Students XLI Cycle

Antonio D'Anna is a Ph.D. candidate (Cycle 41, 2025-2028) in Civil Engineering at the University of Bologna within the Engineering and Information Technology for Structural and Environmental Monitoring and Risk Management (EIT4SEMM) program. His doctoral research focuses on the development of an integrated AI-driven Structural Health Monitoring and Digital Twin framework for the predictive management of civil structures, with applications to railway bridges and the Two Towers of Bologna. He earned his B.Sc. in Civil Engineering (2023) from the University of Bologna, graduating with honors with a thesis on Hydrological Droughts in Emilia-Romagna, involving the census, digitalization, and statistical validation of hydrometric series for drought magnitude assessment. He obtained his M.Sc. in Structural Engineering (2025) from the University of Bologna, with honors, and a Dual Degree M.Sc. in Structural Engineering (2025) from the Université de Liège where his thesis (Medium-Span Timber Footbridges – A Comparative Analysis with Traditional Steel and Concrete Structures (Technical, Environmental, and Structural Aspects) Case Study within the "Seine – Escaut Est" Project: Structural Adaptations for the 2000-Ton Navigation Standard on the Nimy-Blaton-Péronnes Canal) focused on the conceptual and structural design of timber footbridges in collaboration with Greisch Engineering Studio. He has been actively engaged in the organization and tutoring of the undergraduate Civil Engineering course at the University of Bologna. His academic interests include Structural Health Monitoring, Artificial Intelligence, FEM Modeling, predictive maintenance, and the design and analysis of bridges and civil structures.

PhD candidate in Civil Engineering at the University of Bologna. I completed an MSc in Civil Engineering (Structures and Geotechnics) at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP, Brazil), where I also obtained postgraduate specializations in Steel Structures and Reinforced Concrete Design. My master's research and subsequent studies focused on improving GBT-based formulations for restrained cold-formed steel members, with results that were later recognized as a reference for lateral-distortional behaviour in the Brazilian standard for steel structures NBR 8800:2024.  Author and co-author of peer-reviewed articles published in leading international journals, including Thin-Walled Structures and the Journal of Constructional Steel Research (Elsevier), contributing to the advancement of the theoretical and computational framework of the Generalised Beam Theory (GBT).  In addition to my academic background, I have solid professional experience in structural design and analysis, having managed projects involving both reinforced concrete and steel structures. I am proficient in Python, SAP2000, ANSYS, LISA FEA, and fluent in English, Portuguese, and Italian.  My current research interests include GBT-based analysis, structural instability, composite materials, and numerical simulations.

Since February 2025: research fellowship at the Advanced Research Center on Electronic Systems "Ercole De Castro" (ARCES) Lab, working on topics of on-device learning and inference, pruning, quantization, and transformer networks hardware optimization.  2022-2024: Master Degree in Artificial Intelligence, at Università di Bologna, with thesis about on-device continual learning.  2020-2022: Machine Learning Engineer on automotive Computer Vision applications, at the Bosch Engineering Center, in Cluj-Napoca (Romania).  2021: Paper published on Metrics for Evaluating the Continuity Capabilities of Object Detection Systems, at ICCP 4, co-authored with Cristina Pele and Mihai Negru.  2017-2021: Engineering Bachelor in Computer Science at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (Romania), with thesis in partnership with the Bosch Engineering Center, about detection of large animals on roads with machine learning methods.

After high school, I started my bachelor's in building engineering during which I got fascinated by mathematics, physics and mechanics and this interest grew while deepening my studies in mechanics of structures so that, after my bachelor's degree, I decided to change course to civil engineering, where I could face challenging and complicate topics such as computational mechanics and dynamics of structures. During my master's studies, I spent a semester abroad in Lisbon at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, an experience that gave me the possibility to meet a new environment and gain social and technical skills. While deepening my knowledge, I started realizing my passion for studies and research and I eventually have had the opportunity to put my skills into practice in my thesis project "Investigation on a graded metamaterial for energy harvesting and actuation", carried out at ETH of Zurich. The topic was extremely interesting and fascinating because it involved many fields of technical knowledge, from waves propagation in periodic materials to the beam theory. In particular, during my research experience, I developed a deep interest in advanced phenomena related to metamaterials, such as one-way propagation of elastic or acoustic waves, topological protection in mechanical systems, energy harvesting and the development of acoustic and elastic lenses. These topics are at the frontier between mechanics of structures and physics, and offer an exciting playground where mathematical modelling, physical intuition, and engineering applications converge. Exploring such phenomena not only sharpens theoretical understanding but also opens possibilities for innovative technological applications. After my master's degree I started working in a company in order to experience the working life and to gain some practical skills. My job was focused on the design of new structures and the monitoring and safety evaluation of existing infrastructures. But my vocation still remains focused on the academic studies and that's why I oriented myself in finding a doctoral position where I could restart to work with what really passionates me. My academical education is based on strong mathematical bases that allow me to face problems that deal with all kinds of physical structures, from the buildings to the more complicate metamaterials.

Master's degree in Electronic Engineering at University of Bologna with a grade of 110/110 cum laude. Thesis Title: Study and Development of a Device for Generation and Detection of Micro Short-Circuits in Li-Ion Cells: Towards Next-Generation BMS. Advisor: Prof. Luca De Marchi, Co-advisors: Matteo Zauli, Marco Pirazzi, Andrea Donadel, Federica Zonzini.  Bachelor's Degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering. Thesis Title: Validation and Testing of Algorithms for Sensor-Near Uplift Estimation in Railway Monitoring Applications. Advisor: Prof. Luca De Marchi, Co-advisor: Federica Zonzini. Experience: May 2025 - October 2025, Master's thesis research at the NXP-Unibo-Ferrari joint E-Cell Lab focused on developing an integrated testbench for detecting dendrite-induced faults in lithium-ion cells. The research led to a publication presented at the SIE2025 conference.Master's degree in Electronic Engineering at University of Bologna with a grade of 110/110 cum laude. Thesis Title: Study and Development of a Device for Generation and Detection of Micro Short-Circuits in Li-Ion Cells: Towards Next-Generation BMS. Advisor: Prof. Luca De Marchi, Co-advisors: Matteo Zauli, Marco Pirazzi, Andrea Donadel, Federica Zonzini.  Bachelor's Degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering. Thesis Title: Validation and Testing of Algorithms for Sensor-Near Uplift Estimation in Railway Monitoring Applications. Advisor: Prof. Luca De Marchi, Co-advisor: Federica Zonzini. Experience: May 2025 - October 2025, Master's thesis research at the NXP-Unibo-Ferrari joint E-Cell Lab focused on developing an integrated testbench for detecting dendrite-induced faults in lithium-ion cells. The research led to a publication presented at the SIE2025 conference.

I completed Bachelor of Science with major in Mechanical Engineering from University of Engineering & Tehcnology (UET), Lahore in 2015, and Master of Science in Manufacturing from same university in 2020. My masters studies were funded by PEEF merit-based scholarship from Government of Punjab. My masters project involved cutting deep microchannels in D-2 Steel using Wire-EDM machine, and I later published this research in micromachines journal. Additionally, I have professionally working in the area of mechanical engineering and engineering management since 2015. My experience include working in academia (Mechanical & Automotive Engineering), industry (Project Management), and government institutions (Equipment procurement and inspection). My research interests include Material Science, Non-conventional Manufacturing, and Philosophy.