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MASSIMILIANO BAROLO

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Position

Professore Ordinario

Address

VIA F. MARZOLO, 9 - PADOVA

Telephone

0498275473

SHORT BIO
Dr. Massimiliano (Max) Barolo is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Padova (Italy). Before obtaining his Ph.D. in 1994, he worked as a process engineer at the largest petrochemical site in Italy.
He is the co-chair of the Computer-Aided Process Engineering Laboratory (CAPE-Lab) research group (https://research.dii.unipd.it/capelab/). Among the process systems engineering research areas explored within the group, his current interests include process chemometrics, pharmaceutical engineering, statistical process control and model-based design of experiments. He is the co-author of over 170 peer-reviewed papers, and the co-recipient of several research awards, including “The PSE Model-Based Innovation Prize” (2014; from Process Systems Enterprise Ltd., London) and the “Best Journal of Process Control application paper” (2008; from IFAC/Elsevier).
His service activities at the University of Padova include the Chair of the Master’s degree program in Chemical and Process Engineering, and the Chair of the School of Engineering. He pioneered the “Teaching for Learning (T4L)” faculty development program, a transformative model that aims to develop faculty teaching and learning skills beyond the traditional instructor-centered education model. Launched in 2016 with 30 engineering faculty, the program quickly spread to all disciplines engaging over 600 participants on a voluntary basis, subsequently becoming the required standard for all new faculty at the University of Padova.

RESEARCH
Max is the co-chair of the CAPE-Lab research group (https://research.dii.unipd.it/capelab/). His research activities are in the process systems engineering area, particularly in the following fields:
• process chemometrics; data analytics
• pharmaceutical engineering
• process monitoring; statistical process control
• process dynamics and control
• optimal model-based design of experiments
• dynamics and control of physiological systems

TEACHING
Max’s teaching experience includes the following courses: Process dynamics and control; Unit operations; Process design; Basic chemical engineering calculations

AWARDS / HONORS
**Research**
• 2014: “The PSE Model-Based Innovation Prize 2014” from Process Systems Enterprise Ltd., London U.K. for a study on models of blood coagulation disorders (with F. Galvanin, F. Bezzo, R. Padrini and A. Casonato);
• 2013: IFAC “Best Poster Award” for a paper presented at the DYCOPS 2013 Conference (Mumbai, India) for a study on quality control in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products (with M. Ottavian and S. García-Muñoz)
• 2008: IFAC/Elsevier prize for the best application paper published in the period 2005-2008 in the “Journal of Process Control” for a study on the optimal selection of measurement sensors in batch processes (with E. Zamprogna and D. E. Seborg)
**Teaching**
• Ranked no.1 in the students’ ranking of the Professors of the second-cycle (Master) degree program in Chemical and Process Engineering at Padova University in the following academic years: 2018/19, 2011/12, 2010/11, 2009/10, 2008/09
• Ranked no.1 in the students’ ranking of the Professors of the second-cycle (Master) degree program in Industrial Chemistry at Padova University in the following academic years: 2020/21, 2016/17, 2015/16, 2013/14, 2012/13
**As an undergraduate student**
• 1989: awarded as “Outstanding chem. eng. student” (by FEDERCHIMICA)
• 1988: awarded as “Outstanding chem. eng. student" (by MONTEDISON)

Notices

Additional information on Prof. Barolo's research activity can be obtained from the CAPE-Lab web site:

https://research.dii.unipd.it/capelab/

Office hours

  • Students may meet me in my office or remotely (via Zoom; webcam required). To arrange a meeting, please email me or contact me during a class.

Publications

To download a list of Prof. Barolo's publications, please follow the link.

Research Area

My current research areas are the following:
• process chemometrics; data analytics
• pharmaceutical engineering
• statistical process control
• process dynamics and control
• dynamics and control of physiological systems
• optimal model-based design of experiments

Thesis proposals

If you are interested to know some possibile topics for your Master thesis project, please meet me and I will be pleased to discuss my on-going research activities.
You may also visit the following web site to get an idea of the general research areas my research group (CAPE-Lab) is involved in:

https://research.dii.unipd.it/capelab

Some thesis projects that have been assigned recently are listed below.

- Control of a feed-effluent heat exchanger/reactor system: assessment by dynamic simulation
- Data-driven modeling approach to investigate the tableting properties of three powder blends for pharmaceutical product development
- On the implementation and performance assessment of an assumption-free methodology for batch process monitoring
- Design of an advanced control system and a dual-horizon optimizer for a refinery thermal cracking furnace through predictive fouling monitoring
- Accelerating pharmaceutical tablet development by transfer of compaction equipment across types and scales
- Batch process monitoring using an assumption-free modeling methodology
- Machine learning approaches to enhance biopharmaceutical process monitoring under small-data scenarios
- Powder feeding monitoring in continuous pharmaceutical solid-dosage manufacturing through state estimation
- Study and automation of the visual inspection process for syringe products
- Improving the reliability of an industrial process for the manufacturing of a polymer stabilizer by data analytics
- Interaction between design and control of heat transfer operations
- An integrated modelling framework for quality risk assessment in secondary pharmaceutical manufacturing
- Data analysis through multivariate statistical techniques: an industrial application
- Experimental protocols for the identification of freeze-drying models: a comparative study
- A Laplace domain approach to the modeling of von Willebrand disease
- Data analytics to improve process reliability in the manufacturing of specialty chemicals according to an Industry 4.0 approach
- Modeling of the primary phase of freeze-drying processes: a pharmaceutical industry application
- Multivariate monitoring of a semi-continuous pharmaceutical blending process
- Impact of measurement error in Bayesian design space determination for pharmaceutical processes
- Data analytics for powder feeding modelling on continuous secondary pharmaceutical manufacturing processes
- Design of dynamic experiments for the identification of data-driven dynamic models
- Online characterization of particle size distribution of mixtures using multivariate image analysis
- Diagnosis of first-principles mathematical models using data analytics