CURRENT POSITION
From April 2015, associate professor in Applied Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer (Fisica Tecnica Ambientale SSD IIND-07/B, SC 09/C2) at the Polytechnic Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Udine, ITALY.
Lecturer at the University of Udine in the following courses:
- HEAT TRANSFER (Trasmissione del calore 6 CFU), within the B.Sc. program in Mechanical Engineering;
- HVAC Systems (Impianti Termotecnici 6 cfu), within the M.Sc. program in Civil Engineering and in Mechanical Engineering;
- THERMODYNAMICS AND HEAT TRANSFER (6 cfu), within the B.Sc. program in Civil Engineering.
- HEAT TRANSFER (6 cfu), within the B.Sc. program in Industrial Engineering for Environmental Sustainability,
- THERMODYNAMICS AND HEAT TRANSFER (Fisica Tecnica, 4 CFU) within the B.Sc. program in Architecture until Feb. 2026.
After the M.Sc. in Management Engineering (Laurea in Ingegneria Gestionale), Summa cum Laude, in March 2000 and the Ph.D. in Energy Technologies in March 2004, I was Post-Doctoral fellow until September 2009 and Assistant professor of Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer until March 2015.
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Research Topics:
Building Physics and Building Energy Systems:
- Strategies for improving the energy performance of building-HVAC system using dynamic simulation with a focus on optimising the management of energy flows in favour of self consumption of energy produced by renewable sources and the integration of systems according to Demand Side Management rules.
Refrigeration and Heat Pumps
- modelling of commercial refrigeration systems; integration with the air conditioning system (HVAC) in supermarkets; innovative solutions for the reduction of energy consumption in commercial sector;
- on the search for new refrigerants with low environmental impact, and for innovative system configurations that can reduce energy use and promote synergy with the electrical grid.
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for thermal problems:
- mechanisms for forced convection enhancement, heat transfer improvement in compact heat exchangers and at microscale level
- heat transfer and fluid flow in refrigeration equipment (optimization of air curtain design in display cabinets and cold rooms)
- numerical simulation of glass fogging and defogging phenomena (examples: analysis of de-misting systems in refrigerated display cabinets and for car windshield)
Publications
The results of the research activity are reported in more than 100 scientific publications: 38 in refereed international journals; 3 chapters in edited international books; 1 chapter in Italian book; 50 papers presented at international conferences, 10 papers at Italian conferences. For details visit: iris uniud
Bibliometric indicators
Database SCOPUS (18/10/2025): 66; h-index: 19; numero di citazioni: 1335
MENTORING
Member of the PhD Program Board “Environmental and Energy Engineering Sciences” (Scienze dell’Ingegneria Energetica e Ambientale), University of Udine April 2021-pres
Since 2004, she has been the supervisor for over 110 degree theses (bachelor's, master's and master's degrees) within the degree courses of the Polytechnic Department of Engineering and Architecture. The list is available in the database: https://www.uniud.it/it/servizi/servizi-studiare/archivi-digitali/tesi-d...
CURRENT AND PAST ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
At Polytechnic Department of Engineering and Architecture:
- Director’s Delegate for Student Recruitment and Advising (Nov. 2024-pres)
- Member of the Research Quality Assurance Commission (April 2021-pres)
- Member of the Didactic Commission (Commissione Didattica) of the B.Sc. and M.Sc. programs in Civil Engineering (Jan 2021-pres) .
- Member of the Commission for Quality Assurance for B.Sc. and M.Sc. programs in Mechanical Engineering (Apr.2015-Nov. 2025).
RECENT RESEARCH FUNDING
PUBLIC FUNDING - competitive projects:
Referent research project PRIN 2022 , “Environmentally friendly high-glide refrigerant blends for high-temperature heat pumps and next-generation refrigerators (Glide4Heat)”, (28/9/2023 al 28/09/2025) Cod. 20229J4EMW, DM. n.742.20/05/2023, Project budget: € 241′290.
Referent research project “Il sistema edificio-impianto in una smart energy community”, DM 1062/2021 “PON Ricerca e Innovazione” funding a RTDA position (10/01/2022-09/01/2025)
Member of research team in PRIN 2017, The energy FLEXibility of enhanced HEAT pumps for the next generation of sustainable buildings (FLEXHEAT), (13/03/2019-17/9/2019), Cod. 2017KAAECT, DM. n.443.13/03/2019, Project budget: € 644′600.
Member of the research unit in PRIN 2015, Clean Heating and Cooling Technologies for an Energy Efficient Smart Grid, Cod. 28S2PA (5/2/2017-5/2/2020), DM. 0001827.20/09/2016, Project budget: € 507′000.
Member of the research unit in FP7 project "CommONEnergy: Re-conceptualize shopping malls from consumerism to energy conservation" (1/10/2013-30/9/2017). Grant agreement NMP2-LA-2013-608678, Project budget: € 9′097′303.
PRIVATE FUNDING - from contract research (contratti conto terzi) with the industrial partners: EPTA S.p.A., Milano, Italy; display cabinets for commercial refrigeration and commercial refrigeration systhems; Eliwell, Schneider Electric group, Alpago (BL), Italy, control systems for refrigeration; ISC, Amaro (UD), Italy; automotive air conditioning maintenance equipment; MODINE CIS ITALY SRL, Pocenia (UD) Italy; finned pack heat exchangers; Rizzi Engineering, Adro (BS), Italy; fuel economizers; Centro Ricerche FIAT, Orbassano (TO), Italy; automotive research; IEC – Impianti, Roveredo in Piano (PN), Italy; renewable energy; Modular Professional, San Vendemiano (TV), Italy; professional catering equipment (ovens).