About

I am a Ph.D. candidate within the College of Science and Engineering and an Aerospace Engineer specialised in structures, materials and aerodynamics.

I obtained my Bachelor's Degree in 2020 at the University of Enna "Kore", Italy, with a thesis titled: "Numerical analyses of sandwich panels made up with lattice core". The whole work focused on 3D-printed lattice structures, characterising the mechanical behaviour of the aforementioned structures employing Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations, with particular attention on the static and modal behaviour. 

I obtained my Master's Degree in Aerospace Engineering in 2023 at the Polytechnic of Turin, Italy, specialising in aerodynamics with a thesis titled: "RANS simulations with wall functions: evaluation of the predictive capability in separated flows". My thesis work focused on the computational impact of the application of wall functions in boundary layer problems and separated flows, using the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approach in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations.

In 2023 I chose to follow the natural development of my career, beginning a PhD journey at the University of Derby. My current research focuses on the assessment of the feasibility of designing and manufacturing eco-friendly composites with the use of natural fibres and recyclable resins for rail applications.

The aim of the project is to substitute the existing composite structures with eco-friendly and recyclable alternatives, thus taking into account all the engineering steps involved, such as mechanical characterisation using both numerical and experimental approaches, cost evaluation of the materials and of the ending structure and assessment of the environmental impact of eco-friendly alternatives. 

Title of thesis 

Eco-friendly, recyclable and nano-reinforced natural fibre thermoplastic composite for railway applications.

Supervisors 

• Dr. Marzena Pawlik
• Dr. Yiling Lu

Teaching responsibilities

• Teaching assistant in the Advanced Mechanical Design and Materials module