Key Notes Speakers

Materials and technologies for Life Sciences and Food Sciences

Synthesis and biofabrication of bioorthogonal hydrogels for biomedical applications

Nicola Contessi-Negrini, Imperial College London (UK)

Bio: Nicola received his PhD in Bioengineering at Politecnico di Milano (IT) where he developed scaffolds for adipose tissue regeneration. Nicola joined the Celiz Lab (Imperial College) as a Research Associate to engineer bioorthogonal hydrogels and bioadhesives to model and regenerate soft tissues. Nicola has been a visiting researcher at the University of Brighton (Brighton, UK), Warsaw University of Technology (Warsaw, PL), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA, USA), and University of Maastricht (NL). Nicola’s research has been funded by the Rosetrees Trust, Diabetes UK, the Royal Society, and Replacing Animal Research

Materials and technologies for Made in Italy, Advanced Manufacturing, and Aerospace

3D-printed polymer fuel grains for rocket engine

Francesca Cerciello, CNR-STEMS / SpaceFrontier

Bio: Francesca works as researcher at Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie per l'Energia e la Mobilità Sostenibili (STEMS-CNR), Napoli, Italia since December 2023. Her research focuses on the chemical fundamentals of biomass pyrolysis, including experimental investigations using various setups and the characterization of primary products. She also specializes in the thermochemical conversion of solid fuels, the assessment of their properties for CFD modelling in industrial burners and rocket propulsion, and the evaluation of oxidation/reduction cycles for metals. She received her PhD in Industrial Product and Process Engineering in 2018 with a dissertation titled “Oxidation of solid carbon materials: structural and thermochemical analysis”. Francesca has held positions as a Postdoctoral Fellow at CNR-STEMS and as Principal Investigator at Ruhr University of Bochum in Germany, where she led the project “TRR 129 Oxyflame” funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). She is author of ca. 40 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals with more than 500 citations (h-index 12, source Scopus May 2025).

Materials and technologies for the ecological transition: Energy and Sustainable Mobility

Exploiting light as fuel: from molecular switches to photo-responsive materials

Daniele Martella, Università degli Studi di Firenze

Bio: Dr Martella Daniele is Assistant Professor at the University of Florence (Department of Chemistry “Ugo Schiff”) and Associate Researcher of the European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy. His research activity is focused on the synthesis and application of a wide range of smart materials for the realization of light responsive micro-robots, artificial muscles, tunable photonic devices and cell scaffolds. Dr Martella is co-author of 45 papers on international journals (H-index 25) and he is currently coordinating two projects related to liquid crystalline adsorbents for water remediation and smart hydrogels for tissue clearing.

Materials and technologies for the Green Economy and Circular Economy

Advancing packaging systems: innovation-driven strategies for sustainability, functionality and safety

Annalisa Apicella, Università degli Studi di Salerno

Bio: Dr. Annalisa Apicella is a Tenure Track Researcher at the University of Salerno, Department of Industrial Engineering. Her research focuses on the development of innovative and sustainable packaging solutions based on biodegradable and recyclable materials. She investigates advanced strategies such as high-barrier bio-coatings, active packaging with O2-scavenging, antioxidant or antimicrobial properties, as well as the valorization of agrifood wastes and byproducts. Her work spans scalable industrial technologies—such as co-extrusion, cast and blown film extrusion, coating and 3D printing—aiming to optimize packaging performance through eco-design and circular economy principles. She also develops mathematical models to simulate and predict the barrier properties of active/passive packaging systems as a function of film layout and storage conditions.

Materials and technologies for Built Heritage and Cultural Heritage

Tradition and innovation in raw earth architecture

Nicola Parisi, Politecnico di Bari

Bio: Nicola Parisi, Architect. PhD in Architectural Design for the Mediterranean Countries. Member of the Board of Directors of Polytechnic University of Bari. Associate Professor of Urban and Architectural Design. Director of the Digital Fabrication Technology Center "FabLab POLIBA", Coordinator of the Summer Academy "Self-Made Architecture".

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