Engineering Science

Unife

• Stefano Alvisi
• Alessandra Aprile
• Andrea Balbo
• Gaetano Bellanca
• Denis Benasciutti
• Elena Benvenuti
• Valerio Caleffi
• Andrea Conti
• Giorgio Dalpiaz
• Raffaele Di Gregorio
• Patrizio Fausti
• Vincenzo Fioravante
• Annalisa Fortini
• Marco Franchini
• Gian Luca Garagnani
• Marco Gavanelli
• Evelina Lamma
• Paolo Livieri
• Mattia Merlin
• Fabio Minghini
• Francesco Mollica
• Emiliano Mucchi
• Maddalena Nonato
• Piero Olivo
• Alberto Pellegrinelli
• Francesco Pompoli
• Nicola Prodi
• Antonio Raffo
• Fabrizio Riguzzi
• Raffaella Rizzoni
• Leonardo Schippa
• Silvio Simani
• Pier Ruggero Spina
• Cesare Stefanelli
• Alessio Suman
• Mauro Tortonesi
• Roberto Tovo
• Velio Tralli
• Nerio Tullini
• Alessandro Valiani
• Giorgio Vannini
• Mauro Venturini
• Paola Verlicchi
• Cristian Zambelli

The Ph.D. program in Engineering Sciences, formerly established at the University of Ferrara in non-associated form, has been active for more than two decades and has successfully led to the training of highly qualified and highly specialized PhDs who have found very short-term employment opportunities both in university careers and in research institutions or companies. The present project represents the natural evolution of this Ph.D. within the framework of current regulations (DM226/2021 and related guidelines). The Course is a three-year one and has as its primary purpose the training of highly qualified and specialized PhDs in the field of sciences closely related to the discipline of Engineering in its different declinations. To this end, the Course is divided into three different curricula: 1) Civil Engineering; 2) Industrial Engineering; and 3) Information Engineering, each aggregating an area of Engineering that is culturally homogeneous in terms of research topics, cultural background, and methodologies. Subordinates to the training of PhD students a college to which belong university faculty members from the Department of Engineering, and to a much lesser extent from the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, with attested high scientific qualification as well as high propositional capacity of research topics relevant to basic and applied research, as well as technology transfer.

The board has the task of defining the training project and constantly updating it in relation to the scientific-technological evolution of the areas of reference, also
consulting external interested parties and PhDs who have completed the cycle. The same college publicizes in appropriate venues, including internationally, the Ph.D. program and supervises the selection of incoming PhD students, consistent with the objectives of the course, including in relation to strictly thematically related research projects (usually connected to funded research projects for which faculty members of the college are responsible), and to research topics developed in collaboration with companies. The college appoints supervisors (mentors and co-tutors) of PhD students, avoiding any centralization that would prevent individual mentors from effectively supervising research. The large number of faculty in the college (typically around 45 in the last cycles) facilitates this while ensuring that there can be a sufficiently large number of PhD students (typically on the order of 30 out of the 3 active cycles) so that they themselves form a conspicuous scientific community where continuous exchange can facilitate research activities by creating a fertile environment.
In addition, the same college initiates processes to monitor research activities and related results, as well as teaching activities in the doctoral field in order to be able to introduce processes to improve the performance of the Course itself. Specifically, the college appoints a teaching committee consisting of the Coordinator and one faculty member from each of the 3 curricula, which is responsible for formulating and verifying the teaching offerings. In addition, the college appoints a QA (Quality Assurance) group consisting of the Coordinator, two faculty members from the college and a representative of the PhD students, which is responsible for monitoring the performance of the Ph.D. program in all its aspects, taking into account the opinion of PhD students and stakeholders, who are consulted at least once a year. The QA group is responsible for formulating and proposing to the college appropriate actions to improve the performance of the doctoral program.

PhD students, develop their three-year research theme by taking advantage of the facilities and laboratories of the Department of Engineering, in a dynamic and collaborative research environment, also being able to foresee whole paths or periods during their training at the many European and non-European companies and institutions of high scientific qualification with which the faculty of the college have active and continuous collaborations.
The objective of the Ph.D. program in Engineering Sciences is the training of highly qualified figures, capable of carrying out specific, current, and qualified research activities and/or able to conceive and carry out applied research and technological innovation projects in the different branches of Engineering. The training of Ph.D.s is oriented toward employment in advanced scientific research facilities, both basic and applied, in different fields of engineering and in different areas, ranging from universities to public and private research organizations, from public administration to service companies and the liberal professions, and including enterprises with particular reference to sectors that require a high degree of technological innovation. Overall, the Ph.D. program aims to (i) educate PhD students in the basic principles of both basic and applied scientific research with particular attention to technology transfer and the development of knowledge and technologies in the field of engineering; (ii) develop the ability to cooperate in research groups, including international ones, and in close connection with industrial research to achieve set objectives; (iii) take care of the training of highly specialized and qualified research personnel in the field of modern methodologies and technologies inherent in the different areas of engineering, also in relation to the objectives of the PNRR. (iv) to develop the ability to analyze scientific literature, to plan and write original scientific papers and to communicate their results in specialized fora (congresses, workshops, advanced schools), as well as that of developing protections of innovative research principles in the form of patents. To this end, cross-curricular (common to other Ph.D. programs), general (specific to the Ph.D. program but of interest to all curricula) and specific (for the individual curriculum) teaching activities in the form of mini-courses and seminars, and an individual research program agreed upon with the mentor who assumes the role of research supervision throughout the Ph.D. program, possibly assisted by a second lecturer or external expert acting as co-tutor. For doctoral programs in collaboration with companies (industrial doctorate), the co-tutor is usually corporate, and must have high scientific qualifications consistent with the doctoral theme. The research program is on a specialized topic, possibly a frontier in international research in one of the three macro-areas of Engineering that refer to the as many curricula in which the Ph.D. program is divided. Any individual teaching activities may be encouraged to acquire specific skills and/or fill cultural gaps in relation to each PhD student's individual program.

The final objective of the three-year course is the PhD student's acquisition of the ability to summarize in the form of a written dissertation his or her research work, and where the latter is positively evaluated by two external evaluators, to defend his or her theses in an adversarial contest with an examination committee also constituted on an international basis. The final dissertation must be written, as a rule, in English, and must, at least in part, constitute matter worthy of publication in peer-reviewed journals or presentation at national and international conferences and workshops. As an additional goal, the PhD in Engineering Science, strongly encourages co-tutoring or joint title paths with foreign universities in order to make PhDs better prepared for the complex challenges that research presents in the international arena.
The employment outlets envisaged for the PhD in Engineering Sciences are diversified and include: (1) first and foremost, academic careers in public universities in the national territory. Doctoral training constitutes, in this case, an essentially indispensable requirement to undertake such a career profitably, preparing to enter the world of university research with an adequate scientific background to compete successfully in the competitive international research landscape. These figures become crucial to ensure adequate generational turnover of university research staff; (2) access to postdoctoral positions also in foreign universities and/or related to European or non-European competitive calls. To this end, PhD students are prepared to work in international contexts by favoring periods of research at highly qualified foreign institutions; (3) employment in non-university research institutions, particularly those most devoted to pure and applied research in contexts aimed at innovative technologies; (4) employment or collaboration with companies and industries both nationally and internationally, and regionally in order to strengthen towards innovation the productive fabric. To this end, it is crucial to offer professional figures who, through an adequate preparation on technologies and a proactive and innovative attitude, can promote technology transfer; (5) other expected employment outlets are in service companies and professional engineering firms, which can capitalize on specific skills acquired by PhD students on current and highly specialized issues, such as those addressed by PhD students in their path.

The doctoral project that characterizes, as a whole, the Course in Engineering Sciences is strongly aimed at training people devoted to applied research and technological innovation in the different branches of Engineering. The set of topics from which the specific theme of the individual PhD student's doctoral path emerges reflects the expertise of the faculty members who make up the college, almost all of whom belong to the Ferrara Department of Engineering. The structure of the department, divided into three branches, inevitably reflects on the Ph.D. program, which is articulated into three different curricula (Civil Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Information Engineering) that each aggregate an area of Engineering that is culturally homogeneous in terms of themes and methodologies. This articulation allows for the identification of current (or frontier) and sufficiently specific and focused topics as well as optimal management of topic-bound grants. The articulation into curricula does not hinder the possible development of interdisciplinary themes.

PhD students' training may take place within the following themes:

Numerical modeling of fluid mechanics equations and its applications in civil and environmental engineering; bio-fluid mechanics. Water networks: optimal management of aqueduct systems; hydraulic simulation and analysis of water distribution systems; water consumption modeling. Physical chemistry of wastewater; removal treatments; environmental risk from micropollutants; potabilization. Topo-cartographic surveying; surveying techniques and equipment (GNSS, laser scanners, drone photogrammetry, multispectral cameras). Valuation of real estate, investments, facilities, businesses. Judgments of value and economic viability. Economic-environmental assessments. Road infrastructure; embankments, filtration and siphoning, bank protection, subsidence; soil consolidation. Linear and nonlinear structural, constitutive and computational models for elasto-plastic, fractured, micro-structured and innovative materials; mechanobiology; multi-hazard analysis. Nonlinear field modeling; Structural rehabilitation; innovative materials for rehabilitation of load-bearing structures; mixed systems; seismic fragility assessment; experimental tests of load-bearing capacity and ductility.
Acoustic and vibro-acoustic predictive methodologies for noise control/reduction, characterization of innovative materials and acoustic optimization of environments. Energy and well-being in buildings. Type-morphological characteristics of the Healthy City and Urban Regeneration.

Dynamics and vibrations of mechanical systems: NVH analysis and optimization with advanced numerical and experimental methods; vibrational diagnostics and prognostics. Vehicle Dynamics. Analysis and synthesis of spatial mechanisms for automatic machines, robots and prostheses; biomechanics. Conventional and computer-aided structural analysis of mechanical components and machine organs: fatigue strength, fracture mechanics. Traditional and innovative metallic materials: microstructural and mechanical properties, surface treatments and coatings, tribology; failure analysis; additive manufacturing; innovative casting, plastic deformation, and joining processes of aluminum alloys; corrosion inhibition; metal and ceramic matrix composites; concrete reinforcement structures. Polymeric materials, composites, biomaterials: elastic, viscoelastic, rheological properties; design; technological processes. Planning and analysis of plastic deformation machining processes. Thermo-fluid dynamics analysis of energy systems with advanced methodologies. Energy conversion, distribution and storage systems: performance, environmental impact, diagnostics. Co-trigenerative, renewable source, multi-energy energy systems. District Heat and Cooling (DHC). Fluid-driven machines for industry and energy (turbomachines, volumetric machines): design, experimental characterization. Algorithms and techniques for artificial intelligence, machine and deep learning, constraint processing, and applications in industrial, healthcare, and service domains.
Model-based and data-driven methods for state estimation of dynamic systems, sensor fusion, and dynamic pattern identification. Motion planning and control for automatic machines, robots, and mechatronic systems. Applications of estimation and control methods in intelligent supervision and fault diagnosis for safety-critical processes, such as aerospace systems and renewable energy conversion. Methods for solving large combinatorial optimization problems, and related applications. 5G and 6G wireless systems, resource management in wireless networks, massive multiple access, coding techniques for communications, quantum communications, systems and algorithms for localization and navigation, optical wireless networks, joint communication and sensing methods, radar sensor networks. Electronic devices and microwave circuits for synthetic aperture antennas in space and telecommunications, electronic devices and systems for information storage, neuromorphic circuits and systems, FPGAs and GPUs for high-performance computing systems. Design and characterization of advanced optical devices, and conventional, smart, and optical antennas, nonlinear fiber optic propagation and integrated optics.

The training project is centered on a research topic agreed upon and assigned to the PhD student at the beginning of the cycle. The research activity on the agreed theme is always carried out by stimulating and assisting the PhD student to design and generate research products (publications in international journals, conference communications, patents, publication of the thesis, etc.) that are original, as innovative as possible, and methodologically rigorous with adequate level of dissemination of the same, with particular reference to openaccess. In pursuit of these objectives, PhD students are stimulated to develop their own project autonomy, and to feel part of the relevant scientific community, including by encouraging participation in events (congresses. workshops, thematic or more general training schools, etc.), where participation is made as active as possible by stimulating the first-person presentation of their results. The ability of PhD students to disseminate their results in contexts that are not purely technical is also taken care of. The research activity, starting from the critical analysis of the existing scientific literature on the subject (state of the art), may include both theoretical activities, numerical simulation through specific software or data analysis, and experimental activities in suitable laboratories made available by the Department. This research activity is complemented by training activities at different levels ranging from soft skills, to training activities that foster interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary approaches, finally including training activities more closely related to one's curriculum within the Ph.D. program.
In the soft skills area, PhD students acquire general and transdisciplinary skills (e.g. on Further Education and Language Certification in English or Italian for PhD students from abroad; Enhancement and dissemination of results, intellectual property, and open access to data and research products; Research management, knowledge of European and international research systems, competitive calls for funding; Initiation to entrepreneurship; Computer Science Further Education; Doctoral Ethics, etc.) through participation in initiatives organized in the University within IUSS.
Curricular training activities are organized by the College of Teachers according to a calendar that is updated as it progresses and appropriately publicized on the doctoral website. In particular, improving communication and greater involvement of PhD students in curricular educational offerings is a specific goal identified in the annual review report. In addition to the possibility of taking courses provided in the educational offerings of the Master's degrees to fill any gaps, mini-courses (with compulsory attendance except in justified individual cases) are provided in the doctoral program, separate from Level I and Level II degree courses, based on scientific-technological topics of common interest for the three curricula, as well as mini-courses of specific interest for each of the curricula. The specific activities planned are reported by the Coordinator and the teaching committee in the document of planning and organization of educational activities. There are also numerous seminars by experts and scholars from academia and business, including those of international standing, which are organized on an annual basis in itinere.
In participating in the training and research activities, PhD students benefit from effectively usable financial resources made available by the University, the proposing Department, and in particular the research groups that include faculty members who serve as mentors. The effective utilization of PhD students' research budget and other available funds is monitored by the Coordinator and the QA group, assisted in a key role by the Administration.
Finally, PhD students can assist the teaching activities of faculty members by conducting supplementary teaching (max 20 hours) or tutoring (max 40 hours) in Level I and II degree courses, in accordance with their research mission. This amount of hours is set to leave adequate space for research activity.

See the activities

The Ph.D. pursues internationalization objectives in several forms that include (i) the promotion of cotuteles, already active in the past and up to the 40th cycle; (ii) the awarding of Doctor Europaeus degrees for which a period abroad (European locations) of a minimum of three months is required and the review of the thesis by European reviewers; (iii) the encouragement of foreign mobility of PhD students through an ordinarily scheduled period of a minimum of six months for each PhD student at foreign universities, research centers and/or other institutions that are suitable in light of the specific research topic; (iv) the exchange of faculty with foreign locations (incoming and outgoing mobility). In particular, the Ph.D. also encourages and organizes visits of faculty from foreign locations for teaching purposes (seminars, mini-courses, open discussions and brainstorming with PhD students). The Ph.D. has a close connection with the productive world that is expressed through the numerous contacts and active collaborations that the faculty members of the college have with companies both regionally and nationally or abroad. By virtue of this, the doctoral program is active in proposing doctoral programs in collaboration with companies (industrial doctorate), which are put in place each cycle. Periods in companies are also provided for the normal doctoral path if this is necessary to deepen the assigned research topic or it is necessary to acquire specific technological skills existing in companies.
The PhD program also has a close link with civil society, which is expressed in the numerous public engagement activities in which PhD students are invited to participate actively and proactively.

Equipment and/or Laboratories

There are about 30 “light” laboratories, equipped with computational platforms and measurement instrumentation, located in the main body of the Department, as well as, in adjacent buildings, three heavy laboratories (Geotechnics, Civil Engineering, Industrial Engineering), and two anechoic chambers intended for electromagnetic and acoustic research and certification, respectively. One also has a Center for Specific Studies on Corrosion and Metallurgy “Aldo Daccò.”

Library assets

Ph.D. students have access to the University's library services
(http://www.unife.it/biblioteche/biblioteche-SBA.htm), including the library of the
Scientific-Technological Pole, adjacent to the Dept. of Engineering. The library has a large number (>30k) of monographs (volumes), allowing for comprehensive coverage of the topics covered in the engineering science doctoral program. Interlibrary loan services are also had.
The library of the Scientific-Technological Cluster has a stock of >10000 annals of scientific periodicals as well as current subscriptions to 117 periodicals that allow for good coverage of the topics of the PhD course in engineering sciences. The list of journals with owned issues can be accessed electronically.

E-resources

The department has access to university-wide subscribed databases that include large packages such as Elsevier, Springer-Kluwer, Wiley-Blac.