Large-scale testing for resilient infrastructure
2026-03-16 16:15 - 17:00 (Europe/Rome) | Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo Da Vinci 1, Milano, Italy
On Monday, March 16, a seminar titled “Large-scale testing for resilient infrastructure” will be held in Grandori Room (Building 4) at 16:15.

The seminar will be given by Prof. Anastasios Sextos, University of Bristol, UK.

Speaker’s bio
Anastasios Sextos (www.asextos.net) is Professor of Earthquake Engineering at the University of Bristol and Director of the Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens where he serves on a dual appointment. He is the Founding Director of the new UKCRIC National Facility in Soil–Foundation–Structure Interaction (SoFSI) in Bristol, where he also acted as the Head of the Earthquake and Geotechnical Engineering Research Group, the Founding Director of the MSc in Earthquake Engineering and Infrastructure Resilience, and a member of the UKCRIC Management Board. Between 2011 and 2026, he coordinated 40 internationally funded research grants including the GCRF-funded project on Seismic Resilience of Schools in Nepal, which delivered the world’s first building on a low-cost PVC-based seismic isolation system, awarded by the Anti-Seismic Systems International Society (ASSiSi). He serves on the drafting committee of Structural Eurocodes and chairs Greece’s National Pre-Earthquake Assessment Committee of Public Buildings. He is an Associate Editor for the ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, Earthquake Spectra and Journal of Earthquake Engineering. He has been a Research Visitor at University California Berkeley (2007), a Fulbright Research Scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2012) and a National High-end Foreign Expert in China (2016-2019). He is the recipient of 20 national and international awards for academic performance, teaching, and research excellence. Anastasios has authored or co-authored 115 journal papers (94% Q1) in the areas of experimental and computational earthquake engineering, dynamic soil-structure interaction, seismic resilience of critical energy and transportation networks, seismic design and assessment of bridges, community resilience, multiple-support excitation of extended structures, hybrid testing, machine learning and structural health monitoring.

The Earth Observation Space Economy
2026-03-16 16:30 - 18:00
On Monday, March 16, a seminar titled “The Earth Observation Space Economy” will be held in Room 9.0.3 (Building 9) from 16:30 to 18:00 CET.
The seminar will be given by Giuseppe Borghi, Head of Φ-lab Division, ESA, ESRIN Italy.
For those who wish to attend remotely, the seminar will also be accessible via Webex at the following link: https://politecnicomilano.webex.com/meet/alberto.vavassori

Abstract
This seminar will explore key aspects of the space economy, with a particular focus on the Earth Observation (EO) sector. It will begin by introducing the space economy and defining the criteria for “commercial space.” The seminar will then analyze the overall Space and EO markets, followed by a detailed examination of the European EO commercial sector and ESA’s commercialization programs. Finally, it will highlight the ESA Φ-lab innovation lab and the Investing in Industrial Innovation (InCubed) program as exemplary initiatives supporting innovative entrepreneurs in the EO domain.

Speaker’s bio
Giuseppe Borghi is leading the Φ-lab Division since June 2020, with the mission to “accelerate the future of Earth observation.” He holds a PhD in robotics and artificial intelligence, as well as a Master’s degree in executive general management. After a few years in AI and robotics research at Politecnico di Milano, he transitioned to the space industry in 1998, dedicating about 30 years to driving global innovation. Throughout his career, he has held numerous executive and managerial roles, with a steadfast commitment to advancing the space industry by leveraging transformative innovations in technology and business models as key enablers of success.
