He is affiliated with and conducts research at the Department of Engineering (DE) of the University of Ferrara. He teaches Metallurgy I (6 ECTS, Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering) and Surface Treatments and Coatings of Metal Alloys (6 ECTS, Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering) at the Department of Engineering.
Since 2010, he has been the director of the "Aldo Daccò" Center for Corrosion and Metallurgy at the University of Ferrara. Since the academic year 2016, he has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Mechanical Engineering Area of the Department of Engineering. Since 2010, he has represented the Department of Engineering on the Scientific Committee of the Network Laboratory - Tecnopolo of Ferrara "TeknèHub". Since January 2018, he has been a member of the Executive Committee (EC) of the Federation of European Materials Societies (FEMS), as the Italian representative designated by the Italian Association of Metallurgy (AIM). From the academic year 2010-11 to 2011-12, he was President of the Unified Council of the Degree Courses in Mechanical Engineering. From the academic year 2012-2013 to 2015-16, he was Coordinator of the Single Council of the Degree Courses in Industrial Engineering at the University of Ferrara. From 2010 to 2017, he represented the Department of Engineering on the Scientific Committee of the Network Laboratory - Tecnopolo of Ferrara "Terra&AcquaTech". From the academic year 2015-16 to 2020-21, he was president of the Joint Teaching Staff-Student Commission (CPDS) of the Department of Engineering. He was a member of the Board of the SSD ING-IND/21 (Metallurgy) for the period 2006-2012. From 2009 to 2016, he was a member of the Scientific Committee of the journal "La Metallurgia Italiana". He was a member of the Board of Directors and the Presidency Committee of AIM (Italian Association of Metallurgy) for the four-year period 2010-2014 and is a member of the Technical Committees of the Study Centers "Light Metals" and "History of Metallurgy", of which he has been president since 2012. He is a member of ASM (American Society for Materials), AIAr (Italian Association of Archaeometry) and other scientific associations. He has been a member of Scientific Committees of national and international conferences. He was a member of the joint UNIMET-UNSIDER Commission that led to the UNI EN 10045/2 - 95 standard (Metallic materials - Charpy V-notch impact test - Verification of the testing machine); he is currently a member of the UNI "Cultural Heritage - NORMAL" Commission, Working Group 12 "Metallic Materials". He has been the scientific responsible of Operating Units participating in CNR Finalized Projects, responsible for national research projects COFIN and PRIN funded by MIUR and for international projects funded by the European Union, for research contracts between the Department of Engineering of the University of Ferrara and nationally and internationally relevant companies in the metal-mechanical and metallurgical sector. Member of the International Scientific Programme Committee of the FEMS Junior Euromat 2018 International Conference (Budapest, 9-12 July 2018).
His research activity, which has led to the publication of over 200 papers in national and international journals and participation in over 170 conferences in Italy and abroad, has developed essentially along the following lines: 1) Study of the influence of metallurgical processes, heat treatments and mechanical treatments on the properties of metal alloys. 2) Study of innovative processes of casting, plastic deformation and joining of foundry and wrought aluminum alloys. 3) Study of the tribological behavior of coatings and surface treatments. 4) Mechanical and microstructural characterization of traditional and innovative metallic materials (shape memory Ni-Ti alloys, aluminum alloys, duplex stainless steels, cast irons, metal matrix composites). 5) Chemical and microstructural characterization, study of degradation phenomena of metallic artifacts of archaeological and historical-artistic interest.
