ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

Space benefits mankind through the services it provides to Earth. Future space activities progress thanks to space transfer and are safeguarded by space situation awareness. Natural orbit perturbations are responsible for the trajectory divergence from the nominal two-body problem, increasing the requirements for orbit control; whereas, in space situation awareness, they influence the orbit evolution of space debris that could cause hazard to operational spacecraft and near Earth objects that may intersect the Earth. However, this project proposes to leverage the dynamics of natural orbit perturbations to significantly reduce current extreme high mission cost and create new opportunities for space exploration and exploitation. The COMPASS project will bridge over the disciplines of orbital dynamics, dynamical systems theory, optimisation and space mission design by developing novel techniques for orbit manoeuvring by “surfing” through orbit perturbations. The use of semi-analytical techniques and tools of dynamical systems theory will lay the foundation for a new understanding of the dynamics of orbit perturbations. We will develop an optimiser that progressively explores the phase space and, though spacecraft parameters and propulsion manoeuvres, governs the effect of perturbations to reach the desired orbit. It is the ambition of COMPASS to radically change the current space mission design philosophy: from counteracting disturbances, to exploiting natural and artificial perturbations. COMPASS will benefit from the extensive international network of the PI, including the ESA, NASA, JAXA, CNES, and the UK space agency. Indeed, the proposed idea of optimal navigation through orbit perturbations will address various major engineering challenges in space situation awareness, for application to space debris evolution and mitigation, missions to asteroids for their detection, exploration and deflection, and in space transfers, for perturbation-enhanced trajectory design.

1 499 021 €

Start date: 2016-08-01, End date: 2021-07-31

Integrated DEsign and control of Sustainable CommUnities during Emergencies

1 271 138 €

Start date: 2015-11-01, End date: 2020-10-31

This proposal addresses the design, manufacturing and control of interfaces in thermally conductive polymer/graphene nanocomposites. In particular, the strong reduction of thermal resistance associated to the contacts between conductive particles in a percolating network throughout the polymer matrix is targeted, to overcome the present bottleneck for heat transfer in nanocomposites. The project includes the investigation of novel chemical modifications of nanoparticles to behave as thermal bridges between adjacent particles, advanced characterization methods for particle/particle interfaces and controlled processing methods for the preparations of nanocomposites with superior thermal conductivity. The results of this project will contribute to the fundamental understanding of heat transfer in complex solids, while success in mastering interfacial properties would open the way to a new generation of advanced materials coupling high thermal conductivity with low density, ease of processing, toughness and corrosion resistance.

1 404 132 €

Start date: 2015-03-01, End date: 2020-02-29

Laser Ablation (LA) was extensively investigated for its benefits as minimally invasive thermal therapy for tumor. Despite the LA pros as potential alternative to surgical resection (e.g., use of small fiber optics, echo-endoscope procedures and image-guidance without artifact), the lack of tools for safe and patient-specific treatment restrained its clinical use. LASER OPTIMAL offers a renaissance to LA for the practical management of challenging tumors (e.g., pancreatic cancer): it investigates and develops integrated solutions to achieve an effective and selective LA, that thermally destroys the whole tumor mass, while spearing the normal tissue around. The excellent ambition of LASER OPTIMAL is to achieve and merge: a) biocompatible nanoparticles (BNPs) injected in the tumor, to enhance the selective absorption of laser light; b) patient-specific anatomy of tumor and its surrounding, extracted from clinical images, to retrieve the optimal laser settings; c) accurate, fast and real-time heat-transfer model to simulate laser-tissue-BNPs interaction, predict and visualize the treatment dynamics; d) real-time temperature measurement system to monitor LA effects, account for unpredictable physiological events and tune the settings (closed-loop). The design of ex vivo and in vivo animal tests allows assessing the system performances and driving the possible workflow re-design. Finally, human trials are envisaged to prove the significant impact of the LASER OPTIMAL paradigm. The collaboration of researchers, engineers and clinicians will drive the use of this innovative strategy in clinical routine. The research on the patient-specific system for the mini-invasive tumors removal, and the ground-breaking insights on clinical use of BNPs will strongly impact on EU healthcare system and society, by creating a novel product. This paradigm is also embeddable in existing system of industrial partner, extendable to other procedures, thus able to encourage a dedicated market.

1 499 575 €

Start date: 2018-05-01, End date: 2023-04-30

Engineers can actively contribute to fields thought to be out of their “comfort zones”. We can be leaders of discoveries that translate into advances in the understanding of disease and improving human health. Engineers might use different language and tools than Life Sciences Scientists but we find a common ground, as the laws of Thermodynamics, Physics, and Mathematics also apply to biological phenomena. The development of microbioreactors (μBRs) reconstructing biologically sound niches can revolutionize medical research. In our bodies cells reside in a complex milieu, the microenvironment (μEnv), regulating their fate and function. Most of this complexity is lacking in standard laboratory models, leading to readouts poorly predicting the in vivo situation. This is particularly felt in cancer research, as tumors are extremely heterogeneous and capable of conditioning both the local μEnv and distant organs. Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common and difficult to cure pediatric malignant solid tumor. Secreted exosomes are means by which NBs reshape their μEnv and induce local and long-range changes in cells, regulating progression and prognosis. But the mechanisms involved are yet not completely understood. A major limitation is the difficulty to model in vitro the local in vivo dynamic μEnv. We hypothesize that μBRs exploiting classical engineering principles will solve the limitations of existing classical culture models. We propose to develop platforms and test their edge over classical approaches in decoding the role of exosomes and μEnv in NB. Our μBRs generate time and space-resolved concentration gradients, support fast dynamic changes and reconstruct complex interactions between cells and tissues while performing multifactorial and parallelized experiments. We expect that our technologies will bridge the gap between in vitro techniques and in vivo biological phenomena leading to significant and novel results, shedding light on previously unexplored scenarios.

1 446 250 €

Start date: 2017-12-01, End date: 2022-11-30

"This project ultimately targets the application of polymer nanofibers in new, cavity-free lasers. To this aim, it wants to tackle the still unsolved problems of the process of electrospinning in terms of product control by the parameters affecting the dynamics of electrified jets. The electrospinning is based on the uniaxial elongation of polymeric jets with sufficient molecular entanglements, in presence of an intense electric field. It is a unique approach to produce nanofibers with high throughput. However, the process is still largely suboptimal, the most of nanofiber production being still carried out on an empirical basis. Though operationally simple, electrospinning is indeed complex as the behavior of electrified jets depends on many experimental variables making fully predictive approaches still missing. This project aims to elucidating and engineering the still unclear working principles of electrospinning by solutions incorporating active materials, with a tight synergy among modeling, fast-imaging characterization of electrified jets, and process engineering. Once optimized, nanofibers will offer an effective, well-controllable and cheap material for building new, cavity-free random laser systems. These architectures will enable enhanced miniaturization and portability, and enormously reduced realization costs. Electrospun nanofibers will offer a unique combination of optical properties, tuneable topography and light scattering effectiveness, thus being an exceptional bench tool to realize such new low-cost lasers, which is the second project goal. The accomplishment of these ambitious but well-defined objectives will have a groundbreaking, interdisciplinary impact, from materials science to physics of fluid jets in strong elongational conditions, from process to device engineering. The project will set-up a new, internationally-leading laboratory on polymer processing, making a decisive contribution to the establishment of scientific independence."

1 491 823 €

Start date: 2013-03-01, End date: 2018-02-28

Central nervous system (CNS) tumors are an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Among them, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive and lethal, characterized by extensive infiltration into the brain parenchyma. Under the standard treatment protocols, GBM patients can expect a median survival of 14.6 months, while less than 5% of patients live longer than 5 years. This poor prognosis is due to several factors, including the highly aggressive and infiltrative nature of GBM, resulting in incomplete resection, and the limited delivery of therapeutics across the blood-brain-barrier (BBB). The present project aims at addressing these therapeutic challenges by proposing a nanotechnology-based approach for the treatment of GBM, focused on the selective uptake of drug-loaded multifunctional magnetic solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs). An external magnetic guidance will help the SLN accumulation on the cerebral endothelium, where, owing to their lipid nature, they will be allowed to enter the CNS. Here, appropriate surface ligands will drive their internalization inside cancer cells. The chemotherapeutic payload will undergo release, allowing a targeted pharmaceutical treatment that will be combined to hyperthermia upon appropriate radiofrequency application. A synergic attack against GBM will thus be performed, consisting of a chemical attack thanks to the drug, and a physical attack thanks to hyperthermia, that will dramatically enhance the possibilities of therapeutic success. By demonstrating the effectiveness of the platform to cross the BBB and to support tumor regression, a huge impact on human healthcare is envisioned. Moreover, further outcomes of this project are expected by considering the development of nanotechnology-based, multi-functional solutions that can easily be adapted to many other high-impact diseases, in particular at the brain level, where BBB crossing poses a crucial obstacle to many therapeutic approaches.

1 499 997 €

Start date: 2017-03-01, End date: 2022-02-28