Thesis Defense

ABSTRACT Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) have emerged as a promising vehicle to democratize the energy transition. By enabling citizens, municipalities, and small businesses to collectively produce, share, and consume renewable energy, RECs offer pathways for...

ABSTRACT The qualification of MAM (Metal Additive Manufacturing) processes remains a major challenge due to the complex thermo-mechanical phenomena involved. The process is driven by a small moving heat source that generates highly localized, transient thermal...

ABSTRACT Biodiversity conservation and environmental monitoring are pressing challenges in the context of climate change and the accelerated loss of species. In this scenario, computer vision and deep learning technologies offer new opportunities to automate tasks...

ABSTRACT Safe management of high-level radioactive waste (HLRW) requires durable isolation from the biosphere over geologic time. Deep geological repositories (DGRs) rely on engineered and natural barriers, with bentonite as a key buffer and backfill material because...

ABSTRACT Reservoir sedimentation is a critical, ongoing issue in managing water resources sustainably. While conventional two-dimensional models are computationally efficient, they miss key three-dimensional processes, such as thermal stratification. Three-dimensional...

ABSTRACT Transport planning and policymaking increasingly face wicked problems. The era of planning under greenfield conditions is gone, and new policies must be implemented within a complex, dynamic society, navigating challenges that range from climate change to...

ABSTRACT We consider the vehicle platoon problem from an aerodynamic point of view. That is, the multiparametric problem of predicting the aerodynamic forces acting on a vehicle following another one under realistic road conditions. We develop a RANS methodology to...

ABSTRACT Argillaceous claystones are primarily composed of clay particles of sedimentary origin and contain a substantial amount of chemically precipitated cement, often calcium carbonate, which acts as a bonding agent. Due to their favorable properties—such as low...

ABSTRACT This work explores the benefits and challenges of advanced Finite Element Methods for metal forming and manufacturing processes. As these processes become increasingly complex, FEM has emerged as a crucial tool. It helps predict physical quantities, aiding...

ABSTRACT This thesis advances intrusive projection-based reduced order modeling (PROM) as a scalable, physics-consistent foundation for real-time digital twins in industrial applications. By integrating high-fidelity numerical methods with robust model reduction...

???? Friday, September 26, 2025 ???? 2:00 pm CET ???? OCZ Conference Room, C1 Building (1st floor), UPC Campus Nord, Barcelona   ABSTRACT This thesis advances finite element-based tools to improve atherosclerosis analysis by addressing current computational...

???? Thursday, July 24, 2025 ???? 11 am CET ???? OCZ Conference Room, C1 Building (1st floor), UPC Campus Nord, Barcelona + ???? Barcelona Connect to the livestream ABSTRACT Computational modeling helps us understand how decisions influence outcomes by replicating...

???? Thursday, June 5, 2025 ???? 11 am CET ???? OCZ Conference Room, C1 Building (1st floor), UPC Campus Nord, Barcelona + ???? Barcelona Connect to the livestream ABSTRACT Metal additive manufacturing (MAM), particularly powder bed fusion using a laser beam (PBF-LB),...

ABSTRACT This thesis explores the possibilities and benefits of computational tools to be used in the analysis and design of shock absorbing metamaterials for industrial applications. The research is organized into two complementary chapters. The first part focuses on...

???? Tuesday, December 17, 2024 ???? 12:00 pm CET ???? ETSECCPB, Sala Tesines C1-002 (C/Jordi Girona 1-3, mòdul C1, Campus Nord, Barcelona) ABSTRACT With the constant advancements in autonomous drive technologies and the growing popularity of tactical urbanism...

???? Monday, December 2, 2024 ???? 11:00 am CET ???? ETSECCPB, Sala Tesines C1-002 (C/Jordi Girona 1-3, mòdul C1, Campus Nord, Barcelona) ABSTRACT Trends in logistics and more broadly across technology and energy are resulting in changes on the traditional...

ABSTRACT The concept of metamaterials has emerged as an exciting frontier. These are engineered structures designed to possess unique properties, often unattainable in nature. This concept has not only captured the imagination of the scientific community but has also...

ABSTRACT Numerical modelling of natural phenomena, particularly weather-related which are the 90 % of global disasters, is essential to analyse and predict hazardous situations for the people, the economy and the environment. The evolution of these numerical tool,...

ABSTRACT The fast and accurate simulation of laminar and turbulent incompressible flows is crucial in science and engineering. Low-order numerical strategies, particularly finite-volume (FV) methods based on cell-centred and vertex-centred approaches, remain essential...

???? Friday, November 8, 2024 ???? 12:00 pm CET ???? OCZ Room, C1 building, 2nd floor, CIMNE Barcelona (UPC Campus Nord) ABSTRACT Granular materials, ranging from soils and food grains to construction aggregates and pharmaceutical powders, are prevalent in both...

???? Thursday, October 17, 2024 ???? 5:00 pm CET ???? OCZ Room, C1 building, 2nd floor, CIMNE Barcelona (UPC Campus Nord) ABSTRACT This doctoral thesis presents a novel multiscale theory for the analysis of multilayered plate structures, termed the "Multiscale 2D+...

???? Friday, October 11, 2024 ???? 11:30 am CET ???? ETSECCPB, C/Jordi Girona 1-3, building C1, room 002, Campus North, Barcelona ABSTRACT Hazard classification for dams and off-stream reservoirs, which entails identifying potential damages in the event of structural...

???? Friday, April 5, 2024 ???? 12 pm CET ???? OCZ Conference Room, C1 Building, UPC Campus Nord, Barcelona + ???? Online Link for the online session ABSTRACT In a context in which research lines such as optimised design, smart design, use of new materials,...

???? Tuesday, March 5, 2024 ???? 11 am ─ 1 pm CET ???? OCZ Conference Room, C1 Building, UPC Campus Nord, Barcelona + ???? Online Link for the online session ABSTRACT Modern composite materials, primarily based on the union of polymeric matrices and fibers of...

???? Monday, April 22, 2024 ???? 11 am CET ???? OCZ Conference Room, C1 Building, UPC Campus Nord, Barcelona ABSTRACT This thesis aims towards the understanding and optimization of Additive Manufacturing (AM) components through the application of accurate...