Antonio DeSimone

Antonio DeSimone is a Professor of Structural Mechanics at the Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) in Trieste, Italy, where he has been on faculty since 2002. He is affiliated with the SISSA mathLab and leads the SAMBA (Sensing and Moving Bio-inspired Artifacts) research group. His research spans applied mathematics, mechanics, and materials science, with a focus on multiscale modeling of soft and biological matter. He previously directed the Multiscale Phenomena in Materials group at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (1998–2003), was a researcher at Università di Roma 'Tor Vergata' (1990–1998), and held a postdoctoral position at Carnegie Mellon University (1993–1994).

• PhD in Mechanics, University of Minnesota, 1992
• Laurea in Civil Engineering, Università di Napoli Federico II, 1987

His research interests lie at the intersection of mechanics, materials science, and applied mathematics. He investigates the mechanics of soft and biological matter, including liquid crystal elastomers, magnetic microstructures, multiscale phenomena in materials, nonlinear elasticity, plasticity, damage, and thin films. He also studies wetting of rough surfaces and cell motility. His work combines analytical techniques like gamma-convergence and variational methods with numerical simulations and experimental validation.

The recent publications highlight a strong trend in modeling complex material responses across multiple scales. His work integrates applied mathematics, materials science, and computational mechanics to understand phenomena such as magnetic domain formation, wetting hysteresis, and the mechanical behavior of nematic elastomers. These studies often employ homogenization, energy relaxation, and finite element methods to derive effective models from microscale physics.

His scientific recognition includes:

• ERC Advanced Grant 340685 MicroMotility

He advises students and researchers through his leadership of the mathLab and SAMBA groups, and has secured competitive funding such as the ERC grant. His teaching includes courses on variational methods, finite element methods, and the mechanics of biological systems, indicating an active role in graduate education and scientific computing.

He leads two research labs at SISSA:

• SISSA mathLab: focused on mathematical modeling and simulation in mechanics
• SAMBA: dedicated to bio-inspired sensing and locomotion systems