I studied Environmental Engineering in Bologna, Italy, specializing in soil and territorial protection. In 2006 I spent one year at the Polytechnical University of Valencia within the Erasmus exchange program. Learning new languages, discovering new cultures, getting to know people and places once far away and suddenly incredibly close to you… that year will leave a profound mark, allowing me to understand that diversity (may it be cultural, linguistic or even just formal) is a great chance of enrichment.
The Wavetrain2 project, a wonderful opportunity of personal and professional growth.
In 2008 I got my M.Sc. degree, with a thesis in Coastal Engineering about the effects of dredging and nourishments on sandy beaches. After the degree I approached the fascinating topic of ocean energy, which will become in the following years the leit motiv of my life. Initially through a 6 months internship at Aalborg University, Denmark, where I work on the development of a tidal stream energy converter, a device producing electricity from tidal generated currents, and then the big leap: I take part in the european training program Wavetrain2. The program aims at building a european network of professionals in the emerging field of ocean wave energy. For 3 years I have the opportunity to visit the main wave energy plants and research facilities in Europe, while learning directly from the main experts of the sector.
At the same time I work as a researcher for the danish company Wave Dragon, which owns and commercialize the wave energy converter of the same name. I take part in many development areas, among which the design of the mooring system and the improvement of required modelling tools, practicing many reasearch techniques: from numerical modelling to small-scale physical testing and open-sea data analysis.
In the water with a small-scale model of Wave Dragon, at the wave testing facilities of Aalborg University
In these years I present the results of my work at international conferences and on specialized scientific journals, allowing me to get in 2013 a Ph.D. degree at the University of Aalborg with a thesis on the development of Wave Dragon. During this time I also have the opportunity to work for 3 months at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway, as well as to keep travelling within Europe and beyond following courses, taking part in conferences and workshops.
I then decide to go back to Italy and to my hometown, Riccione, willing to have a positive impact in a place that gave me a lot and that I want to contribute to make better. I thus decide to improve public awareness about today’s main environmental problems, while also spreading that critical approach to reality investigation so necessary in scientific research, equally fundamental in everyday life. Indeed, I think that only by becoming well-aware citizens we will be able to create a better future.
I therefore commit myself to popularize science and to evnironmental education, bringing my experience and competences to the service of all, youngsters and not. At the same time as a professional I develop projects, rooted on the territory where I live, which have the potential fo make it more sustainable economically, socially and environmentally. In this I share the approach of permaculture, which I consider the “wise version” of environmental engineering, by acknowledging in nature an efficiency that human systems do not have, thereby forcing myself to be humble enough to keep learning from it.
My work is my passion, but also my way to do active politics. I am convinced that with the right tools and the right motivations, toghether we can create a future more beautiful to live.
