The University of Padova is a major research university, dating back to 1222. It currently has 13 schools covering a wide range of topics and an enrolment of about 65000 students. The Department of Industrial Engineering promotes and manages scientific and technological research projects in all fields of Industrial Engineering, including Aerospace Engineering, Chemical and Process Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Energy Engineering, Materials and Mechanical Engineering, as well as industrial technology transfer initiatives. All the Department activities aim at reaching international levels of research excellence by an interdisciplinary approach. International cooperation with top
Universities and Research Centers is actively fostered. Furthermore, the Department is responsible for teaching activities at B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. levels concerning all curricula in Industrial Engineering related to the above mentioned areas of research. Currently, 110 faculty personnel belong to the Department.
The University of Padova will be represented by the Materials Section of the Department of Industrial Engineering, possessing a long-time widely accredited and appreciated expertise in glass research. The group activity currently covers many topics of ceramic research, intended both for structural and functional applications. The “Advanced Ceramics and Glasses” sub-group (Prof. Paolo Colombo, prof. Enrico Bernardo) currently focuses its activity on two main themes, such as the obtainment of glasses and ceramics from preceramic polymers eventually modified by the addition of micro- and nano-fillers, and the recycling of several types of inorganic waste, intended for the preparation of sintered glassceramics, glass foams, glass-modified traditional ceramics, such as bricks and tiles. In both frameworks, a particular attention is given to components with engineered porosity.