Virtual testing is an established methodology in computational mechanics to accelerate the design of new materials and components. Nonetheless, there is plenty of room to transfer such methods in R&D departments of SMEs.

Recently, digital twin models come into play, and they are opening even more perspectives to incorporate computational mechanics and optimization towards the realization of digital models of real production lines.

A recent demonstrator of those technologies has been recently realized in Italy, see:

https://www.industriaitaliana.it/al-via-ice-lab-il-centro-che-coniuga-informatica-ricerca-e-produzione-industriale/

For those interested in pursuing a PhD on those frontier topics, please contact Prof. Dr. Ing. Marco Paggi at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, Tuscany, Italy, at: marco.paggi@imtlucca.it

A PhD call is open till July 10, 2020.

The project aims at further developing virtual testing and digital twin computational methods for Industry 4.0, integrating also machine learning and virtual reality into a novel framework.

Research will be inspired by real-world industrial applications thanks to the cooperation with the innovative start-up and university spin-off TREE-TOWER S.R.L. co-founded by Prof. Paggi.