Francesco Lanza di Scalea

Professor, Structural Engineering

Health Monitoring, Non-destructive Evaluation and Experimental Mechanics of Structural Components using novel sensing technology

Professor Lanza di Scalea directs the NDE and Structural Health Monitoring Laboratory where he develops novel sensing technologies to measure the condition of structural components. His specialties are optical experimental mechanics and ultrasonic structural monitoring/NDE. On the experimental mechanics side, he has used full-field coherent optical techniques to determine stress concentrations at riveted composite joints used in civil and military vehicles. On the structural monitoring side, he has developed novel ultrasonic interrogation techniques to monitor a variety of structures spanning from aerospace to civil applications. Some of them include adhesive joints used in aircraft, steel tendons used in concrete structures, and railroad tracks. He works for a variety of agencies including the US Federal Railroad Administration, the US National Science Foundation, the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the US Department of State, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Lanza di Scalea received his PhD from the University of Palermo, Italy, and was a post-doctoral fellow at the John Hopkins University. Lanza di Scalea is a 2-time UCSD Hellman Faculty Fellow, a 2-time American Society for Nondestructive Testing Research Fellowship recipient, an ASNT Faculty Grant recipient, and a Fulbright Scholar. Lanza di Scalea came to UCSD in 1999 and became Full Professor in 2007 at the age of 37.

Capsule Bio:
Before coming to the School's structural engineering department in 1999, Lanza di Scalea was a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University. He has also held research/teaching assistant positions at Michigan State University and the University of Palermo, Italy. Prior to entering the world of academia, Lanza di Scalea was a mechanical engineer for the Italian Navy. In 1997, Lanza di Scalea received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Palermo, Italy. He earned his M.S. degree from Michigan State University as a Fulbright Scholar. He is a member of the Railway Maintenance Committee of the National Transportation Research Board, the Acoustical Society of America, the American Society for Nondestructive Testing, and the Society for Experimental Mechanics. He was a finalist for the “Structural Health Monitoring Person of the Year” Award and received the ASNT Research Fellowship Award, the ASNT Faculty Grant Award, the UCSD Hellman Faculty Award, the Fulbright Scholarship, the COMETT European Union Award, the Energy and Environmental Award by the Italian Department of New Technology, and the Italian National Foundation Award for best academic thesis in experimental solid mechanics. Lanza di Scalea serves on the Editorial Board of the international journals Research in Nondestructive Evaluation and Journal of Intelligent Materials Systems and Structures.

Institute Affiliation:
Charles Lee Powell Structural Research Laboratories »