Antonio Papangelo
Prof. Antonio Papangelo is the head of the TriboDynamics Group and currently Associate Professor in mechanical design at Politecnico di Bari (PoliBa).
He obtained the PhD in Mechanical Engineering at PoliBa in March 2017 and during his research activity he was visiting researcher at the Sandia National Laboratories (USA), at Imperial College London (UK) and at the Hamburg University of Technology (DE). His research focus on contact mechanics, adhesion of soft materials, micro-structured interfaces, vibrations of nonlinear structure, viscoelasticity. He has coordinated several research projects, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), Regione Puglia (Italy) and the European Research Council (ERC). In December 2021 Prof. Papangelo received funds for about 1.5 M€ for the research project “Towards Future Interfaces with Tuneable Adhesion by Dynamic Excitation” (SURFACE, 101039198), funded under the call ERC-2021-Starting Grant. SURFACE aims to design microstructure interfaces with macroscopic adhesive properties that can be actively adjusted through the use of appropriate dynamic excitations. SURFACE’s results are relevant in the field of human-robot interaction and for soft robotics manipulators.
Address: Dipartimento di Meccanica, Matematica e Management, Politecnico di Bari – Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari – Italy
Tel: +39 080 596 3623
mail: antonio.papangelo@poliba.it
Michele Ciavarella
Prof. M. Ciavarella is well known in the area of contact mechanics, tribology, fatigue and fretting fatigue.
He graduated at Politecnico di BARI in Mech Eng in 1994 cum Laude and first of his cohort of 200. PhD in Mech Eng at University of Oxford under Prof. DA Hills studying Contact mechanics of gas turbine engines attachment in collaboration with Rolls-Royce.
He has worked at University of Michigan, University of Southampton, UK, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Italian National Research Council), (the youngest in Italy nominated to this senior position at age 28), University of Hamburg TUHH as Humboldt fellow, Ecole Polytechnique Palaiseau (Fr). Presently, Full professor at Politecnico di BARI (It).
In the list of the 100 most cited Italian engineers in the world according to google scholar, 4th in mechanical engineering in Italy according to Stanford Ioannides ranking top 100k scientists.
Address: Dipartimento di Meccanica, Matematica e Management, Politecnico di Bari – Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari – Italy
Tel: +39 080 596 3670
mail: michele.ciavarella@poliba.it
Ali Maghami
Ali Maghami joined TriboDynamics Lab at Politecnico di Bari, Italy in 2023 as a Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering.
Before joining, he was a research fellow at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran during which his work was partly focused on Civil Projects as a Senior Professional Structural Engineer in the industry.
Ali has a Ph.D. in Civil/Structural Engineering and has worked as a Research Scholar at the University of Minnesota, USA where he expanded his research in Computational Mechanics and Machine Learning methods.
Ali has many papers related to path-following techniques and data-driven methods in top peer-reviewed international journals, and his current research objective is to develop technology solutions to embed intelligence into the design process in the structural mechanics of tribology.
Address: Dipartimento di Meccanica, Matematica e Management, Politecnico di Bari – Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari – Italy
mail: a.maghami@phd.poliba.it
Roohollah Nazari
I am Roohollah Nazari, a dedicated PhD student at Polytechnico di Bari.
My research focuses on the fascinating field of contact mechanisms, composite materials, adhesion, and micropillar- structured surfaces. In 2021, I obtained my master’s degree in Mechanical engineering from Science and Technology University in Iran.
As a passionate researcher, I take pride in having published several articles in peer-reviewed journals that contribute to advancing knowledge in my field.
My expertise lies in unraveling the intricacies of contact phenomena and exploring the impact of surface properties on adhesion. Since embarking on my doctoral journey in November 2022, I have been dedicated to expanding our understanding of materials science through rigorous investigation and exploration.
Thank you for visiting my profile!
Address: Dipartimento di Meccanica, Matematica e Management, Politecnico di Bari – Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari – Italy
mail: a.maghami@phd.poliba.it
Michele Tricarico
Michele obtained his doctorate (DPhil) from the University of Oxford, UK (2023) and a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Polytechnic of Bari, Italy (2019).
He also obtained a second Master in Mechanics of Materials and Structures (MAGIS) from École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay in Paris, France (2019).
Michele’s DPhil project concerned the mechanical properties and 3D processing of monolithic framework nanostructured materials and their composites to achieve engineering applications.
His research in the TryboDynamics Lab involves the fabrication and characterisation of microstructured surfaces and structures, with the aim of realising smart adhesive interfaces regulated via mechanical vibrations.
Address: Dipartimento di Meccanica, Matematica e Management, Politecnico di Bari – Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari – Italy
mail: michele.tricarico@poliba.it
Nafiseh Forghani
Nafiseh Forghani is a proficient researcher in Chemical Engineering, with a specialization in Polymer Science, holding a Master’s degree from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM), Iran.
She has made substantial contributions to both academia and industry through roles as a Research Assistant at FUM, concentrating on Polymer Blend Membrane and Surface Modification, and as a Research and Development Expert in cardiovascular medical device production.
Additionally, she has earned distinction through a patent for a hydrophilic polyurethane foam wound dressing, showcasing her innovative contributions in practical applications.
Address: Dipartimento di Meccanica, Matematica e Management, Politecnico di Bari – Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari – Italy
mail: n.forghani@phd.poliba.it
Alumni
Goffredo Giordano
Goffredo Giordano received his Ph.D. in Biorobotics cum laude (ING/IND-34) from Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa and has a degree in Physics. During his 7 years of research experience, he has acquired skills in fabrication of soft robotic systems, data analysis, planning and implementation of experimental setups, chemical synthesis of small organic molecules, physicochemical characterization of polymers, fabrication of optoelectronic systems, and writing and reviewing scientific papers. He joined the TriboDynamics Lab as a postdoctoral fellow at the Polytechnic University of Bari in the ERC project SURFACE ID: 101039198. He is working on the realization of micro- and nanostructured surfaces for soft adhesive systems in robotic manipulators activated by acoustic vibrations.
His career has been purely in the experimental field, starting from the laboratories of CNR Nanotec in Lecce, Italy, where he designed, fabricated and tested OLED systems in optical microcavities. He then started working at the Italian Institute of Technology and Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna on bioinspired mechanochromic materials and soft robotics. The application goal was to generate color changes in polymeric materials by means of mechanical stimuli and use this feedback as sensors in the field of soft robotics (microsurgery and bioinspired manipulators).
