Damiano Pasini

Primary Research Theme: Materials and Structures
Secondary Research Theme:  Biomechanics, Design and Manufacturing
Research Group/Lab: Architected Materials Group

Our research falls in the broad area of mechanics of materials, multiphysics and structural optimization. At the core of our work are theoretical analysis and computational mechanics, which we use to develop constitutive models that are often validated via experiments. We are particularly interested in the multiscale mechanics of hierarchical metamaterials, which are combinations of one material and space (e.g. lattices, kirigami and origami), or of at least two monolithic materials (e.g. composites and several biological materials). We aim at predicting their macroscopic behavior from an understanding of their microstructure and their fabrication methods.

The main research thrust is to develop novel materials with controlled architecture, where materials and/or space are optimally engineered at the microscale to obtain unprecedented and tunable physical properties at the macroscale. Our work finds a balance between fundamental and applied research, where Nature can be a source of inspiration. Current projects target mainly aerospace, soft robotics and biomedical applications. For more information see group website.