AIAS Summer School 2025

BIOINSPIRED-DESIGN HORIZONS

Ph.D. SUMMER SCHOOL | 16-19 JUNE 2025 | Ferrara

AIAS SUMMER
SCHOOL

TOPIC

AUDIENCE

VENUE

PROGRAM

REGISTRATION

Lecturers

Prof. Zhao Qin, University of Syracuse

Dr. Zhao Qin graduated from Tsinghua University with Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in 2006 and 2008, respectively. He got his Ph.D. from MIT in 2013 and then continued to work as a research scientist until 2019 before he started the Syracuse lab. Dr. Qin is working toward combining experiments and multiscale computational tools for functional biocomposite designs through natural processes...

Barbara Mazzolai, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT)

Barbara Mazzolai is the Associate Director for Robotics and the Director of the Bioinspired Soft Robotics Laboratory at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) in Genoa. Her research focuses on bioinspired soft robotics, blending biology and engineering to drive innovation. She has coordinated several EU-funded projects, including PLANTOID, GrowBot, and I-SEED, and in May 2021, she launched her ERC Grant, "I-Wood," focusing on Forest Intelligence and robotic networks inspired by the Wood Wide Web...

Prof. Nicola Pugno, University of Trento

Full Professor of Solid and Structural Mechanics at the University of Trento (Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering) and Scientific Responsible of Graphene Nanocomposites at the Bruno Kessler Foundation...

Prof. Davide Ruffoni, University of Liege

Davide Ruffoni is currently Associate Professor at the University of Liege (Belgium), where he established the Mechanics of Biological and Bioinspired Materials Laboratory in 2013 (MBBM, www.biomat.uliege.be)...

Prof. Mohammad J. Mirzaali, TU DELFT

Prof. Mohammad J. Mirzaali is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor at TU Delft, specializing in biomimetics, biomaterials, and bioengineering. His research focuses on developing durable biomimetic interfaces between soft and hard biomaterials to enhance surgical outcomes and reduce post-operative complications...

Prof. Flavia Libonati, Università di Genova

Flavia Libonati is a Professor of Machine and Materials Design at the University of Genoa, Italy, where she directs the M3M (Multiscale Mechanics of Multifunctional Materials) laboratory, and a Research Affiliate at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Italy...

Prof. Chiara Gastaldi, Politecnico di Torino

Master of science in 2013 at Politecnico di Torino, Politecnico di Milano (double degree program connected to Alta Scuola Politecnica) and at University of Illinois at Chicago. PhD in Aerospace Engineering since 2017, she was a visiting researcher at Sandia National Laboratories ...

Prof. Filippo Berto, Università di Roma "La Sapienza", Italy

Filippo Berto is chair of mechanics of Materials at Sapienza University of Rome. He is chairman of the technical committee ESIS TC15 on Structural Integrity of additive manufactured components of European Structural Integrity Society. He is also co-chair of ESIS TC18 on Structural Integrity of Welded Structures...

Prof. Massimo Delogu, Univesità di Firenze

he is Associate Professor at Department of Industrial Engineering in University of Florence. Since the end of the 90's, Massimo Delogu has been dealing with Design for X methodologies applied to performance, safety, reliability and environment issues. Regarding the sustainability topic, since 2001 he has focused interests on Ecodesign of products and technologies...