Special Session 3

SPECIAL SESSION #3

Michela Monaco

University of Sannio, Italy

Antonino Iannuzzo

University of Sannio, Italy

Francesco Picariello

Universitas Mercatorum

• francesco.picariello@unimercatorum.it

Over 50% of Italian bridges have been in service for more than 40 years, and in the case of masonry bridges, the service lives often exceed 100. These structures are now subject to traffic demands and environmental actions far beyond those foreseen during their original design. In this context, ensuring their safety and functionality with minimal disruption is a growing societal and engineering challenge. R. The recent Guidelines for Risk Classification and Management, developed by the Italian Superior Council of Public Works, outline a multi-level approach for this assessment. This approach requires the development of strategies that involve multidisciplinary expertise, particularly regarding the measurement systems used to obtain the parameters necessary for classification.

This Special Session aims to foster dialogue between experts in structural mechanics, geotechnics, sensing technologies, computational modelling, electronic measurements, and experts in sensors, data acquisition and processing systems, and computer science to discuss innovative strategies for the monitoring and identification of sustainable infrastructures, enabling accurate simulations, predictive diagnostics, and informed decision-making.

Techniques and experiments developed by researchers, manufacturers, and professionals are foreseen and not limited to the following topics:

• Vision-based measurement systems and digital image correlation;
• Structural Health Monitoring and diagnostics;
• IoT-based and AI-enhanced monitoring systems;
• Digital Twin as innovative approaches for infrastructure diagnostics;
• Non-destructive testing methods;
• Inverse analysis and data-driven simulation approaches;
• Testing and monitoring of innovative materials;
• New numerical identification strategies for masonry bridges and buildings;
• Numerical modeling based on experimental data;
• Innovative measurement systems for civil infrastructures monitoring.

Michela Monaco - Irpine, degree in Civil Engineering at University of Pisa, Ph.D. in Structural Engineering. Associate professor in Structural Mechanics and Experimental Mechanics at University of Sannio. Past member of the Advisory Board of the Doctorate Course in “Seismic strengthening and retrofit of structures” at Second University of Naples, actually member of the Advisory Board in “Information Technologies for Engineering”. Author of papers in the field of structural and experimental mechanics, safeguard of Cultural Heritage, she joined congresses and symposia on structural engineering and experimental mechanics.

Dr. Antonino Iannuzzo, PhD, is a Rita Levi Montalcini Fellow and Tenured Assistant Professor in Solid and Structural Mechanics at the University of Sannio in Benevento, Italy. He has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed papers. His core research focuses on the numerical modelling of masonry structures, integrating artificial intelligence and advanced numerical techniques; the kinematics and statics of 3D unilateral structures through novel optimisation strategies; the form-finding of compressed shells; and the dynamics of rigid blocks. From late 2018 to March 2022, Antonino worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at ETH Zurich with the Block Research Group, where he led research activities within the SNSF-funded project "Practical assessment strategies for vaulted unreinforced masonry structures". In the latter part of 2022, he served as a Senior Lecturer at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. In recognition of his research and academic achievements abroad, he was awarded the Rita Levi Montalcini Fellowship by the Italian Ministry of University and Research in late 2022.

Francesco Picariello is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Electronic Measurements at the Department of Engineering and Sciences of Universitas Mercatorum. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor at the University of Sannio, where he conducted research on data acquisition systems based on compressed sensing and on vision-based measurement systems for structural and infrastructure monitoring. His research interests include sensor signal processing, image processing, marker tracking, biomedical measurement systems, sensor networks and interconnection, measurement instruments, and distributed measurement systems. He earned a Ph.D. in Information Engineering from the University of Sannio in 2016, after graduating with honors in Electronic Engineering from the University of Salerno. He obtained the National Scientific Qualification as Full Professor in 2025. He has authored over 120 scientific publications and is actively involved in numerous national and international research projects. He serves as Editor and Guest Editor for several international journals in the field of measurements and sensors.