CURRENT POSITION
Since 10 January 2025, Antonio Maria D'Altri has been Associate Professor of Mechanics of Solids and Structures at the Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering (DICAM), University of Bologna, Italy.
In 2026, he obtained the Italian National Scientific Qualification for Full Professor in the disciplinary field 08/B2 – Structural Mechanics.
Since 2024, he has been a member of the Core Group of the ECCOMAS Young Investigators Committee (EYIC), as the representative member appointed by AIMETA-GIMC.
ACADEMIC CAREER
10 January 2022–9 January 2025 – Senior Assistant Professor of Mechanics of Solids and Structures, DICAM, University of Bologna.
10 January 2022–9 January 2025 – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow (Global Fellowship) of the European HOLAHERIS project – “A holistic structural analysis method for cultural heritage structures conservation” (grant amount: €269k). The fellowship included an 18-month outgoing phase at Princeton University, a 6-month secondment at the University of Minho and a 12-month return phase at the University of Bologna.
10 July 2023–9 January 2024 – Visiting Scholar at the University of Minho, Department of Civil Engineering, Guimarães, Portugal, within Prof. Paulo B. Lourenço's Historic and Masonry Structures Research Group.
10 January 2022–9 July 2023 – Visiting Scholar at Princeton University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, USA, within Prof. Branko Glisic's Structural Health Monitoring and Heritage Structures Lab.
In 2022, he obtained the Italian National Scientific Qualification for Associate Professor in the disciplinary field 08/B2 – Structural Mechanics.
1 November 2018–9 January 2022 – Postdoctoral Research Fellow, DICAM, University of Bologna, within the research project “Advanced mechanical modeling of new materials and structures for the solution of 2020 Horizon challenges”.
EDUCATION
1 November 2015–4 April 2019 – PhD in Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering, University of Bologna, awarded with excellence. PhD thesis: “Advances in Computational Analysis of Masonry Structures”. Supervisor: Prof. Stefano de Miranda.
15 February 2018–3 June 2018 – Visiting PhD student at Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, The Netherlands. Supervisor: Prof. Jan G. Rots.
18 September 2017–18 December 2017 – Visiting PhD student at Newcastle University, School of Engineering, UK. Supervisor: Dr. Vasilis Sarhosis.
16 September 2013–16 July 2015 – Master's Degree in Civil Engineering, University of Bologna, cum laude.
7 September 2010–19 July 2013 – Bachelor's Degree in Building Construction Engineering, University of Bologna, cum laude.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY
His research mainly focuses on computational mechanics and numerical simulation of static and dynamic behavior of masonry and cultural heritage structures, with particular emphasis on nonlinear static and dynamic modelling, simulation of seismic behaviour, integration of digital surveying, structural health monitoring and numerical modelling, digital twins, machine-learning techniques for structural diagnostics and prognosis, and multiscale and multiphysics modelling of deterioration processes in historic building materials.
He was Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow of the European HOLAHERIS project, aimed at developing integrated methodologies for the conservation of cultural heritage structures. The project addressed the integration of 3D documentation for rapid numerical model generation, the integration of Structural Health Monitoring and numerical modelling, dynamic modelling of masonry structures, and simulation of the mechanical effects of environmental deterioration.
He has continuously contributed to ReLUIS-DPC research programmes on masonry structures. Within the ReLUIS-DPC 2014–2018 project, he participated in activities concerning the reliability of numerical models in simulating seismic damage through benchmark structures. In the subsequent ReLUIS-DPC 2019–2021, 2022–2024 and 2024–2026 programmes, he contributed to activities within WP10 – Masonry Constructions, addressing the validation and comparison of computational tools for seismic assessment and the study of local and global capacity models for the definition of limit states. These activities were carried out in collaboration with several Italian research units and included the co-authorship of the guidelines “Use of calculation software in the seismic verification of masonry buildings”, developed within the framework agreements between the Italian Civil Protection Department and ReLUIS.
He has also participated in other national and international research projects, including the PRIN project “Advanced mechanical modeling of new materials and structures for the solution of 2020 Horizon challenges” and the JPI Cultural Heritage project CRYSTINART – Crystallization damage at the interfaces of artworks.
He has carried out scientific activities within the RILEM Technical Committees 271-ASC, “Accelerated laboratory test for the assessment of the durability of materials with respect to salt crystallization”, and 290-IMC, “Durability of Inorganic Matrix Composites used for Strengthening of Masonry Constructions”.
He participates in the activities of the Laboratory of Computational Mechanics at the University of Bologna, contributing to research and scientific consultancy activities concerning major Italian cultural heritage structures, including the Garisenda Tower in Bologna, Saint Lawrence Cathedral in Genoa, San Francesco di Paola Church in Rome, and the San Felice sul Panaro Fortress.
In particular, he is involved in the numerical modelling of the Garisenda Tower and in the development of its Digital Twin, within a collaboration involving the University of Bologna, the Municipality of Bologna, CINECA and NVIDIA.
SCIENTIFIC AND INSTITUTIONAL ROLES
From 2024 to 2026, he served as Co-Chair of the ECCOMAS Young Investigators Committee (EYIC), representing and supporting early-career researchers within the ECCOMAS community.
In 2026, he chaired the Selection Committees for the ECCOMAS Mentor Award 2026 and the ECCOMAS YIC Grant 2026.
In 2026, he served as a member of the Next Generation in Computational Engineering (NGCE) Committee of WCCM–ECCOMAS 2026, contributing to the organization of the Next Generation Activities aimed at enhancing the participation and engagement of early-career researchers.
He has also served as co-organizer of mini-symposia at WCCM–ECCOMAS 2026, the ECCOMAS Congress 2024 and MuRiCo7 in 2021.
He has been a member of the Scientific Committees of several international conferences, including SAHC 2025, the RILEM Youth Symposium 2025, MuRiCo8, the ECCOMAS Young Investigators Conference 2025 and WCCM–ECCOMAS 2026.
Since 2026, he has been member of ICOMOS Italy and associate member of the International Scientific Committee on the Analysis and Restoration of Structures of Architectural Heritage (ISCARSAH). Within ISCARSAH, he is a member of the Working Group “War Damage to Cultural Heritage: Protection, Safety Assessment, Vulnerability Analysis and Repair Strategies”.
He has been a member of RILEM since 2019 and AIMETA since 2017.
He is a member of the DICAM Internationalization Committee. He also serves as the Director's Delegate on the Evaluation Committee for the Erasmus+ Mobility for Traineeships call.
In 2025, he was awarded the ISA – Institute of Advanced Studies Call for Visiting Fellowships as proposer of the nomination of Prof. Branko Glisic of Princeton University as an ISA Senior Fellow at the University of Bologna.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
He has taught the following courses at the University of Bologna:
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Mechanics of Historic Masonry Structures M – AY 2025/2026, MSc in Engineering for Historic Building Rehabilitation.
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Computational Mechanics (Module 2) – AY 2019/2020, 2020/2021 and 2025/2026, MSc in Civil Engineering.
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Mechanics of Solids and Structures (Module 2) – AY 2024/2025 and 2025/2026, BSc in Civil Engineering.
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Historic Masonry and Wood Structures M – AY 2024/2025, MSc in Engineering of Building Processes and Systems.
INVITED LECTURES AND KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS
28 November 2025 – Guest Lecturer, Advanced Training Course “Monuments and Earthquakes”, University of Naples Federico II. Lecture: “Finite Element Analysis of masonry structures”.
19 November 2025 – Guest Speaker, METaL Seminars, SIAM Chapter, University of Pavia, Italy. Talk: “Computational Analysis of Masonry and Heritage Structures: Recent Advances Across Different Scales”.
24 October 2025 – Keynote Speaker, International Conference on Moisture in Buildings (ICMB25), Guimarães, Portugal. Keynote: “Simulation of Salt Crystallization-Induced Damage in Historic Porous Building Materials: From Moisture Transport to Micromechanics”.
20 October 2025 – Keynote Speaker, 1st RILEM Youth Symposium (RYS2025). Keynote: “Advancements in numerical modelling of masonry and historical structures”.
18 September 2025 – Invited speaker at the Mentoring Round Table of the ECCOMAS Young Investigators Conference YIC25, Pescara, Italy, on international research funding opportunities for early-career researchers.
21 May 2025 – Invited seminar at the University of Calabria for students, PhD students, academics and professional engineers: “On the numerical modelling of masonry historical structures”.
8 May 2025 – Invited mentoring seminar organized by GIMC-AIMETA on international research funding opportunities for early-career researchers.
14 June 2024 – Invited seminar at the University of Parma, organized by CIAS: “Numerical modeling of historical structures”.
8 September 2023 – Invited seminar at the University of Minho: “Advances in numerical modeling strategies for masonry and cultural heritage structures”.
13 May 2022 – Seminar at Princeton University: “Numerical modelling of cultural heritage structures”.
4 May 2019 – Seminar at Roma Tre University: “Advances in computational analysis of masonry structures”.
16 May 2018 – Invited seminar, SRE Seminar Series, Delft University of Technology: “Structural response to earthquakes: Advances in computational analysis of masonry structures”.
8 November 2017 – Invited seminar, GEST Seminar Series, Newcastle University: “Advanced approaches for computational analysis of masonry structures”.
SUPERVISION AND MENTORING
He has carried out and continues to carry out supervision, co-supervision and mentoring activities for students and PhD candidates at the University of Bologna and within international collaborations with Princeton University, the University of Minho and Delft University of Technology.
Among his main supervision activities, he co-supervised the PhD thesis “Mechanism-based continuum modelling of masonry” by Dr Gregorio Bertani (37th PhD cycle) at the University of Bologna.
From 16/09/2024 to 27/09/2024, he served as Professor at the receiving institution within an Erasmus+ Mobility Agreement for Amirhossein Ghezelbash, PhD candidate at Delft University of Technology, during his research visit to the University of Bologna. The scientific collaboration with the Delft University of Technology research group focuses in particular on high-fidelity numerical modelling of the dynamic behaviour of masonry structures.
GRANTS, AWARDS AND HONORS
2026 – Italian National Scientific Qualification for Full Professor, disciplinary field 08/B2 – Structural Mechanics.
2026 – Winner of the 2025 PEER Blind Prediction Contest “Shaking Table Tests on 29 Masonry Model Structures”, as a member of the joint Delft University of Technology–University of Bologna team.
2024 – Winner of the ERIES SUPREME Blind Prediction Competition – Seismic oUt-of-Plane REsponse of Masonry gablEs, achieving the best result among eight international teams.
2022 – Italian National Scientific Qualification for Associate Professor, disciplinary field 08/B2 – Structural Mechanics.
2021 – Winner of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship – Global Fellowship within Horizon 2020 for the HOLAHERIS project (€269k). The proposal received a score of 98/100, ranking within the top 6.5% of proposals in the GF-ENG panel.
2016 – Poster Award, 32nd International CAE Conference, Parma, Italy, for the poster “Advanced numerical modeling of historical monumental buildings”.
