Type of laboratory

Light laboratory

Lab manager

Giacomo OLIVERI

Staff

Activities

The research activities carried out by the laboratory concern numerous transdisciplinary areas that refer to the field of metamaterials and multifunctional artificial materials. Research activities include the analysis, design, analytical and computer modeling, simulation, and experimental validation of multifunctional metamaterials. 
The main topics addressed include

  • The theoretical foundations of Multifunctional Metamaterials in the various reference disciplines according to the physical phenomena of applicative interest;
  • The techniques of analysis of artificial materials and the methods for their functional and logical characterization in analytical and mathematical terms;
  • Large-scale numerical modeling techniques of complex multifunctional structures, also considering their multi-physical properties, through the use of multi-scale techniques on advanced computing architectures (HPC) and the integration of hybrid approaches based on use of Artificial Intelligence;
  • The creation, implementation, and experimental characterization in the laboratory from a mechanical, electronic, and structural point of view of multifunctional artificial materials, both static and reconfigurable, exploiting different physical reconfiguration mechanisms;
  • Transversal applications regarding multiple relevant scenarios, including the study of multifunctional metamaterials in the following frameworks:

- mechanical (e.g., materials with negative refractive capacity; bio-inspired mechanical metamaterials; materials with cloaking capacity)
- structural (e.g., materials with vibration mitigation capabilities and “metastructures” that operate at ultra-low frequencies; materials with integrated structural and sensing functions);
- electromagnetic (e.g., electromagnetic metamaterials for communication, energy transfer, and sensing applications);
- energy (e.g., artificial materials for energy storage and energy harvesting);
- environmental and marine (e.g., use of metamaterials with advanced sea wave scattering capacity to reduce coastal erosion).