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

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)

Projects

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