The next appointment in the PhDTalks seminar series will take place on Wednesday, March 11th, 2026, in Grandori Room (Building 4), from 12:00 to 13:00 CET.
PhDTalks is a series of seminars and discussions among PhD candidates. The events aim to provide a space for networking among doctoral students and for engaging with the many projects developed within our department.
The speaker Gabriele Bocchino will deliver a seminar entitled “Understanding the Fatigue Behaviour of High-Performance Fibre-Reinforced Concrete: From Experimental Investigations to Design Provisions”.
At the end of the event, a light refreshment will be offered, sponsored by the department.
The seminar will also be accessible online at the following link.
Abstract
The topic of fatigue in concrete is receiving increasing attention as a growing number of fatigue-sensitive structures are being constructed. These include energy-harvesting and energy-storage infrastructures, industrial slabs, bridges, and infrastructural pavements, which, over their service life, may undergo millions of load cycles, possibly leading to premature degradation and failure.
Fibre-Reinforced Concrete (FRC), owing to the bridging effect of fibres, exhibits significant tensile resistance and improved toughness compared to plain concrete, enabling it to better withstand cyclic loading. Nevertheless, current design codes only provide fatigue formulations originally derived for plain concrete, strongly limiting the advantages offered by the improved capabilities of FRC.
The talk will outline the problem of fatigue in concrete structures, provide an overview of the behaviour of FRC under fatigue loading, and conclude with new tailored formulations informed by experimental results, aimed at better exploiting the enhanced performance of FRC materials.
Speaker’s Bio
Gabriele D. Bocchino is a PhD candidate in Structural, Seismic and Geotechnical Engineering (39th cycle). He holds a Master of Science in Structural Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, obtained in 2023. He developed his master’s thesis at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, while working as a Scientific Trainee.
The next appointment in the PhDTalks seminar series will take place on Wednesday, March 11th, 2026, in Grandori Room (Building 4), from 12:00 to 13:00 CET.
PhDTalks is a series of seminars and discussions among PhD candidates. The events aim to provide a space for networking among doctoral students and for engaging with the many projects developed within our department.
The speaker Eleonora Barbaccia will deliver a seminar entitled “Stakeholder-based eDNA monitoring framework for marine biodiversity management”
At the end of the event, a light refreshment will be offered, sponsored by the department.
The seminar will also be accessible online at the following link.
Abstract
Monitoring marine biodiversity at high spatio-temporal resolution remains constrained by the vast scale of ocean systems and the logistical, financial and taxonomic limitations of conventional surveys. As a result, available data are often fragmented, spatially restricted and temporally discontinuous, reducing their reliability for effective marine governance. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is based on the analysis of genetic material that organisms naturally release into their environment, allowing species detection from environmental samples without direct observation or capture. Within the eWHALE project, this research developed and validated an integrated monitoring model that combines eDNA, opportunistic platforms and stakeholder engagement to expand spatial coverage, increase sampling frequency and reduce operational costs. The framework provides a scalable pathway to generate policy-relevant marine biodiversity data that can directly inform strategic conservation planning and evidence-based marine management.
Speaker’s Bio
Eleonora holds an MSc in Marine Sciences from the University of Milano-Bicocca (2022). She is currently a PhD candidate (38th cycle) in Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICA), Politecnico di Milano.
The next appointment in the PhDTalks seminar series will take place on Wednesday, January 21st, 2026, in Grandori Room (Building 4), from 12:00 to 13:00 CET.
PhDTalks is a series of seminars and discussions among PhD candidates. The events aim to provide a space for networking among doctoral students and for engaging with the many projects developed within our department.
The speaker Valerio Maugeri will deliver a seminar entitled “Ageing effects in metro tunnel ground-borne vibrations: a combined numerical and experimental approach”
At the end of the event, a light refreshment will be offered, sponsored by the department.
The seminar will also be accessible online at the following link.
Abstract
Ground-borne vibrations generated by metro trains can affect human comfort, structural integrity, and the operation of sensitive equipment. The role of ballast ageing in the dynamic response of track-tunnel-soil systems remains poorly understood, motivating dedicated investigation. A combined numerical and experimental framework is presented. On the numerical side, two computationally efficient three-dimensional models are adopted: (i) a novel formulation in which track and tunnel are modeled as beam elements coupled to dynamic impedance functions, and (ii) a 2.5D Finite Element model with Perfectly Matched Layers developed in a fully open-source environment. Experimentally, ballast dynamic behavior is characterized through cyclic simple shear and seismic laboratory tests with controlled degradation, as well as through in situ active MASW surveys. The combined approach investigates vibration propagation under different ballast degradation conditions.
Speaker’s Bio
Valerio Maugeri holds an MSc in Structural Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, obtained in 2023. He is currently a PhD candidate in Structural, Seismic, and Geotechnical Engineering (39th cycle, final year). His main technical expertise lies in dynamic soil-structure interaction and in numerical and experimental methodologies involving seismic wave propagation.
His current research focuses on ground-borne vibrations generated by metro trains, with particular attention to how ageing and degradation of infrastructure components influence vibration levels perceived in the surrounding environment.
In his free time, he enjoys travelling, watching movies, and spending time with friends.
The next appointment in the PhDTalks seminar series will take place on Wednesday, January 21st, 2026, in Grandori Room (Building 4), from 12:00 to 13:00 CET.
PhDTalks is a series of seminars and discussions among PhD candidates. The events aim to provide a space for networking among doctoral students and for engaging with the many projects developed within our department.
The speaker Paolo Colombo will deliver a seminar entitled “How to harness irrigation-groundwater linkages to adapt to climate changes”
At the end of the event, a light refreshment will be offered, sponsored by the department.
The seminar will also be accessible online at the following link.
Abstract
Groundwater is crucial in sustaining life, worldwide depletion has been observed, linked to climate changes and human consumption. This leads to risks for the whole water system. The Po plain makes no exception. It does however offer some solutions: the historical irrigation practices foster aquifer recharge, opening a path towards possible adaptation. The presentation will follow the path of my PhD, answering the questions: how will groundwater respond to future climate changes? Can we “hit two pigeons with a stone” and safeguarding heritage irrigation canals while adapting to climate change? What do we need to consider? The answers have come through field tests in cooperation with farmers and an irrigation consortium, groundwater monitoring and numerical modeling.
Speaker’s Bio
Currently a PhD student at Politecnico di Milano, Paolo Colombo graduated in Environmental and Land Planning Engineering with a focus on water management and a thesis on human impacts on hydrological droughts. Keen in finding ways to bring communities together and fostering cooperation on water and drought matters, he is now leading a pilot project to harness the link between heritage irrigation canals and groundwater, to foster adaptation to droughts and climate change. In his research he utilizes time series analysis, numerical modelling and data-driven modeling to test stressors to the water system, some of which have been developed during a visiting period at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 2025. He loves biking and the freedom it enables.