PhD program in Marine Science and Technologies
Curriculum Engineering for Marine and Coastal Environments

The curriculum in Engineering for Marine and Coastal Environments (EMaCEs) takes as its starting point the different scientific expertise developed by the departmental academic staff in the fields of Environmental, Chemical and Structural Engineering.
This specificity makes the curriculum highly multidisciplinary and with a significant rate of innovation thanks to possibile cross-feritilization among the different research areas.

The main research themes and topics in the curriculum are:

• Ocean and Atmosphere Dynamics
• Wave Dynamics
• Mixing Processes in the Sea
• Climate Change related to Ocean Characteristics
• Marine Litter and Microplastic Fate in the Sea
• Bio-chemical Resources of the Sea
• Environmental Reliability, Safety and Risk Management
• Emission Treatment Technologies for Environmental Protection in Marine and Coastal Areas
• Clean energy production and carbon capture technologies for marine applications
• Modelling and experimentation of electrochemical cells
• CO2 capture
• Clean energy and hydrogen production
• Coastal and Harbour Engineering
• Nearshore Hydro- and Morpho-Dynamics
• Fundamentals of Sediment Transport
• Resilience of ports under extreme wind action
• Marine Composites and Advanced Materials
• Structural Mechanics in Marine Environments
• Computational Fluid Dynamics and DNS
• Optimization approaches to control fluid flows in marine applications

The educational objectives of the program are accomplished through a committee with specific expertise in the areas of study of the program in a highly stimulating scientific environment.

The Coordinator of the Curriculum is Professor Giovanni Besio

Relevant publications:

Ocean and Atmosphere Dynamics

• De Leo, F., De Leo, A., Besio, G. & Briganti, R. 2020 Detection and quantification of trends in time series of significant wave heights: An application in the Mediterranean Sea. Ocean Engineering, 202, 107155
• Ferrari, F., G. Besio, F. Cassola and A. Mazzino (2020) Optimized wind and wave energy resource assessment and offshoreexploitability in the Mediterranean Sea, Energy 190, 116447
• Besio, G., Briganti, R., Romano, A., Mentaschi, L. & De Girolamo, P. 2017. Time clustering of wave storms in the Mediterranean Sea. Natural Hazards and Earth System Science, 17, pp. 505-514
• Mentaschi, L., Vousdoukas, M., Voukouvalas, E., Sartini, L., Feyen, L., Besio, G. & Alfieri, L. 2016. The transformed-stationary approach: a generic and simplified methodology for non-stationary extreme value analysis. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 20, pp. 3527-3547

Mixing Processes in the Sea

• Enrile F., Besio G., Stocchino A., Magaldi M.G. (2019) Influence of initial conditions on absolute and relative dispersion in semi-enclosed basins. PLOS ONE 14(7): e0217073
• Sardina, G., L. Brandt, G. Boffetta and A. Mazzino (2018) Buoyancy-Driven Flow through a Bed of Solid Particles Produces a New Form of Rayleigh-Taylor Turbulence, Phys. Rev. Lett 121, 224501
• Enrile, F., Besio, G., Stocchino, A., Magaldi, M.G., Mantovani, C., Cosoli, S., Gerin, R. & Poulain, P.M. (2018) Evaluation of surface Lagrangian trasnport barriers in the Gulf of Trieste. Continental Shelf Research, 167, pp. 125-138

Marine Litter and Microplastic Fate in the Sea

• Cutroneo, L., Reboa, A., Besio, G. 2020 Microplastics in seawater: sampling strategies, laboratory methodologies, and identification techniques applied to port environment, Environmental Science and Pollution Research
• Stocchino, A., De Leo, F. & Besio, G. 2019 Sea waves transport of inertial micro-plastics: mathematical model and applications. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 7(1), 467
• Martins Afonso, M. P. Muratore-Ginanneschi, S.M.A. Gama and A. Mazzino (2018) Eddy diffusivity of quasi-neutrally-buoyant inertial particles, Phys. Rev. Fluids 3, 044501

Nearshore Hydro- and Morpho-Dynamics

• Tambroni, N., Luchi, R., and Seminara, G. (2017) Can tide dominance be inferred from the point bar pattern of tidal meandering channels? J. Geophys. Res. Earth Surf., 122
• Tambroni, N. Figueiredo da Silva, J., Duck, R.W., S.J. McLelland, C. Venier and S. Lanzoni, (2016) Experimental investigation of the impact of macroalgal mats on the wave and current dynamics, Advances in Water Resources
• Tambroni, N., P. Blondeaux and G. Vittori (2015), A simple model of wave-current interaction, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 775, pp. 328_348
Diaz-Carrasco P., Vittori G., Blondeaux P., Ortega-Sanchez M. (2019) Non-cohesive and cohesive sediment transport due to tidal currents and sea waves: a case study. Continental Shelf Research 183, 87-102
• Vittori G., Blondeaux P., Coco G., Guza R.T. (2019) Subharmonic edge wave excitation by narrow-band, random incident waves. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 868
• Blondeaux,P. Vittori, G. Porcile G. (2018) Modeling the turbulent boundary layer at the bottom of sea wave Coastal. Engineering 141, 12-23
• Porcile, G., Blondeaux, P. and Vittori, G. (2017) On the formation of periodic sandy mounds. Continental Shelf Research, 145, 68-79.
• Blondeaux, P. ; Vittori, G. (2016) A model to predict the migration of sand waves in shallow tidal seas. Continental Shelf Research, 112, 31-45
• Sequeiros, Q.E., M. Bolla Pittaluga, A. Frascati, C. Pirmez, D.G. Masson, P. Weaver, A.R. Crosby, G. Lazzaro, G. Botter, J.G. Rimmer (2019) How typhoons trigger turbidity currents in submarine canyons, Scientific Reports (Nature Publisher Group), 9, 1–15
• Bolla Pittaluga, M., A. Frascati, O. Falivene (2018) A Gradually Varied Approach to Model Turbidity Currents in Submarine Channels, Journal Geophysical Research - Earth Surface, 123, 80–96
• Bolla Pittaluga M. N. Tambroni, A. Canestrelli, R. Slingerland, S. Lanzoni, and G. Seminara (2015) Where river and tide meet: The morphodynamic equilibrium of alluvial estuaries, Journal Geophysical Research - Earth Surface, 120, 75–94

Waste Management in Maritime Transport

• Strazza, C., A. Del Borghi, M. Gallo, R. Manariti, E. Missanelli (2015) Investigation of green practices for paper use reduction onboard a cruise ship—a life cycle approach. Int J Life Cycle Assess, 20:982–993
• Strazza, C., F. Magrassi, M. Gallo, A. Del Borghi (2015) Life Cycle Assessment from food to food: A case study of circular economy from cruise ships to aquaculture. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 2, 40–51
• Gallo, M., V. Marotta, L. Moreschi, A. Del Borghi (2018) Sostenibilità nel settore marittimo: valutazione delle prestazioni di diverse modalità di gestione dei rifiuti. Proceedings of 7th International Symposium of energy from biomass and waste – Venice 15-18/10/2018.

Optimization approaches to control fluid flows in marine applications

• Bottaro A. (2014) Superhydrophobic surfaces for drag reduction, Rendiconti Classe di Scienze Matematiche e Naturali, 148, 239-268.
• Alinovi E. and Bottaro A. (2018) Apparent slip and drag reduction for the flow over superhydrophobic and lubricant-impregnated surfaces, Phys. Rev. Fluids, 3
• Bottaro A. (2019) Flow over natural or engineered surfaces: an adjoint homogenization perspective, J. Fluid Mech., 877, P1-P91
• Guerrero J., Cominetti A. , Pralits J.O. & Villa D. (2018) Bulbous bow shape optimization using an open-source framework. Mathematical and Computational Applications, Vol. 23(60), pp 1-25
• Pralits J.O., Alinovi E. & Bottaro A. (2017) Stability of the flow in a plane microchannel with one or two superhydrophobic walls. Physical Review Fluids Vol. 2, pp. 013901
• Blondeaux P., Pralits J.O. and Vittori G. (2012) Transition to turbulence at the bottom of a solitary wave J. Fluid Mech. Vol. 709, pp 396- 407

Geomatics for Marine Environment

• Betti B., Demarte M., Federici B., Pierozzi M., Sinapi L. e Sguerso D., (2017) Mareometria e GNSS, Atti del Convegno Cartografia e Crescita Blu, Genova 10-12 maggio 2017
• Lucarelli A., Brandolini P., Corradi N., De Laurentiis L., Federici B., Ferrando I., Lanzone A., Sguerso A. (2019) Potentialities of integrated 3D surveys applied to maritime infrastructures and to the study of morphological/sedimentary dynamics of the seabed. Proceeding of IMEKO TC-19 International Workshop on Metrology for the Sea, Genoa, Italy, October 3-5, pp. 161-166
• Dapueto G., Massa F., Costa S., Cimoli L., Olivari E., Chiantore M., Federici B., Povero P., (2015) A spatial multi-criteria evaluation for site selection of offshore marine fish farm in the Ligurian Sea, Italy. Ocean & Coastal Management, Elsevier Ltd, ISSN 0964-5691, Vol. 116, pp. 64-77
• Federici B., Corradi N., Ferrando I., Sguerso N., Lucarelli A., Guida S., Brandolini B., (2019) Remote sensing techniques applied to geomorphological mapping of rocky coast: the case study of Gallinara Island (Western Liguria, Italy). European Journal of Remote Sensing, Taylor & Francis
• Cannata M., Federici B., Molinari M. (2008) Carte di inondazione dovute a tsunami mediante il GIS GRASS: applicazione all’isola di St. Lucia, Caraibi. Bollettino SIFET – sessione scientifica, ISSN: 1721-971X, n. 1, pp. 9-20.
• Sguerso D., Azzola A., Bianchi C.N., Federici B., Gagliolo S., Morri C., Montefalcone M. (2019) 3D photogrammetric surveys on coral reefs in the Maldives. Proceeding of IMEKO TC-19 International Workshop on Metrology for the Sea, Genoa, Italy, October 3-5, pp. 292-297,

Bio-chemical Resources of the Sea

• Mirizadeh, S., Casazza, A.A., Converti, A., Nosrati, M., Shojaosadati, S.A. (2021) Repetitive non-destructive extraction of lipids from Chlorella vulgaris grown under stress conditions, Bioresource Technology 326, 124798
• Lario, L.D., Pillaca-Pullo, O.S., Durães Sette, L., Converti, A., Casati, P., Spampinato, C., Pessoa, A. (2020) Optimization of protease production and sequence analysis of the purified enzyme from the cold adapted yeast Rhodotorula mucilaginosa CBMAI 1528, Biotechnology Reports 28, 00546
• Moura, Y.A.S., De Araújo Viana-Marques, D., Porto, A.L.F., Bezerra, R.P., Converti, A. (2020) Pigments production, growth kinetics, and bioenergetic patterns in Dunaliella tertiolecta (chlorophyta) in response to different culture media, Energies 13(20), 5347
• Spennati, E., Casazza, A.A., Perego, P., Solisio, C. Busca, G., Converti, A. (2019) Microalgae growth in winery wastewater under dark conditions, Chemical Engineering Transactions 74, 1471–1476
• Carullo, D., Abera, B.D., Casazza, A.A., Donsì, F., Perego, P., Ferrari, G., Pataro, G. (2018) Effect of pulsed electric fields and high pressure homogenization on the aqueous extraction of intracellular compounds from the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris, Algal Research 31, 60–69
• da Silva, M.F., Casazza, A.A., Ferrari, P.F., Aliakbarian, B., Converti, A., Bezerra, R.P., Porto, A.L.F., Perego, P. (2017) Recovery of phenolic compounds of food concern from Arthrospira platensis by green extraction techniques, Algal Research 25, 391–401

Emission Treatment Technologies for Environmental Protection

• Ramezani R., Mazinani S., Di Felice R., Darvishmanesh S., Van der Bruggen B. (2017) Selection of blended absorbents for CO2 capture from flue gas: CO2 solubility, corrosion and absorption rate. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 62, 61-68
• Ramezani R., Mazinani S., Di Felice R. (2019) A comprehensive kinetic and thermodynamic study of CO2 absorption in blends of monoethanolamine and potassium lysinate: Experimental and modeling Chemical Engineering Science, 206, 187-202

Environmental Reliability, Safety and Risk Management

• Vairo T., Magri S., De Gaetano P., Quagliati M., Fabiano B., (2018) Multicomponent dispersion of hydrocarbons at sea: source term evaluation and hydrodynamic simulation of the spill, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 67, 61-66
• Vairo, T., Quagliati, M., Del Giudice, T., Barbucci, A., Fabiano, B. (2017) From land- to water-use-planning: A consequence based case-study related to cruise ship risk . Safety Science 97, 120-133
• Sikorova, K., Berbatik, A., Lunghi, E., Fabiano, B. (2017) Lessons learned from environmental risk assessment within the framework of Seveso Directive in Czech Republic and Italy. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 49, 47-60

Clean energy production and carbon capture technologies for marine applications

• Audasso E. et al., (2020) The Effects of Gas Diffusion in Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells Working as Carbon Capture Devices, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 167, 11, 8, n. 114515
• Audasso E. et al., (2020) New, Dual-Anion Mechanism for Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells Working as Carbon Capture Devices, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 167, 8, n. 084504
• Pérez-Trujillo J.P. et al., (2020) Preliminary theoretical and experimental analysis of a Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell operating in reversible mode, Applied Energy, 263, n. 114630
• Della Pietra M. et al., (2016) Experimental investigation of SO2 poisoning in a Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell operating in CCS configuration, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 41, 41, 8822-18836

Wind effect on port infrastructrures and ships

• icci, A., Burlando, M., Repetto, M.P., Blocken, B. (2019) Simulation of urban boundary and canopy layer flows in port areas induced by different marine boundary layer inflow conditions, Science of the Total Environment, 670, pp. 876–892
• Balbi, A., Repetto, M.P., Solari, G., Freda, A., Riotto, G. (2019) Wind Effects on Containers Stability, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, 27, pp. 73–86
• Repetto, M.P., Burlando, M., Solari, G., De Gaetano, P., Pizzo, M. (2017) Integrated tools for improving the resilience of seaports under extreme wind events, Sustainable Cities and Society, 32, pp. 277–294

Marine Composites and Advanced Materials

• Massabò, R., (2020) Mechanics based modeling of composite and sandwich structures in the naval environment: elastic behavior, fracture and damage evolution, in Advances in Thick Section Composite and Sandwich Structures, Ed. Lee S.W. Springer, 347-386
• Massabò R, Ustinov K, Barbieri L, Berggreen C. (2019) Fracture mechanics solutions for interfacial cracks between compressible thin layers and substrates. Coatings; 3 (9), 152
• Massabo, R; Darban H. (2019) Mode II dominant fracture of layered composite beams and wide-plates: a homogenized structural approach. Eng Fract Mech; in press.

Structural Mechanics in Marine Environments

• Massabò R., Monetto I., (2020) Local zigzag effects and brittle delamination fracture of n-layered beams using a structural theory with three displacement variables, Frattura ed integrità strutturale 14, 275-287
• Darban H, Massabò R. (2017) 2D thermo-elastic solutions for laminates and sandwiches with interlayer delaminations and imperfect thermal contact. In: Lo Presto, V; Langella, A; Abrate S, editor. Dynamic Response and Failure of Composite Materials and Structures, Elsevier Inc.; 2017, p. 3–46
• Pelassa M, Massabò R. (2015) Explicit solutions for multi-layered wide plates and beams with perfect and imperfect bonding and delaminations under thermo-mechanical loading. Meccanica 2015;50:2497–524