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Projects

Research Areas

SMARTIlab research focuses on engineering the sustainability on each of the phases of the life cycle of road infrastructures:

Pavement materials and technologies

Mixing rheometry and rheological characterisation of highly heterogeneous bituminous binders
Design and characterisation of bio-based materials
Design and characterisation of conventional and innovative bituminous mixtures and evaluation of their mechanical behavior
Technologies and best practices for the development of more sustainable materials and pavements
Re-using of secondary raw materials (such as RAP, plastic materials, end of life tires, etc.)
Materials and technologies life cycle analysis (LCA, LCC, S-LCA, PEF, EPD etc.)

Pavement construction

Support for in-plant production of road materials

Materials quality control during construction

Pavement management

Development of monitoring systems for road infrastructures and support for sustainable management.

Sustainability Assessment and Life Cycle Management of road pavements (including economic and social indicators);

Pavement end of life

Recyclability of road materials

Circular pavements

Smart road and infrastructures of the future

Multi-disciplinary study of new technologies for Smart Roads and the engineering of new scenarios for the mobility of the future

Road infrastructures engineering to facilitate the new connected, cooperative and automated mobility (CCAM)

SMARTIlab Team

Founded in 2021, the Sustainable Multi-functional Automated Resilient Transport Infrastructures laboratory (SMARTIlab), is a research group within the Civil Engineerig department at the University of Palermo (UNIPA). Our mission is to address the upcoming challenges of asphalt pavements by providing innovative solutions to guarantee a smoother transition to a more sustainable society.

The SMARTIlab group has a multidisciplinary background including civil, mechanical, chemical and electrical engineers. The current team includes one professor, one research fellows and three PhD students working on a variety of research projects with a number of industrial partners.

Dr Davide Lo Presti

Associate Professor
Department of Engineering

Head of SMARTIlab UNIPA, academic and International Research Project Coordinator investigating new solutions for the development of Sustainable Multifunctional Automated and Resilient transport infrastructures.

Usman Ghani

Research Associate
Department of Engineering

MSc in Civil Engineering from Pakistan, with six years of post graduate acadamic experience. Currently enrolled as a PhD student at SMARTIlab UNIPA focusing on LIVE LABS development for the automation of Road and airport pavements

Ronald Mukunde

PhD Student (XL cycle)
Department of Engineering

Ronald Mukunde is a professional civil engineer with a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from American University of Beirut.

Ronald has over 7 years of experience in industry and research, with focus in Pavement materials in developing countries.

Ronald is currently pursuing a PhD at UNIPA in Engineering of structures and infrastructure, focused on development of high performance bio-materials for road construction in a circular economy”

Davide Randazzo Mignacca

Research Associate
Department of Engineering

Master Thesis Students working on “Big-Data driven Urban Pavement Management System”

Gabriele Musso

Research Associate
Department of Engineering

Research Scolarship working on “Big-Data driven Urban Pavement Management System”

Our Vision

Engineering has no better choice that investing in its sustainable development embracing innovation and new technologies to support healthy society and respecting the environment.

Our vision is built to conceive the transport infrastructures of the future SMARTI: “Sustainable Multi-functional Automated Resilient Transport Infrastructures

Teaching

Since 2019 our research is being introduced within the Civil Engineering Master Degree Programme (LM-23) of the University of Palermo, specifically in two courses incorporating using project-based learning methods