News

• Bio-Inspired and Nanoengineering Consulting @ University of Trento We have created a team of Engineers, Technologists, Scientists and Medical Doctors for finding ultimate solutions for High-Tech Industries.

• Fondazione Bruno Kessler and University of Trento in the European action plan for graphene, Graphene Flagship press release, FBK/UniTN press release (in Italian). Corriere della Sera, Trentino, L'Adigetto (in Italian).


• Discovered the strongest natural material known to men. Focus on Science, The New Scientist, Discovery News, National Geographic, The Science Times, Composite World and The Independent (2). Overview on Physics News. See also BBC, CNN, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Telegraph, Sky News, IolMobile, etc.
  In Italian: Corriere della Sera, Wired, LSWN, Le Scienze.
  Press release on UniTrentoMAG (in Italian).
  Comment by Prof. Peter Fratzl.
  Focus on TGR Leonardo (20/02/2015) [In Italian, from min. 5.03 to 7.19].
  Satirical cartoon on The Independent (19/02/2015).
  Satirical cartoon on The Telegraph (19/02/2015).


• New method to evaluate the exfoliation and fragmentation results of 2D materials. See related paper.


• Nicola Pugno member of the Strategic Vision Committee of the Fond of Fund Venture Capital (FOF VC), of the Fondo Italiano d’Investimento SGR S.p.A..


• ESMC 2015 - 9th European Solid Mechanics Conference, Micro and Nanomechanics Symposium, July 6-10 2015, Madrid, Spain. Extended abstract deadline


• Nicola Pugno member of the new scientific and technical committee of the Italian Space Agency (ASI).


• Nicola Pugno Academic Editor of PLoS ONE, Public Library of Science, from 2014.


• Nicola Pugno Editorial Board Member in Biological Physics of Scientific Reports, Nature Publishing Group, from 2014.


• Nicola Pugno member of the jury at the Falling Walls Final Event in Berlin, November 8 2014. The jury will be headed by Professor Carl-Henrik Heldin, Chairman of the Board of the Nobel Foundation. Programme - Pictures of the event.




• First Falling Walls Lab at University of Trento. Info and Apply. Articles on the newspapers Il Secolo Trentino and La Voce del Trentino (in Italian). Press release (in italian). The results of the Italian selection: UniTn Web Magazine, press release and news on the newspapers L'Adigetto and Il Corriere del Trentino (in Italian). Pictures of the event.


• Assemblea di Ateneo 2014 - L'Università incontra/incontra l'Università, July 16, 2014, Trento (Italy). Website - Video: La ricerca all'Università di Trento (in Italian, min 9:55).


• 3rd International Summer School on Smart Materials, Structures & Systems, July 21-25, 2014, Trento (Italy).


• Workshop: New frontiers in multiscale modelling of advanced materials @ ECT* Villazzano, Trento (Italy), June 17-20, 2014. Flyer - Call for Papers: Research Topic on Frontiers in Materials


• Grafene, la parola magica, Prof. Pugno interview at RAI News 24 (04-04-2014, in Italian).


• 2014 MRS Spring Meeting and Exhibit: Symposium on Soft Nanomaterials, April 21-25, 2014, San Francisco, CA (USA). Call for Papers: JOURNAL OF MATERIALS RESEARCH Focus Issue on Soft Nanomaterials.


• On the definition of life, see comment n. 56.


• Nicola Pugno Editor-in-Chief of Frontiers in Materials - Mechanics of Materials, Frontiers & Nature Publishing Group, from 2014.


• Nicola Pugno Editor-in-Chief of Bio-Inspired Materials, de Gruyter, from 2014.


• Biomimetica: la natura come modello - Il Giardino di Albert - Prof. Pugno interview at RSI RETE DUE (22-02-2014, in Italian) [up to min. 19.31].

• Workshop: La ricerca italiana in Europa: una sfida da vincere - Generazione ERC: i giovani e la ricerca di eccellenza in Italia, February 11, 2014, Rome (Italy).


• Third ERC grant assigned to Prof. Pugno.


• Second ERC grant assigned to Prof. Pugno.


• Prof. Pugno discovers The “Egg of Columbus” For Making The World’s Toughest Fibres (see also Astri e particelle in Le Scienze Blog).


• Congress: CERMODEL2013 Modelling & Simulation Meet Innovation in Ceramics Technology Trento (Italy), July 10-12, 2013.


• 2nd International Summer School on Smart Materials & Structures. July 22-26, 2013, Trento (Italy).


• N. Pugno, Effetto Loto. LE SCIENZE (2013), n 537, 58-63 (Maggio 2013).


• Prof. Pugno Invited Member of the Young Academy of Europe.


• Highlight in "Trentino" (in italian, March 19, 2013).


• Interview in local newspaper "Trentino" (in italian, January 31, 2013).


• Welcome to Trento in "L'Adige" (in italian, January 31, 2013).


• Highlight in "Trentino" (in italian, December 21, 2012). The unacknowledged risk of Himalayan avalanches triggering at Winter Universiade Conference 2013, International Interdisciplinary Conference on University Sport: Inspiring Innovation (December, 9-10, 2013, Rovereto (Italy).


• Interview in "Le Scienze" (in italian, October 2012).

Recent past and future invited lectures

• Mechanics of 2d materials and related 3d composites at EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Graphene Technology, 23 February 2015, University of Cambridge, UK.
  
  
• Invited lecture at Graphene-based technologies, 20 February 2015, Queen Mary University of London, UK. Programme
  
  
• Meccanica del grafene e dei suoi compositi at Grafene: le prospettive italiane, 6 February 2015, Università di Milano, Italy. Picture of the event
  
  
• Plenary lecture at Materials 2015 - VII International Materials Symposium, 21-23 June 2015, Porto, Portugal.
  
  
• Invited lecture: Nanomechanics of Biomaterials. At REDEOR - Unified scientific approaches towards regenerative orthopaedics and dentistry, 25-27 March , 2015, Italy.
  
  
• Il rischio misconosciuto delle valanghe himalayane: scienza e esperienza si incontrano. Nicola Pugno, Silvio Mondinelli (alpinista himalayano) e Giulio Caresio (giornalista freelance), Milano Montagna, 16-18 October 2014, Milano, Italy. Programme - Press release 1 - Press release 2 - Picture
  
  
• Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 2014. Opening Plenary Lecture (via Skype). 6 October 2014, INFN, Frascati, Italy. Programme
  
  
• Invited speaker at IED Square 2014, 22 September 2014, Milano, Italy.
  
  
• Invited speaker at 100th National Congress of the Italian Physics Society, 26 September 2014, Pisa, Italy. Programme
  
  
• Smart solutions from the Plant Kingdom: beyond the animal models - Superhydrophobicity in plants, ACCADEMIA DEI GEORGOFILI, 9 June 2014, Firenze, Italy.
  
  
• Super Materials, ImaLab lecture at Interpack 2014, 8-14 May 2014, Düsseldorf, Germany. Picture


• L'evoluzione odierna dell'arte della Meccanica di Leonardo, la Nanomeccanica, Festival di Scienza e Filosofia, 10-13 April 2014, Foligno, Italy.


• STAMM 2014, Lecture at the XIX Symposium on Trends in Application of Mathematics to Mechanics, 8-11 September 2014, Poitiers, France.


• L’avvento della Nanomeccanica, ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI, 10 January 2014, Roma, Italy.


• The unacknowledged risk of himalayan avalanches triggering, 5TH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS MOUNTAIN SPORT AND HEALTH (MSH) 2013, 9-10 December 2013, Rovereto, Italy.


• Mechanics of graphene, nanoscrolls and composites for an optimal design in industrial applications., Invited speaker at REGINA 2013 - New challenges for REsearch on Graphene: from growth and state-of-the-art towards INdustrial Applications, 3-4 December 2013, Trieste.


• Invited Speaker at NanotechItaly2013, 27-29 November 2013, Venice.


• Lessons of Nanomechanics from Nature, 26 November 2013, Trento, Italy.


• Nanotecnology and Bio-inspired materials, Lecture at the European Academy of Bolzano, 21 November 2013.


• The sustainable link in a new approach between Europe and the Arab Nations, Round Table (including Nobel Laureate Mario J. Molina), 26 October 2013, Rimini, Italy.


• Invited lecture on Bioinspired Materials at 1st Euregio Research Cooperation Day, Highligth of Research at the University of Trento, 24-25 October 2013, Bolzano-Bozen.


• The “Egg of Columbus” For Making The World’s Toughest Fibres (Opening Lecture, via skype, at Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 2013, 30 September 2013).


• Graphene and bio-inspiration. 25TH ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE OF THE ACADEMIA EUROPAEA (AE) (preliminary program), AE-LETTERS (for AE members elected in 2012 and Young AE members), Wroclaw, Poland, 16-19 September 2013.


• I Super-materiali del domani. TEDxMilano2013 “Ieri, Oggi, Domani”, June 1, 2013, Piccolo Teatro Grassi, Milan, Italy.


• Tavola Rotonda sul progetto Grafene, con Andrea Ferrari, Vittorio Pellegrini e Nicola Pugno, moderata da Piero Bianucci. May 16, 2013, Salone del Libro, Turin, Italy.


• Biology inspired Supermaterials: from the Space Elevator to Spiderman, LAGRANGE LECTURE (N. 4), Magnus-Haus Berlin Am Kupfergraben, Tuesday, May 7, 2013, Berlin. The discussion will be chaired by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Eberhardt Scientific Director Magnus-Haus.


• I Fantastici 4 (nanomateriali), GIOVEDÌ SCIENZA, February 7, 2013, Teatro Colosseo, Turin, Italy.


• FALLING WALLS CONFERENCE: FUTURE BREAKTHROUGHS IN SCIENCE AND SOCIETY, 9 November 2012, Berlin, Germany. World class researchers present their "ideas that could dramatically transform life worldwide" (Scientific American) every 9 November in Berlin to an exclusive audience from science, business, politics, culture and society. Sponsorized also by ERC and Nature.


• Come costruire la tuta dell'uomo ragno, FESTIVAL DELLA SCIENZA, October 29 2012, Palazzo Ducale, Sala del Maggior Consiglio, Genoa, Italy.


• Nanomechanics of graphene. GRAPHEL, 27-30 September 2012, Mykonos, Greece.


• Designing nature-inspired super materials, in IdeasLab Harnessing Science with Nature Magazine (Facilitated by Dr. Campbell, Editor-in-Chief, Nature Magazine), WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM, 11-13 September 2012, Tianjin, China.


• From mind to market: energy materials (Facilitated by Dr. DiChristina, Editor-in-Chief, Scientific American), WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM, 11-13 September 2012, Tianjin, China.


• Fracture and adhesion of super-nanomaterials, 19th European Conference on Fracture, 26-31 August 2012, Kazan, Russia.


• The fantastic 4 (nanomaterials): graphene (the strongest), spider-silk (the toughest), gecko foot (the most adhesive) and lotus leaf (the most anti-adhesive). First International Conference on Mechanics of Nano, Micro and Macro Composite Structures, June 18-20, 2012, Turin, Italy.


• Chi tesse la tela dell’uomo ragno?, SETTIMANA DELLA SCIENZA, March 15 2012, Teatro del Popolo, Gallarate, Italy.


• I fantastici 4 (nanomateriali), Winner of "PREMIO GIOVEDÌ SCIENZA", March 7 2012, Teatro Colosseo, Turin, Italy.


• Chi tesse la tela dell’uomo ragno?, GIOVEDÌ SCIENZA, January 12 2012, Teatro Colosseo, Turin, Italy.

Movies

Publications

1. A. CARPINTERI; PUGNO N., Are the scaling laws on strength of solids related to mechanics or to geometry?, NATURE MATERIALS, pp. 421-423, 2005, Vol. 4, ISSN: 1476-1122.
2. C.H. KE; PUGNO N.; B. PENG; H.D. ESPINOSA, Experiments and modeling of carbon nanotube NEMS device, JOURNAL OF THE MECHANICS AND PHYSICS OF SOLIDS, pp. 1314-1333, 2005, Vol. 53, ISSN: 0022-5096.
3. PUGNO N., Space elevator: out of order?, NANO TODAY, pp. 44-47, 2007, Vol. 2, (Invited) Highlighted by Nature (450, 6, 2007) ISSN: 1748-0132. (see also the related stories in Nature: “The space elevator: going down? Study shows that proposed carbon nanotube cables won't hold up”, News at Nature, 22 May 2006; “Out of reach”, Nature 450, 22 November 2007).
4. N. PUGNO, Spiderman gloves. NANO TODAY (2008), 3, 35-41. (See also the related stories in New Scientist: “Gecko power could turn you into a spider”, New Scientist, 28 April 2007, 26; “With no visibile means of support”, New Scientist, 19 July 2008, 23; “Ten sci-fiction that could soon be in your hands”, New Scientist, 26 January, 2009).
5. PUGNO N.; F. BOSIA; A. CARPINTERI, Multiscale stochastic simulations for tensile testing of nanotube-based macroscopic cables, SMALL, pp. 1044-1052, 2008, Vol. 4, ISSN: 1613-6810.
6. X. Shi, Y. Cheng, N. M. Pugno, H. Gao, Tunable water channels with carbon nanoscrolls. SMALL (2010), 6, 739-744.
7. N. Pugno, The design of self-collapsed super-strong nanotube bundles. J. OF THE MECHANICS AND PHYSICS OF SOLIDS (2010), 58, 1397-1410.
8. S.W. Cranford, A. Tarakanova, N. Pugno, M.J. Buehler, Nonlinear material behaviour of spider silk yields robust webs, NATURE (2012), 482, 72-78. Cover Story and 18 pages of Supplementary Information, DOI 10.1038/nature10739.
9. P. H. Tan, W. P. Han, W. J. Zhao, Z. H. Wu, K. Chang, H. Wang, Y. F. Wang, N. Bonini, N. Marzari, N. Pugno, G. Savini, A. Lombardo, A. C. Ferrari, The shear mode of multi-layer graphene, NATURE MATERIALS (2012), 11, 294-300.
10. J. Zang, Q. Wang, Q. Tu, S. Ryu, N. Pugno, M. Buehler, X. Zhao, Multifunctionality and control of the crumpling and unfolding of large-area graphene, NATURE MATERIALS (2013), 12, 321-325.

  

Curriculum

Research topics

1. Bio-inspired hierarchical super nanomaterials (eg. self-healing)
2. Super-strong graphene, nanotubes and related bundles and composites (e.g. flaw tolerant space elevator cables)
3. Smart adhesion of insects, spiders and geckos and related gecko-inspired nanostructured surfaces (e.g. Spiderman suits)
4. Self-cleaning & anti-adhesive super-hydrophobic leaves and related lotus-inspired nanostructured surfaces (e.g. anti-ice)
5. Spider-silk and web and related spider-inspired super-tough materials and structures (e.g. anti- catastrophes)
6. Design and fabrication of Nano Electro Mechanical Systems (eg. nanotubes or graphene based)
7. Hierarchical fibre bundle models, ropes, tissues and cellular solids (eg. role of hierarchy)
8. Graphene nanoscrolls and related systems (eg. nanomotors)
9. Nanomedicine: tumor cellular growth, nanovector therapeutics and scaffolds for the regenerative medicine (eg. flexible nanovectors)
10. Nanoindentation and related size- and shape-effects (eg. universal scaling laws on hardness)
11. Quantized Fracture Mechanics, in quasi-static, dynamic and fatigue regimes (eg. role of defects in graphene)
12. Nanoscale Weibull & Fractal Statistics and related size-effects on material strength (e.g. nanotubes statistics)
13. Multiscale fragmentation under impact and explosions and structural dynamics (e.g. universal scaling laws on energy dissipation)

Adjuncts Scientists

2015	2014	2013	2012	2011
Markus Buehler	Francesco Pugno
2010	2009 (Responsible of the animals)

ERC Press

• Prof. Pugno winner of the second ERC Proof of Concept
• Profs. Pugno and Bigoni at the ERC Meeting in Naples
• Prof. Pugno winner of the ERC Proof of Concept
• Compliments to my dear friend and colleague Prof. Davide Bigoni
• Prof. Pugno at the Annual Meeting of the Young Academy of Europe 2013
• Prof. Pugno in the Erc Annual Report 2012
• Prof. Pugno in the ERC facebook.
  
• Prof. Pugno invited by ERC to give the first italian Plenary Lecture at Falling Walls.
  
• Prof. Pugno invited by ERC as Young Scientist at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2012.
  
• ERC grantee in Nature Magazine (see ERC Press, February 2 2012).
• Prof. Pugno winner of the ERC Ideas Grant (see ERC Press).