PLA). Integrating biosensors into food packaging materials can enable us to assess the quality of food products. Intelligent packaging monitors food products using active compounds that change based on the physicochemical and microbiological properties of foods. The materials selected for creating biosensor packaging must fulfill the requirements for the biomolecule deposition but also meet the standard packing properties such as gas barrier properties and vapor or moisture permeability. Typical substrates utilized for intelligent biosensor packaging include natural polymers, pri marily derived from agricultural crop based feedstocks . Among them, PLA exhibit s good functional properties and satisfies various packaging requirements to improve shelf life and food protection. PLA could be further enhanced with antimicrobial activity throug h the incorporation of natural essential oils, displaying a promising active packaging to ma intain high standards in terms of environmental sustainability. The target of the project is to produce eco friendly and biodegradable polymers using PLA as a base for the development of food biosensors . The project aims to investigate their biocompatibility and environmental sustainability, improve their barrier properties |
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Assessing the corrosion of steel reinforcements embedded in concrete under different exposure conditions simulating field applications Tiziano Bellezze (SIMAU) Project area ENGINEERING Presentation Supervisor Project Idea Goals Considering the increasing interest of the scientific community on the degradation of the concrete structures, related to reinforc...ements corrosion, the project is addressed to improve the measurement methods to estimate their corrosion rate/status. The research group has gained a certain experience in the polarization resistance measurements of rebars and in the estimation of their corrosion rate. On the contrary, significant efforts have never been dedicated to measurements performed by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy, which gives the possibility to obtain more information, not only on the estimation of corrosion rates of the rebars but also on the corrosion mechanisms. The project has the main objective to manufacture laboratory reinforced specimens to set up the measurement methods, interpretations and elaborations of data by using the typical approach based on equivalent circuits and/or developing new approaches. The gained knowledge is necessary to pave the way for extending these measurements in real reinforced structures, by means of innovative solutions for assessing their degradation, reducing maintenance costs and, in particular, to prevent loss of human lives. |
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