Engineering of Civil and Mechanical Structural Systems

The Civil and Mechanical Structural Systems Doctoral School program is aimed at providing students with a strong background in Solid Mechanics, Geotechnics, Design and Control of Civil Structures and Mechatronic Systems. Special emphasis is placed on synergic interaction between complementary disciplines, including: Applied Mechanics, Solid and Structural Mechanics, Manufacturing Technologies, Control, Design of Concrete, Steel and Timber Structures, and Seismic Engineering.

The Civil and Mechanical Structural Systems doctoral school focuses along three principal lines:

• Research in Solid Mechanics addresses fracture mechanics, theory of elasticity, plasticity and damage, bifurcation and stability of materials and structures, and mechanics of composite and biological materials.
• Research in Structural Mechanics and Design places special emphasis on the development of smart structures, designed as high performance systems capable of adaptation to human and environmental hazards.
• The research in Mechanical and Mechatronics Systems is mainly focused on autonomous drive vehicles and drive assistance systems, sensors, and measurement systems for space applications, design and active error compensation for machine tools, and control systems for data storage devices.

The teaching programme includes monographic courses, cycles of seminars held by internal and external lecturers and laboratory work. In addition to their doctoral research project, doctoral students undertake a comprehensive research training programme individually designed to improve and extend the students’ knowledge and skills.