Laura De Lorenzis, designated "Alfiere del Lavoro" by the President of the Italian Republic at the end of high school, graduated in Materials Engineering on March 9, 1998 at the University of Lecce, Italy, summa cum laude and with honorable mention. Afterwards she pursued a Master of Science in Structural Engineering at the University of Missouri - Rolla (USA), where in 1999 she was graduate research assistant within the Center for Infrastructure Engineering Studies, and a PhD in Composite materials for civil engineering at the University of Lecce in 2002. Since november 2000 she is assistant professor at the Department of Innovation Engineering of the University of Lecce, and is tenured since 2003.
Within a EU-funded TMR project, in 2001 she was visiting scholar at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg (Sweden). During january and december 2005 she visited Hong Kong Polytechnic University as
research fellow. From april to october 2006 she was Fulbright Scholar at the Department of Architecture of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, USA.
She is associate member of ACI440, member of fib Task Groups 4.5 "Bond models" and 9.3 "Fiber-reinforced polymer reinforcement", member and secretary of the RILEM group "Masonry strengthening with composite materials", member of ACI, ACI Italy Chapter, IABSE and IIFC. In december 2006 she was elected member of the IIFC Council.
Member of the Editorial Board of ASCE Journal of Composites for Construction, she acts as referee for numerous international journals, among which ACI Structural Journal, ASCE Journal of Composites for Construction, ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, International Journal of Solids and Structures, Construction and Building Materials, Structural Engineering and Mechanics, Engineering Structures, Composites Part B: Engineering. She is also external reviewer for the Research Grant Council of the Hong Kong SAR and the Research Foundation - Flanders (Belgium).
She has authored or co-authored more than 100 refereed publications, of which more than 30 papers on international journals and 2 book chapters. A
paper she co-authored with R. Tepfers on ASCE Journal of Composites for Construction received the "Honorable Mention Applied Research Paper for 2003".
She is regularly invited to join the Scientific Committee of International Conferences. Among the most recent ones: International Symposium on Bond Behaviour of FRP in Structures, Hong Kong, 2005, 14th International Conference on Mechanics of Composite Materials, Riga, Latvia, 2006, 3rd International Conference on Advanced Composites in Construction (ACIC 07), Bath, UK, 2007, 4th International Conference on FRP Composites in Civil Engineering (CICE2008), Zurich, 2008, 9th International Symposium on Fiber Reinforced Polymer Reinforcement for Concrete Structures (FRPRCS9), Sydney, Australia, 2009.
She has given numerous invited lectures at Italian and foreign institutions, among which University of Missouri - Rolla (USA), University of Edinburgh, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), Network Group for Composites in Construction (London, UK).
Her teaching experience includes classes of Mechanics of materials and fracture mechanics, Structural mechanics II, Statics and structural strengthening of the architectural heritage, Design of structures, all at the University of Lecce. She has given numerous lectures and seminars within continuing professional education programs. |
