Lorenzo Raffaele

Lorenzo Raffaele is a Fixed-term Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture and Design at the Polytechnic University of Turin. His work focuses on wind engineering, computational fluid dynamics, and structural design with applications to grid shells and windblown sand mitigation for infrastructure protection.

His research interests include:

• Wind Engineering and Extreme Wind Analysis
• Computational Fluid Dynamics applications to civil structures
• Grid Shell Structural Design and Optimization
• Windblown Sand Mitigation for Infrastructure Protection
• Bluff Body Aerodynamics in Urban Environments

Dr. Raffaele's recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on practical applications of wind engineering to infrastructure design. His work bridges computational methods with real-world engineering challenges, particularly in wind mapping, gridshell structures, and sand mitigation for railway systems in challenging environments across Italy, Iraq, and Egypt.

He serves as Scientific Director for the Memorandum of Understanding between the Polytechnic University of Turin DAD-DISMA and Optiflow (2024-2029) and as Scientific Head/Manager for multiple commercial research contracts addressing windblown sand hazards for major infrastructure projects including high-speed rail systems in Egypt and the Iraq Development Road project.

Dr. Raffaele teaches Computational Wind Engineering courses at the PhD level for Civil and Environmental Engineering students, as well as Architecture and Structural Forms courses at the Master's level across multiple academic years from 2019/2020 through 2025/2026. He supervises PhD student Sara Bordigoni Pistorello who is researching gridshell structures.