martedì 2 giugno 2015

Giulia/times 3

With Giulia Milana, a former student of Prof. Bontempi, we just published a journal paper on the topic of her Master Thesis (the ultimate capacity of diagrid systems) in the Scopus indexed journal Periodica Polytechnica Civil Engineering. I co-advised Giulia during her Master Thesis. 
http://periodicapolytechnica.org/ci/article/view/7795

G. Milana, P. Olmati, K. Gkoumas, F. Bontempi, Ultimate Capacity of Diagrid Systems for Tall Buildings in Nominal Configuration and Damaged State. Period. Polytech. Civil Eng., Online First (2015) paper 7795. DOI: 10.3311/PPci.7795
Giulia was recently awarded with a best Thesis award for ‘13-‘14 from the Milan Engineering Chamber, and a paper from her Thesis will be published shortly in the Italian Journal "Costruzioni Metalliche". 


 
Since and before her Thesis defense, we published together four conference papers, in National and International conferences and workshops. The most recent was at the IF CRASC ’15, the Second Congress on Forensic Engineering and the Sixth Congress on Collapses, Reliability and Retrofit of Structures, in Rome, which she also presented. 
Milana, G., Olmati, P., Gkoumas, K. “Scenario Based Structural Robustness Assessment of Tall Diagrid Structures”, accepted at the IF CRASC ’15, Third Congress on, Forensic Engineering - Sixth Congress on Collapses, Reliability and Retrofit of Structures, Rome (Italy), 14-16 May 2015.
Giulia is nowadays seeking new opportunities in the UK, willing to pursue a PhD in structural Engineering or work in the private sector.

sabato 16 maggio 2015

the long days of, IF CRASC '15

IF CRASC ’15, the Second Congress on Forensic Engineering and the Sixth Congress on Collapses, Reliability and Retrofit of Structures, concluded today at the Faculty of Civil and Industrial Engineering of the Sapienza University of Rome. Together with my colleagues at StroNGER srl (principal sponsor of the event) we have prepared a Facebook page with news from the conference: https://www.facebook.com/IFCRASC15 The conference was a great success, with more than 80 presentations, and 150 delegates.
On top of being a member of the organizing committee, I contributed with four papers:
  • Milana, G., Olmati, P., Gkoumas, K. Scenario Based Structural Robustness Assessment of Tall Diagrid Structures.
  • Olmati, P., Gkoumas, K. Simplified FEM Modelling for the Collapse Assessment of a Masonry Vault.
  • Di Santo, C., Gkoumas, K., Bontempi. F. Risk analysis for severe traffic accidents in road tunnels (Part I).
  • Di Santo, C., Gkoumas, K. Risk analysis for severe traffic accidents in road tunnels (Part II).
I have already uploaded all papers on my research gate account. My former students Carmine di Santo and Giulia Milana gave two talks on Friday from two of the above papers.


badge 


group photo at lunch break

Roberta Fornari performing during the first day cocktail



chairmen
 
children (and smaller children)
we had firefighters too...
... here with Ms D'Angelo, Head of the Civil Protection of the Rome Municipality
Carmine giving his talk 
Ms D'Angelo, Head of the Civil Protection of the Rome Municipality, session chairman
Giulia giving her talk
my colleague Francesco acting as chairman
the conference poster



martedì 5 maggio 2015

365 days (and pages) later...

Today together with Francesco we had a panel review at the ESA BIC Lazio office for the StroNGER project piezoTsensor.
The review was based on a presentation of the major outcomes we had in the first 12 months of the 24-month project, and a 365 page report containing 9 deliverables and 18 annexes, covering a total of 8 work packages.
PiezoTsensor is an advanced sensor for the optimum energy management in building HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Condition) systems, under development by StroNGER, with the financial and technical aid of the European Space Agency (ESA).
We are looking forward to successfully finishing the project!


365 pages... (that reflect)


(365 pages...) that reflect


 

sabato 11 aprile 2015

Holy Saturday (at least for some…)

On the eve of Orthodox Easter, I am on my way back to Athens from the Ciampino Airport in Rome. I spend a few busy days in Rome, full of meetings and getting together with my colleagues.
Earlier today, I took part in a workshop on parametric design, I helped organize in our Faculty. It was great fun with the participation of about 30 students from the Technical University of Denmark and 15 students from the Sapienza University of Rome, who formed mixed groups. The Danish students from DTU Civil are on a 5-day visit to Rome.
Kristjan from Ramboll UK, and Salma, Kareem and Mariam from our University acted as tutors.
Hopefully I will land in Athens at around 00.30 on Holy Sunday to spend the Orthodox Easter and Easter Monday!


Workshop poster






@ the workshop


@ the workshop

@ the workshop
 

martedì 27 gennaio 2015

transportation/relapse - advisors/again

Today, I had the pleasure to be part of the examination committee for the Laurea Magistrale Degree in Transportation Engineering, reuniting with many of my former Professors at the Transportation Engineering Department.
Carmine Di Santo, a Transportation Engineering student I was advising together with Franco Bontempi for the last 9 months,  graduated with full marks ("110 e lode" in the Italian University System), something that translates as "summa cum laude".
Carmine's Thesis was on the risk analysis of tunnel structures for severe traffic accidents, focusing on modelling parameters, and with an application on a recent very long tunnel in southern Italy.
Laurea
 
The Cloister of the Engineering Faculty
 
The San Demetrio Tunnel (courtesy of ANAS S.p.A.)
 

 

 




 

domenica 25 gennaio 2015

ESA APPATHON - while in Rome (election day... NOT)

 
On the weekend of January 24-25, and while the Greek general elections are taking place, I took part in the ESA Appathon Rome, held in the I-tech Incubator in Rome.
This Appathon was one of six simultaneous app events on 24-25 Jan 2015 across Europe that offered access to the latest space data and the power of the SAP HANA Cloud Platform.
I was a team member with Francesco Bartoli and Cristiano Carducci, on the sub-topic: Adopt your pixel-Crowdsourcing Solutions.
I contributed on an original idea of Francesco, for the integration of crowdsourcing solutions and earth observation data for the improved assessment of avalanche risk.
At the end of the two days, I represented my group giving a 5 min. pitch in front of a Jury composed of ESA officials.
Let's say we didn't win the camp (but from some feedback we received, we did well...).
A nice overall experience (and in any case, much better way to spend the weekend than returning to Athens to vote)
 



A youtube video from the event:



Some photos from the event:
Team work with Francesco and Ricardo


Team work with Francesco and Ricardo


Games during the 2 day camp
Coding in space?

A selfie attempt...


...better
 

martedì 16 dicembre 2014

piezoTsensor/PZT components delivery

At StroNGER srl, we will soon start wind tunnel testing for piezoTsensor, the new product currently under development in collaboration with the ESA (European Space Agency) Business Incubator Center.
My colleague Francesco is heavily involved in numerical modelling of different configurations.
Can't wait! 

A single PZT plate
PZT plates