Current position
Full Professor (Academic discipline: ING-IND/08 Fluid Machinery) at the Department of Industrial Engineering - School of Engineering and Architecture - University of Bologna, since 2011.
Member of the “University Research Evaluation Committee (CVRA)” (the Committee is responsible for coordinating and monitoring the research evaluation activities of the University of Bologna).
Member of the Academic Board of the PhD Programme in “Mechanics and Advanced Engineering Sciences (DIMSAI)”, University of Bologna.
Member of the Scientific Committee of the Professional Master Programme “Design of Oil and Gas Plant”, University of Bologna.
Member of the Scientific Committee of the Professional Masters Programme “Energy Management”, University of Bologna.
Member of the Scientific Committee of the “Regional Energy Plan 2030” (the Plan sets the strategy and targets of Emilia-Romagna Region for energy and climate up to 2030, dealing with the enhancing of green economy, energy saving and efficiency, renewable energy development, transport, research, innovation and training).
Member of the Scientific Committee of the Framework Agreement between University of Bologna and ENI S.p.A. (Italian multinational oil and gas company).
Representative of the University of Bologna in the Shareholders’ Meeting of “Centro Ceramico” (Research and Experimentation Centre for the Ceramic Industry managed by an University Consortium).
Coordinator of the "Cogeneration and polygeneration" Working Group (SC04-GL405) of the Italian Thermotechnical Committee (CTI) (a private non-profit association federated to the Italian National Unification UNI – association recognized by the Italian State and by the European Union, and represents Italian legislative activity at the International Standards Organization (ISO) and European Committee for Standardization (CEN) - that performs regulatory activities in Italy across industrial, commercial, and service sectors).
Teaching activity
Professor of “Energy Machines and Systems” and “Advanced Energy Systems and Cogeneration” in undergraduate and graduate courses in Mechanical Engineering, Energy Engineering and Engineering Management Master programmes at the University of Bologna, since 1999. He has always obtained more than 90% of appreciation by students compiling anonymous questionnaires on teaching qualities.
In the last five years, he supervised 3 Ph.D. students and about 70 undergraduate and graduate students.
Authors of three educational books on energy systems, their components and environmental impact.
Research activity
Author of more than 150 scientific publications in international Journals and Congresses (more than 100 of them are indexed by Scopus and cited more than 1200 times).
He is currently coordinating the Energy System Group of the Department of Industrial Engineering, which carries out both numerical and experimental research activities. His scientific activity deals with thermodynamics of advanced energy systems, complex cycles and power augmentation technologies for gas turbine applications, cogeneration, micro-generation systems (Organic Rankine Cycles), renewable and alternative fuels for power production and waste heat recovery technologies.
Awards
Awarded with the “2015 - John P. Davis Award” by the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) for a study on gas turbine, selected among 1051 papers of that year, “in recognition of the technical paper that most significantly describes new or continuing gas turbine applications; identifies planning, installation, operating and/or maintenance problems and their solutions; and exemplifies candid exposure of real-world problems and solutions and is judged, therefore, to be of exceptional value to others supplying or using gas turbines and their support systems”.
Awarded with the “2015 Best Paper Award” by the Industrial and Cogeneration Committee of the International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI) for the ASME paper GT2015-42292 regarding the Organic Rankine Cycle in offshore applications.
Awarded with the “2008 Best Paper Award” by the Industrial and Cogeneration Committee of the International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI) for the ASME paper GT2008-51277 regarding high efficiency gas turbine-based power cycles.
Awarded with the “2006 Best Technical Paper Award” by the Industrial and Cogeneration Committee of the International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI) for the ASME paper GT 2006–90342 regarding the wet compression simulation of gas turbines.
Awarded with the “2005 Best Application Paper Award” by the Industrial and Cogeneration Committee of the International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI) for the ASME paper GT 2006–90342 regarding the repowering of a micro gas turbine with an Inverted Brayton Cycle.
Awarded with the “2000 Best Paper Award” by the Industrial and Cogeneration Committee of the International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI) for the ASME paper 2000-GT-0316 regarding a thermo-economic analysis of an intercooled, reheat and recuperated gas turbine for cogeneration applications.
Collaborations and fund-raising activities
Since 2000, he has been coordinating and/or participating to several research projects with national and international Companies operating in energy systems and fluid machineries fields (ENI, Watson Cogeneration Company USA, GRAF, Hera, Enipower, Ydroxel, and many others).
Principal Investigator in the scientific collaboration between University of Bologna (CIRI-EA) and GRAF company (oil and gas division), on the topic of fluid machines for cryogenic applications, in the framework of POR-FESR, 2014-2020.
Principal Investigator in the industrial research project "Pilot program for the experimental development of hydrogen technologies for the first markets and decarbonisation", in the framework of an Agreement between University of Bologna and Ravenna town, 2011-2012.
Principal Investigator in the scientific collaboration between University of Bologna (DIN) and CNR (ITAE) on the integration between advanced generation systems and heat and electricity storage systems, in the framework of Ricerca di Sistema, from 2008 to 2010.
Participant in National Research Project (PRIN 2006, 2007 and 2008) on the topic of alternative fuels combustion in micro-turbines and distributed micro co-generation systems.
Education and previous positions
Associate Professor, University of Bologna, 2005-2011;
Assistant Professor, University of Bologna, 2001-2005;
Senior post-doc Research Fellowship, University of Bologna;
PhD on “Machine Engineering”, Polytechnic of Bari (Italy),.
PhD Student at the Polytechnic of Bari; during his phD he spent three months at the Framatome Technologies, Linchburg – VA (USA), working on the dynamic behavior of gas turbines.
Junior Research Fellowship at the Fluid Power Laboratory, University of Modena.
Master Degree “cum laude” in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bologna.
Other information
Referee for various international Journals, mainly: Applied Energy; Energy; Energy Conversion and Management; Applied Thermal Engineering; Energies; Entropy; Journal of Fuel Cell Science & Technology; Journal of Power Sources.
Session Organizer and Chair for the International Gas Turbine Institute congresses (TurboExpo) and in many others.
Member of the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and of the “Industrial and Cogeneration” and “Oil and Gas applications” Committees of the International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI).
Member of the “Financing Commission” of the School of Engineering and Architecture of the University of Bologna, until 2015.
Member of the “Census Commission” of the School of Engineering and Architecture of the University of Bologna, until 2012.
