CIRI EC

CIRI EC has gained solid experience in the field of innovative materials for structural use, including sustainable concretes. In particular, CIRI EC has expertise in the sustainability of concrete through the optimization of mix designs with secondary raw materials and the evaluation of short- and long-term physical and mechanical properties.

CIRI EC’s role within the project involves the development and optimization of sustainable concrete mixes, characterized by a lower cement content thanks to the use of waste materials from the agri-food industry, such as rice husk and bovine manure powder, used as fillers. CIRI EC will study the short- and long-term mechanical properties and will also produce prototypes on a structural element scale.

people

MAZZOTTI CLAUDIO

Coordinator of the CIRI EC Unit – UNIBO
Full Professor in Structural Science (ICAR/09) – DICAM, UniBO
Email: claudio.mazzotti@unibo.it

Personal University Website: LINK
Scopus Author profile: LINK

Claudio Mazzotti graduated with honors in Civil Engineering (structures specialization) in 1996 from the University of Bologna, presenting a thesis on seismic engineering topics.
In February 2000, he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Trento, and in October 2006, he began as an associate professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Bologna, joining the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Materials Engineering (DICAM).
In October 2009, he was confirmed as an associate professor, and in June 2018, he became a full professor of structural engineering at the School of Engineering and Architecture of the University of Bologna, affiliated with DICAM.

From 2016 to 2022, he was the director of the Interdepartmental Center for Industrial Research in Building and Construction at the University of Bologna.

From 2018 to 2024, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the CLUSTER Edilizia e Costruzioni of the Emilia-Romagna Region, and since 2021, he has been vice president of CTE. He has participated and continues to participate in several technical committees (e.g., RILEM) and ministerial commissions on topics such as fiber-reinforced concrete, composite materials for structural reinforcement, and mechanical characterization of masonry.

He is the author of numerous scientific publications in conference proceedings and international and national journals, covering key topics: reliability and safety of materials and structures, structural rehabilitation with innovative techniques (FRP, FRCM), mechanical and structural behavior of innovative concretes, mechanical-structural characterization of prefabricated reinforced concrete systems, dynamic testing for civil structure identification, seismic vulnerability of buildings, design criteria for isolating monumental buildings, and rapid methodologies for seismic vulnerability assessment.

FERRETTI FRANCESCA

Research Fellow RTD-A in Structural Engineering (ICAR/09) – DICAM, UniBO
Email: francesca.ferretti10@unibo.it

Personal University Website: LINK
Author profile: LINK

Francesca Ferretti obtained her master’s degree in Civil Engineering (Structural Curriculum) in 2014 from the University of Bologna, and in 2018, she earned her Ph.D. in Civil, Chemical, Environmental, and Materials Engineering from the same institution. She was a research fellow at DICAM from 2014 to 2023.
Since February 2023, she has been a temporary research fellow (RTD-A) at DICAM on the PE3–RETURN project, “Multi-risk science for resilient communities under a changing climate”: she is part of the research teams active in Cross-cutting Spokes TS1 “Urban and metropolitan settlements” and TS2 “Multi-risk resilience of critical infrastructures,” serving as co-coordinator of WP3 in TS1.
Since 2015, she has been teaching in master’s degree programs in Civil Engineering at the University of Bologna.

She is the author of over 40 scientific publications in conference proceedings and international journals, focusing on seismic vulnerability assessment of existing masonry structures and the use of composite materials for structural reinforcement, both experimentally and numerically. Thanks to national and international projects she is involved in, she also works on seismic risk at the territorial scale, multi-risk approaches, sustainable concretes, Building Information Modeling (BIM), and the use of pultruded bars as reinforcement for reinforced concrete elements.

From 2015 to 2019, she was part of the international technical committee “RILEM TC 250-CSM: Composites for sustainable strengthening of masonry,” and since 2019, she has participated in the international technical committee “RILEM TC 290-ICM: Durability of Inorganic Matrix Composites used for Strengthening of Masonry Constructions.” From 2024, she has been the co-chair of the technical committee “RILEM TC CTM Testing Methods For Masonry Cores.”

BOVO MARCO

Associate Professor in Rural Construction and Agroforestry Territory (AGR/10) – DISTAL, UniBO
Email: marco.bovo@unibo.it

Personal University Website: LINK
Scopus Author profile: LINK

Marco Bovo obtained his master’s degree in Civil Engineering with top honors from the University of Padova, earning 110 out of 110 with honors and a special mention for his academic career.
In May 2013, he earned a Ph.D. in “Structural and Hydraulic Engineering” from the University of Bologna in Civil, Chemical, Environmental, and Materials Engineering.
From November 2018 to August 2021, he was a fixed-term researcher (Type A) in the 07/C1 – Agricultural, Forestry, and Biosystem Engineering competition sector, in the scientific-disciplinary field AGR/10 – Rural Construction and Agroforestry Territory at the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences (DISTAL) – University of Bologna. From September 2021 to September 2024, he was a fixed-term researcher (Type B) at the same institution.
Since September 2024, he has been an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences (DISTAL) at the University of Bologna.

He is the author of over 100 scientific publications in conference proceedings and international and national journals, focusing on design, energy, and environmental aspects related to various types of rural buildings (greenhouses, wineries, livestock buildings). In these types of buildings, he has studied structural aspects, energy performance, CFD analysis, and environmental monitoring.

He is the coordinator of the PRIN 2022 research project “One SUStainability vision in Dairy farms: a big Data approach for a perspective Decision-making (SUS3D).” He is a member of the Italian Association of Agricultural Engineering (AIIA), the European Society of Agricultural Engineers (EurAgEng), and the International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR).

ENSINI JESSICA

Research Fellow at the Interdepartmental Center for Industrial Research in Building and Construction – CIRI, UniBO
Email: jessica.ensini2@unibo.it

Jessica Ensini earned her master’s degree in Civil Engineering in 2013 from the University of Bologna.

In February 2024, she won a research grant titled “Development of sustainable concretes with recycled materials” for the Interdepartmental Center for Industrial Research in Building and Construction at the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna.
From February 2014 to April 2015, she collaborated with an engineering firm on seismic vulnerability assessments and subsequent reinforcement, adaptation, and improvement of buildings damaged by the 2012 earthquake in Emilia-Romagna, including associated municipal practices for grant applications.
From April 2017 to July 2023, she worked as a Project Manager – Civil Engineer at an engineering company, where she managed administrative, technical, and economic aspects of projects, client relations, and final design of base stations and civil works.
Since September 2013, she has been practicing as a freelance Civil Engineer, designing and supervising civil and construction works, preparing permitting documents, offering technical consulting for structural and real estate matters, and managing general land registry practices.

GEORGES FAHD KHOURY

Research Fellow at the Interdepartmental Center for Industrial Research in Building and Construction – CIRI, UniBO
Email: georgesfahd.khoury@unibo.it

Personal University Website: Georges Fahd Khoury — Università di Bologna — Home Page (unibo.it)
Georges Fahd Khoury earned his master’s degree in Civil Engineering in 2023 from the University of Bologna.
In November 2023, he won a research grant titled “Experimental techniques for assessing infrastructure degradation” for the Interdepartmental Center for Industrial Research in Building and Construction at the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna.