Talk
Current Monitoring Techniques and Materials Fracture Characterization: The Case of Garisenda Tower in Bologna (Italy)

Bio
Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Lacidogna holds the National Academic Qualification as Full Professor in Structural Mechanics in 2018. As an active fellow of European Academy of Sciences, Engineering Division, Brussels, Belgium, from July 2018, he served as an Officer since March 2020 and as Head of the Division from March 2023 to date. He has been Associate Professor in Structural Mechanics at the Department of Structural, Geotechnical and Building Engineering (DISEG), Politecnico di Torino, Torino (Italy) since January 2011. He received his PhD degree in Structural Engineering from Politecnico di Torino in 1994, where he graduated cum Laude in Architecture in 1985. Professor Lacidogna is currently Member of the Academic Board of the Doctorate Course in Civil and Environmental Engineering of Politecnico di Torino, and has been Director of the Doctorate Course in Structural Engineering (2016-2018). He is member of the Editorial Board of several international journals, and is an active member of several associations; among them: AIMETA, IA-FraMCoS, SEM, and RILEM. He is Author of more than 300 publications, among which: seven monographs, more than 160 papers in refereed international journals (appearing on SCOPUS and ISI databases), 24 book chapters. Among its awards, we can include: Certificate Merit Award (2018) from EuraSEM for research contributions. Listed in Stanford University's "World's Top 2% Scientists" since 2022. Ranked 1270th globally and 29th in Italy in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering by Research.com (2023). Received National Level Talent Award from China's National Global Excellent Scientists Fund (2023). Awarded with a Certificate of Honor for a keynote lecture at ICSRI-2024 in Tianjin, China. Recognized by the Chongqing Association of Science and Technology for talent introduction (2024) and invited as Aggregate Professor at Chongqing University. Designated as Distinguished Professor by Wenzhou University of Technology (2025).

Talk
Application of Discrete Element Strategies to Aid the Interpretation of Acoustic Emission Data in the Damage Process of Structures

Bio
Prof. Dr. Ignacio Iturrioz is currently the Coordinator of the Doctorate School at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil. He obtained his M.Sc. in Civil Engineering (1991) and his Doctoral Degree (1995) in the Post-Graduation Program in Civil Engineering at the same University. Since 2000, he has been a Full Professor in Mechanical Engineering and acted as a Permanent Professor in the Postgraduate Program in Mechanical Engineering—PROMEC/UFRGS. He was a visiting professor at the National University of the North East—UNNE, Argentina (2001); the Università degli Studi di Parma, Italy (2017, 2019); and Politecnico di Torino, Italy (2011). He has participated as a coordinator in several university research projects funded by the governments of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.

Talk
Current Monitoring Techniques and Materials Fracture Characterization: The Case of Garisenda Tower in Bologna (Italy)

Bio
Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Lacidogna has held the National Academic Qualification as a Full Professor in Structural Mechanics since 2018. As an active fellow of the European Academy of Sciences, Engineering Division, Brussels, Belgium, since July 2018, he has served as an Officer (March 2020 – March 2023) and as the Head of the Division (March 2023 to date). He has been the Associate Professor in Structural Mechanics at the Department of Structural, Geotechnical and Building Engineering (DISEG), Politecnico di Torino, Torino (Italy) since January 2011. He received his PhD degree in Structural Engineering from Politecnico di Torino in 1994, where he graduated cum Laude in Architecture in 1985. Professor Lacidogna is currently a member of the Academic Board of the Doctorate Course in Civil and Environmental Engineering of Politecnico di Torino, and has been the Director of the Doctorate Course in Structural Engineering (2016-–2018). He is a member of the Editorial Board of several international journals, as well as an active member of several associations, including AIMETA, IA-FraMCoS, SEM, and RILEM. He has authored more than 300 publications, among which are seven monographs, more than 160 papers in various international journals (appearing on SCOPUS and ISI databases), and 24 book chapters. He has been granted the following awards: Certificate Merit Award (2018) from EuraSEM for research contributions; listed in Stanford University's "World's Top 2% Scientists" since 2022; ranked 1270th globally and 29th in Italy in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering by Research.com (2023); received National Level Talent Award from China's National Global Excellent Scientists Fund (2023); Certificate of Honor for a keynote lecture at ICSRI-2024 in Tianjin, China; recognized by the Chongqing Association of Science and Technology for talent introduction (2024); invited as an Aggregate Professor at Chongqing University; and designated as a Distinguished Professor by the Wenzhou University of Technology (2025).

Talk
Approach to Failure through Record Breaking Avalanches in Fiber Bundle Models

Bio
Prof. Dr. Ferenc Kun is a physicist and professor at the University of Debrecen (UD), where he currently serves as the dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology. He earned his PhD in physics, and since 2014 he has held a full professorship at the Institute of Physics at UD. He has conducted research as a postdoctoral fellow and visiting professor at several prestigious institutions, including the University of Stuttgart, ETH Zürich, and the University of Tokyo. His main field of research is the statistical physics of fracture and fragmentation phenomena, as well as the broader physics of complex systems. In recognition of his scientific achievements, he was elected a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2019. Prof. Kun has been leading the Doctoral School of Physics since 2018 and has been serving as dean of the Faculty since 2017.

Talk
Application of Discrete Element Strategies to Aid the Interpretation of Acoustic Emission Data in the Damage Process of Structures.

Bio
Prof. Dr. Ignacio Iturrioz is currently the Coordinator of the Doctorate School at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil. He obtained his M.Sc. in Civil Engineering (1991) and his Doctoral Degree (1995) in the Post-Graduation Program in Civil Engineering at the same University. Since 2000, he has been a Full Professor in Mechanical Engineering and acted as a Permanent Professor in the Postgraduate Program in Mechanical Engineering—PROMEC/UFRGS. He was a visiting professor at the National University of the North East—UNNE, Argentina (2001); the Università degli Studi di Parma, Italy (2017, 2019); and Politecnico di Torino, Italy (2011). He has participated as a coordinator in several university research projects funded by the governments of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.

Talk
Application of Discrete Element Strategies to Aid the Interpretation of Acoustic Emission Data in the Damage Process of Structures

Bio
Prof. Dr. Leandro Ferreira Friedrich holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and Master's degree in Engineering from the Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA), as well as a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (2023), with a sandwich period at the University of Parma/Italy (2021–2022). He is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Mechanical Engineering program at the Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA), Alegrete campus. He has extensive experience in the area of numerical simulation in solid mechanics. His main research topics include the simulation of heterogeneous materials, the discrete element method, peridynamics, and structural monitoring using the acoustic emission technique.