PhD Student

Simone Amantia

Eleonora Costagliola

Ignazio Niosi

Ignazio Niosi is a Ph.D. student in “Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management and Aerospace Innovation, Cycle XXXIX” at the University of Palermo. Ignazio obtained his BSc in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Palermo (Italy) in 2019, specializing in the field of biomaterials. Subsequently, he relocated to Milan (Italy) in March 2020 to pursue a MSc in Biomedical Engineering for biotechnologies, cells, and tissue (BCT), provided by the Politecnico di Milano. During his MSc program, Ignazio embarked on an enriching academic journey by participating also in the Erasmus+ program at the Universidade de Coimbra in Coimbra (Portugal). This six-month experience provided him with valuable international exposure and an additional understanding of his chosen field of study within an European environment. Moreover, Ignazio spent a period at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna during his post-lauream fellowship at the Biorobotics Institute, within the Regenerative Technologies Lab. Ignazio's research area is currently focused on the design and biofabrication of novel cardiovascular valves; the aim of his doctoral project is to complete an in-vivo experimental campaign on large animal models. He lays the foundation for his research at the Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering Lab of the Ri.MED foundation.

Dheeraj Verma

I am Dheeraj Verma, and I obtained a master's degree in management engineering in October 2023 from the University of Palermo. During my internship I have got an opportunity to work with ISMETT (Scientific Institute for Hospitalization and Care (IRCCS) for the treatment and research of terminal organ failure. The project of my internship was the final thesis of my master’s degree course. The main objective of the project was to optimize and enhance the work process of the patient booking department by reducing time and automating some of its processes whenever possible. Using the lean management principle and Business process management methodology this work was carried out. My PhD research focuses on the application of business processes management  methodology and lean management approach in different sectors, such as healthcare, public administrations, manufacturing industries, E-government, and service sector. Mainly my research emphasizes the healthcare sector. The goal of this research is to develop an empirically validated framework that can study the impact of lean management and business process methodology in clinical care processes.

Michele Agueci

My name is Michele Agueci, i’m 25 years old and i earned master degree in mechanical engineering in october 2022, now i’m a PHD student in "Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management and Aerospace Innovation" at the University of Palermo. My project deals with the design and optimization of a tidal turbine in the mediterranean’s sea. The goal of this project is to contribute in developing this technology in order to speed up the energy transition and show the real potential of harvesting energy from the sea.

Kirill Kalashnikov

My name is Kirill Kalashnikov, and I am a Ph.D. student in "Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management, and Aerospace Innovation" at the University of Palermo. I earned my Master's degree at the Department of Metal Physics of the National Research Tomsk State University in 2018. After graduation, I worked as an engineer and further as a researcher at the Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science SB RAS, located in Tomsk, Russia. My research interests are related to solid-state welding technologies such as friction stir welding and wire-based additive manufacturing techniques. The main direction of my research is the analysis of relationships between manufacturing parameters, structure, and properties of metallic materials and the manufacturing process optimization for aerospace components. My Ph.D. project focuses on the multi-pass friction stir processing application for surface engineering of additive titanium alloy products to improve their mechanical and operational characteristics.

Adrien Audoin

After graduating from the Bachelor's degree in International Management, in Toulouse (France), I decided to pursue my academic journey abroad and started a Master's degree in International Management at the University of Bologna. The different international experiences that followed the progress of this degree, the rising urge of doing research, and the desire of contributing to the research community pushed me to pursue my academic path at the University of Palermo as part of the international PhD program in "M3AI". My PhD research relies on the study of the artificial intelligence and its impact, stake, opportunities, and limitations on the different managerial lines of the organizations.

Guglielmo Marchesa

My name is Guglielmo Marchesa, graduated in Materials Engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin. During my studies I focused my interests on design and development as the founder of a student team involved in manufacturing of sustainable and innovative snowboards. Since then, testing and discovering new materials and technologies to improve the performance of a product has been my core professional activity and passion. Specifically, the target of my PhD project is to optimize the mechanical properties of bio-composites by means of nano-particle dispersion and surface functionalization.

Alessandro Marrale

I'm Alessandro Marrale and I'm a Mechanical Engineer graduated from the University of Palermo. For few years, after my graduation, I've been working in the private sector for some Companies involved in different fields.
Few years ago I've ended up working for an Italian Central Public Administration.
This year I've attended by chance a presentation day promoted by the University of Palermo aimed to show the active Doctorate Courses with relative fields of research. Considering a PhD Doctorate Course as the best the way of gaining new knowledge and expertise useful for the Institution I'm involved with, I've applied to the public exam for joining the aforementioned Course.
Now I've started my PhD project related to the economic impact assessment of the National and European innovation supporting economic policies implemented in the Regional and National territories of Italy.

PhD Student

Background and Research Project

Nahid Amin Sabouri

I am Nahid Amin Sabouri, PhD student in “Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management and Aerospace Innovation” at the University of Palermo. I recieved my bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering(optimization systems) and my master degree at Isfahan University. After my graduation I worked in the field of optimization, maintenance and innovation methods focused on quantitative methods to support decision making policies and strategies in the steel company and also worked as R&D member in the industry.

Alessia Busacca

I am Alessia Busacca, PhD student in "Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management and Aerospace Innovation" at the University of Palermo. I obtained the Bachelor's Degree in Management Engineering and Computer Science (Management Curriculum) and the Master's Degree in Management Engineering at the University of Palermo. Now, I'm doing a PhD in the field of business models for circular economy. More specifically, my research aims at the study of circular and resilient supply chains that are consumer-oriented and how companies implement their transition from a linear to a circular economy. 

Giuseppe Crapa

I am Giuseppe Crapa, a PhD student in "Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management and Aerospace Innovation" at the University of Palermo. I obtained a Master degree in Management Engineering  with summa cum laude and special honors for academic curriculum in October 2022. My PhD project is focused on Sustainability Reporting and implications in marketing strategy and innovation, with WAYPOINT as a partner company. The goal of this research project is to understand whether, how and with which outcomes, companies that can effectively activate and communicate their environmental commitment achieve economic, environmental, and social benefits.

Fabrizio Crascì

My name is Fabrizio Crascì, I am 24 years old and I graduated with honours from the Biomedical Engineering Curriculum Biomechanics and medical devices (LM-21) of University of Palermo.

My internship, and later on my thesis work, focused on the numerical analysis of the bicaval trans catheter system for the treatment of severe tricuspid insufficiency. In particular, I studied the implantation of the innovative system TricValve.

My project, named “Bioengineering for the clinical risk stratification of cardiovascular pathologies”, aims to investigate clinical risk stratification of cardiovascular pathologies using medical imaging, 3D printing and virtual reality in order to gain more information about the patient anatomy and provide novel metrics to support the clinical decision-making related to the intervention of cardiovascular disorders. This approach combines engineering principles and life science to uncover the functioning of diseases mechanisms at a detail hitherto impossible with current clinical equipment.

The output of the present project will be an enabling technology to support the clinical decision making of cardiovascular procedure or to guide prophylactic surgical intervention.

Rosalinda Iachetta

My name is Rosalinda Iachetta. I am 25 years old, and I have earned a master degree with the highest honours in Biomedical Engineering curriculum Biomechanical and medical devices, from University of Palermo. During my internship I had the opportunity to collaborate with ISMETT, where I started working on my thesis. My final paper was focused on the application of the Lean Management in the healthcare operations management. In particular I cundected a case study focuses on the discharge of medical devices to the patient. As a natural continuation of my academic work, my PhD project focuses on the “Application of Lean Management in healthcare”. The aim of this research project is to analyze the management of healthcare companies' operations by applying the principles of Lean Management in order to reduce waste and maximize the value perceived by the end user. The goal is to develop and empirically validate a framework that can study the impact of the Lean approach in patient care pathways in terms of: waiting times, reorganization of clinical-care processes, productivity, effects on staff, degree of patient satisfaction. Recognising the great value of the Lean approach in eliminating waste, reducing costs and increasing quality and safety. This research aims to provide useful guidance to healthcare companies in order to implement the Lean Management approach in managing their operations. 

Gianluca Diana

My name is Gianluca Diana. I am 23 years old and I'm a PhD student in "Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management and Aerospace Innovation" at the University of Palermo. I graduated  with honours in Biomedical Engineering from the same university in October 2022.

Melika Malekhosseini

Riccardo Puleo

Riccardo Puleo is a 25 year old mechanical engineer graduated in the July of the 2021 in the Mechanical Engineering course of the University of Palermo. He worked on the solid bonding method (Friction Stir Welding) during my internship in Unipa’s laboratory. His master theses regards the study of hybrid joint between aluminium alloy in terms of mechanical resistence and granular properties. As his master theses, the PhD project is focused on solid bonding between dissimilar alloy, in particular Titanium and Aluminium, investigating the experimental and simulation aspect.

Silvia Puleo

I am Silvia Puleo, I am 24 years old and I have obtained a Master degree with honours in Biomedical Engineering, curriculum Biomechanics and Medical Devices, from University of Palermo. My PhD project is focused on the study for a numerical and an experimental approach to evaluate physiological conditions of blood vessels.

The aim of the study is to carry out a computational framework for the Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) simulation of prosthetic valve. The main purpose is to virtually model the presence of sensors embedded in the valve to measure velocity, blood pressure and vessel deformation for monitoring the deterioration of prosthetic valve leaflets. The next step will faced the design of a novel in-vitro experimental set-up, in order to simulate different physiological conditions.

Eleonora Rizzitello

I am Eleonora Rizzitello, PhD student in "Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management and Aerospace Innovation" at the University of Palermo. Graduated in International Management at ESCP Europe, I am pursuing a PhD focusing on Management frameworks conducting research about Innovation and Sustainability. More specifically, my research project aims at improving investments and companies performance while ensuring eco-sustainability, though the use of trade-off analysis software. My topics of interest are Ecosystem Services, Circular Economy, Corporate Venture Capital, Green Finance, Green Energy, Data Analysis, GIS and Software Development.

Roberta Scuoppo

I am Roberta Scuoppo, and I am graduated in Biomedical Engineering with honours at the University of Palermo, in October 2022. In my PhD project, I will take advantage of my experience gained during my master thesis work on the Verification and Validation of transcatheter heart valves implantation to improve the accuracy and credibility of computational modeling. Computational modelling is a unique resource for assessing risk stratification, pre-procedural planning, and post-procedural assistance. The solution of patient-specific computational models provides essential metrics, which are otherwise impossible to measure with traditional clinical equipment.
My research project aims to provide rigorous and realistic patient-specific computational models, demonstrating their ability to predict the interaction between the human host and the device and allowing to evaluate the feasibility of the procedure, in according the patient's risks and comorbidities. The focus of the project involves a process of assessing the credibility of the model. Verification, validation, and uncertainty quantification can be used to establish trust in the predictive capability of a given computational model. This will be accomplished by probabilistic analyses on the role of patient-specific segmentation from medical images as well as the adaptation of different constitutive models and uncertainty of material properties.

Andrea Valenti

I’m Andrea Valenti, a Ph.D. student in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management and Aerospace Innovation, with a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. Since my bachelor thesis, where a finite element analysis of an elbow intramedullary prosthesis was performed, my field of interest focuses on biomechanics and orthopedic implant design. During my master’s thesis, I carried out a comparative analysis of a new, innovative, intramedullary prosthesis for transcutaneous amputees. The idea for this device came from my internship at Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli in Bologna, where we started to study a patient-specific transfemoral stem for amputees. My research project is focused on developing a design methodology to obtain an osseointegrated prosthesis to broaden the range of people who can take advantage of the osseointegrated technology.

PhD Student

Background and Research Project

Adelfio Luca

I am Luca Adelfio, a PhD student in "Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management and Aerospace innovation" at the University of Palermo. I achieved my master's degree on October 2019 and then I collaborated with the hydraulic engineering department for a few months. From March 2020 I have started the collaboration with my current tutor, prof.ssa Giada La Scalia. After winning a six-month scholarship, in April 2021 I started working on the LCA assessment of industrial processes. This period I have deepened my knowledge on the principles of the LCA methodology and the circular economy. Finally, in November 2021 I started my studies as a PhD student with a research project based on the LCA assessment of industrial processes and their optimization. In particular, my project is focused on the research of industrial waste that can be used in other industrial sectors, in order to reduce the consumption of natural resources.

Bruno Maria Giuseppina 

I am Maria Giuseppina Bruno, PhD student in “Mechanical, Manufacturing Management and Aerospace Innovation” at the University of Palermo. I got my bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering on July 2018 and my master degree in Process Chemical Engineering on March 2021. During the last months of my graduation course I developed my master thesis at the Applied Physical Chemistry Laboratory of the University of Palermo; in particular, the research was focused on the development of electrochemical sensors in biomedical field and thanks to this experience I have developed a propensity for research. My PhD project is named “Sensors for real-time monitoring of oxidative stress” and it focuses on the health and safety of operators of manufacturing industries who are often exposed to accidents or diseases. Therefore, my project tries to develop a device that detects the level of hydrogen peroxide in exhaled air in real time in order to indicate the onset of serious diseases that are related to the condition of oxidative stress. The device must have micrometric dimensions since it must be transportable and wearable, infact, it must be inserted in the masks used by operators.

Caruso Patrizia

Patrizia Caruso is PhD Student in "Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management and Aerospace Innovation" at the University of Palermo. Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering awarded in July 2021, with a grade of 110/110. Curricular internship carried out at the Ri.MED Foundation and concerning the creation of software and hardware aids to support the mechanical characterization of soft tissues subjected to biaxial tests; the aforementioned aids have been integrated into the use of the biaxial testing machine. Phd research project focused on the mechanical characterization of tissues for applications in regenerative medicine, with Ri.MED., As partner company; support is provided to the Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering team, with which it is possible to carry out analyzes for the mechanical characterization of heart valves through the creation of devices for performing mechanical tests.

Catalano Chiara

Chiara Catalano is a 24 year old biomedical engineer who graduated with the highest honors at the University of Palermo. Since her masters degree, and thanks to her internship at ISMETT, she was able to obtain patient data and perform patient specific computational analysis of the transcatheter mitral valve replacement procedure. As a natural continuation of her academic work, her PhD explores in silico modelling of transcatheter aortic valve implantation. The PhD fellowship is funded by the H2020 research project (No 101017523) and focused on the numerical analysis of transcatheter heart valve implantation. It aims at describing more accurately and realistically this clinical overspreading procedure by means of patient specific finite element models. According to the latest findings and clinical trials, the main purpose of her research project is to assess the feasibility of the procedure and its biomechanical implications, especially for patients with borderline conditions. Her research also involves the assessment of the efficacy and feasibility of ‘off label’’ use of transcatheter aortic valve to treat mitral valve replacement. Therefore, the PhD offers the potential to uncover the mechanism of cardiac diseases and innovative treatments where implications cannot be easily determined by imaging techniques and whose feared complications could have fatal incidence for many patients.

Muhammad Adnan

Sciortino Vincenza

My name is Vincenza Sciortino, I am a Biomedical Engineering graduated with the highest honours in Biomedical Engineering, curriculum Biomechanical and medical devices, from University of Palermo. My research PhD project is on the Spinal column and its biomechanics. The spine is an articulated system composed of vertebrae, intervertebral disks, and accessory structures. The spine biomechanical response is very complicated. So, my principal aim is to fully understand the working mechanism of the spine, focusing on the muscular trunk that generates the follower force to its stabilization, the intervertebral disk, and its viscoelastic response and finally, the pathological situations of the whole spine, such as herniated discs or scoliosis. Experimental laboratory tests and mechanical numerical simulations will be necessary to achieve my research objectives.

Tantillo Micol

Micol Tantillo is PhD Student in “Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management and Aerospace Innovation” at the University of Palermo. Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering awarded in March 2022.
PhD research project is entitled “Methodology for systematic pre-operative planning and for the design and implementation of medical devices and surgical instruments customized for cranioplasty”. The topic of the project is the optimization of cranial surgeries by developing and validating a design methodology.

PhD Student

Background and Research Project

Lo Greco Pierantonio

Pinto Valentina

I am Valentina Pinto, PhD student in “Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management and Aerospace Innovation” at the University of Palermo. I have earned a Master Degree in biomedical engineering in 2021. During the last months of University, I had the opportunity to work in the bioengineering group of Ri.MED foundation, where I developed my thesis, working on a new approach to the implementation of PIV analysis for complex cardiovascular problems using SPH synthetic imaging. My PhD project is about the advanced structural characterization of shape memory alloys with superelastic behavior for the design of prostheses and biomedical devices. The project aims to use, in an innovative and combined way, two full-field measurement techniques, respectively of deformation and temperature: Digital Image Correlation and Differential Thermography using infrared cameras. The information obtained will offer the potential to develop more effective characterization, simulation and mechanical design tools for the creation of more effective and safe biomedical devices.

Quaranta Salvatore

I am Salvatore Quaranta, PhD student in “Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management and Aerospace Innovation” at the University of Palermo. This project idea stems from the fact that in recent decades and in particular with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic there has been a net increase in E-commerce which has led to an increase in congestion in urban centers and therefore to an increase in 'pollution. So my research project focuses on the optimization of urban logistics through the exploitation of innovative electric vehicles. In particular, we intend to develop specific algorithms for the optimization of urban distribution systems based on the use of e-cargo bikes, to study new methodologies for the optimized design of support infrastructures for the implementation of urban logistics systems and to optimize the design. of the vehicle for urban delivery operations. Then a flexible and modular e-CB will be proposed capable of operating in different scenarios, which allows manufacturing companies to better satisfy the preferences of a diversified target market, while achieving good efficiency in their supply chain, and a decrease pollution in urban centers.

PhD Student

Background and Research Project

 Bongiorno Francesco

Castellano Antonella

My name is Antonella Castellano, I am 24 years old and I graduated with the highest honors in Mechanical Engineering (MSc) from the University of Palermo. Since I am especially sensitive to the environmental impact of transport, I have been studying the hybrid electric vehicles powertrain.
In particular, I am focused on the power-split transmission system, which is the most promising hybrid technology. The wide variety of the viable power-split transmissions requires the exploitation of a proper mathematical model to lead the design engineer to a conscious choice of the transmission functional layout.
In this perspective, my PhD research project aims to extend and improve a straightforward parametric model, developed in our Dept. of Engineering and available in literature. The main purpose is to provide a flexible, all-inclusive tool in order to synthesize the best power-split transmission and achieve a better balance between vehicle performance, fuel consumption and emissions.

Cocchiara Chiara

Chiara Cocchiara is an Aerospace Engineer with over eight years of work experience in the space sector. Among other honours, Forbes listed her as 30Under30 Leader in the category Industry.

Her PhD about the New Space Economy aims at describing and analysing the today’s and tomorrow’s Space Economy, as well as highlight the change in the strategy of public organization and their new approach and need of developing partnerships with the private sector. The Phd will also analyse the role of Italy and Europe in the new Space Economy business, and will compare them with the international trend and lessons learnt from other big players of the Space Sector, addressing strengths and areas of improvements in Italy and Europe. Last but not least, the PhD addresses the role played by the technology within the international economic picture.

Guarino Giuliano

Giuliano Guarino graduated with a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Università degli Studi di Palermo in March 2019. His master’s thesis, titled “An Equivalent Single Layer Discontinuous Galerkin Formulation for Composite Shells” inspired the doctoral work he his currently conducting at the same university. He is interested in analyzing advanced materials and structures, with a particular focus on shell structures in laminated composites. His doctoral research explores the numerical aspects of these topics, such as the use and characterization of methods in order to solve equations that describe the physics of structural problems. Through the application and comparison of innovative methods, he wants to use his research to find new, efficient alternatives to classic structural problem-solving methods.

Abdul Latif

I am Abdul Latif, PhD student in “Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management and Aerospace Innovation” at the University of Palermo. I received my bachelor and master degrees in mechanical engineering in 2016 and 2018 respectively from Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute Pakistan. During M.S studies, I worked as a graduate teaching assistant. From 2018 to 2020, I remained a visiting lecturer at the University of Technology Nowshera Pakistan. My M.S research project was to fabricate similar and dissimilar metals lap joints from aluminum alloy and pure copper through friction stir welding for electrical and aerospace applications. Besides we also focused the study to find out the optimum process and geometric parameters. My doctoral thesis is concerned with developing solid bonding through friction welding and its subclasses such as linear friction welding, friction stir welding, and friction stir extrusion. The aims of the thesis include modeling the process, identifying the optimum process and geometric parameters, and assessing the mechanical strength and durability of the final welded parts.

Mattaliano Andrea

Andrea Mattaliano is a Ph.D. student in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management and Aerospace Innovation. He holds a Bachelor and a Master Degree in Management Engineering from the University of Palermo. During his Master, he took part to the Erasmus+ Program (Wroclaw, Poland) and developed his Master Thesis at the Operations Management department of the Stuttgart University (Germany) where he worked as research assistant. Before joining the program, he worked as Healthcare Data Analytics Consultant for KPMG. His research interests are focused on healthcare management, quantitative methods to support decision making, public health policies, innovation management in healthcare, spatial analysis of supply and demand of healthcare services.

Nuttah Muntaser 

I am Muntaser Nuttah, I am 23 years old. I have studied ali my early school years in Tripoli Libya, then i moved to Italy. I studied my bachelor's degree in management and computer engineering(computer engineering curriculum) at the University of Palermo. I did my master's double degree in management engineering between Vilnius Tech and the University of Palermo, during my master's i had a special interest on the machine learning field for that reason i took a machine leaming course of 6 credits. I did two internship one at Huawei and another one at Western Union. In my research project i will focus on applying the machine leaming methodologies in the context of management engineering with a specific interest on the marketing  and socia! advertising field.

Pollara Gaetano

I am Gaetano Pollara, PhD student in “Mechanical, Manufacturing, Management and Aerospace Innovation” at the University of Palermo. I got my bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering on March 2019 and my master degree in Biomaterials Engineering on October 2020. During my graduation course, I did an internship at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Palermo, focused on the self piercing riveting and orbital forging LCA analysis for aluminium- composite hybrid joints for naval applications. My PhD project deepens my master thesis work that concerns the production of osteosynthesis devices through additive manufacturing techniques. The first step is producing a lattice structure to find a reasonable pore size to stimulate cell adhesion, to promote the transport of nutrients and to fit the modulus of the bone. Then, new surface modification techniques may be studied, for example, by coating the surface of the implant with a new bioactive material encapsulating antibacterial particles or growth factor, in order to reduce immune response or to accelerate bone healing.

Terranova Pietro

My name is Pietro Terranova, I am 25 years old and I graduated from the Mechanical Engineering course (LM33) of the University of Palermo.

From September 2019 to February 2020 I did my curricular internship at the Department of Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. My work at Pitt has focused on the fabrication of engineered tissues capable of influencing cellular activity through substrate microtopography.

In October 2020, together with colleagues from Prof. D'Amore's laboratory, I filed a provisional patent to protect the technology I worked on in the previous months.

My research project for this PhD course aims to transfer the mentioned micro-patterns on the surface of complex geometry prosthetic devices such as: heart valves, vascular graft or patch.

The process of optimizing the manufacturing technique of these fabrics will be based on the substantial modification of the fiber deposition mechanism by proposing a new variant of electrodeposition.