Nicola CAPPETTI | Curriculum

Nicola Cappetti is Full Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the Engineering Faculty, University of Salerno (Italy). He is graduate in Mechanical Engineer degree (laurea) in the University of Salerno.
Positions held:

• from 2020 dec Full Professor at the Dept of Industrial Engineering - University of Salerno
• 2005-200 Associated Professor, Engineering Faculty, University of Salerno;
• 1995-2004 Researcher at the Engineering Faculty, University of Salerno;
• 1991- 1995 Collaboration in Research projects at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Neaples and University of Salerno, about fracture crack propagation in aviation field.

PhD School in "INNOVATIVE ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES FOR INDUSTRIAL SUSTAINABILITY - IETIS" University of Salerno, Member of PhD Committee;

Teaching activity

Course of "Grafica Computazionale Tecnica": the use of 3d modeling in product development and technical documentation editing

Course of Fondamenti e Metodi della progettazione Industriale" and "Marketing e Sviluppo Prodotto": Innovation and Concept design based on design methods, products evaluation based on virtual and ohisical prototiping.

Research fields

Research Focus: design theory and their industrial application, computational geometry, geometric modelling, automatic feature recognition, mechanical design, human body virtual modeling, car occupants and pedestrian safety. His research activity is described in many scientific papers and congress communications published on national and international journals.

• Design of comfort and design of comfortable man-machine interfaces: these are two issues that both require knowledge of the reasons why humans believe they are "in comfort". This is exasperated in particular when designing objects, such as seats and mattresses, which explicitly have the function of supporting the body and in this case we are talking about designing comfort. Then there are all those objects and machines that, despite being designed to perform other functions, are used by man who will be able to evaluate their comfort, whether it is production equipment or common objects. There are studies that statistically evaluate subjective aspects and psychological aspects, studies that evaluate physiological aspects and attempt to provide design guidelines. My research activity on this topic is mainly oriented to the determination of the postural parameters that influence the judgment on comfort. In particular, a study of postural analysis "in comfort" was initially carried out in different situations to evaluate the best ways to exclude the subjective aspects. This study also produced a mathematical model for assessing comfortable posture relative to the upper limbs. Subsequently, the model was extended to the lower limbs and a correlation was identified between the model thus constructed and the literature models based on the analysis of muscle loads both with electromyography and with simulators such as Anybody. The availability of a mathematical model for assessing postural comfort has enabled comfort-oriented design applied for example to the development of a new aeronautical seat or the reorganization of a university classroom taking into account the typical activities of students. Other studies not reported refer to the design of mattresses, the redesign of workstations and industrial machines. I am currently oriented to the creation of a simplified mathematical model for the design of seats that was presented at the ICC2019 conference and was accepted for publication in Work magazine. Future developments include the extension of the model and integration with sensors for the design of intelligent seats in the automotive sector.
• Lightening and structural optimization through Additive Manufacturing: among the recognized advantages, Additive Manufacturing has the possibility of creating even very complex shapes, which are applied above all in the biomedical and aeronautical fields. In both cases, one of the aspects on which research is being developed is linked to the optimization of structural performance and the reduction of mass. This can be achieved mainly through the optimization of the filling schemes that make it possible to lighten the product while ensuring good structural strength, and through the study of new materials or materials modified in particular with the presence of nanofillers. Unlike the generally used approach that searches for regular geometric configurations that can be used as filling, two "bone-inspired" algorithms have been created that simulate the trabecular development of the spongy part of the human bone. In fact, it is known that human bone has great mechanical strength combined with great lightness thanks to the proper orientation of the filaments that make up the spongy part. The calculation model thus created allows the trabecular design of lightened mechanical components suitably designed according to the expected load. This approach was used in particular for the design of scaffolds for cell culture for the reproduction of parts of human bone, taking into account the anatomical area of ​​intervention. It has been shown that the load-oriented trabecular algorithm also shows a higher rate of bone growth in culture than the regular geometric configurations currently used. Regarding the use of nanofillers, the change in mechanical properties and printability of PLA with different types of nanofillers is evaluated, also depending on different printing parameters. Future developments foresee the realization of a simplified "trabecular layers" algorithm in which the trabecular approach is simplified in order to generate a layer by layer trabeculae system that can be implemented in the most popular software for the preparation of additive manufacturing prints and therefore selectable as an alternative to more traditional filling methods.
• Mechanical engineering to support surgery and biomechanics in general: the collaboration between mechanical engineering and medicine, based on the concept of the human body as a machine, is now a consolidated but still open activity. In this context, for some time now we have been developing procedures in Salerno for the non-invasive survey of the spinal column, based on the parametric reconstruction of elements of the spinal column combined with scans of the human back with reverese engineering techniques, but also using approximate methods for the determination of forms such as the fuzzy logic already used in other fields. From the collaboration in the medical field on the problems described, the opportunity emerged to support the surgical practice not so much for the diagnosis or 3D reconstruction from biomedical images, but rather to support the performance of the interventions. Other works show how the comparison process between the implementation of the intervention and what was previously planned can be simplified and supported. The two articles show the realization of operating guides useful for improving the accuracy of screw insertion at the lumbar and thoracic level in stabilization operations. Similar works have been developed and are in the process of being published in relation to the dislocation of the mandible. Some configuration optimization algorithms have been implemented, of which the one presented at JCM2020, whose proceedings are being published, was awarded as best paper in the “Product and system engineering” section. A virtual reality environment is currently being developed to support planning through the simulation of the intervention and, in collaboration with the hospital, a cutting guide for craniotomy and a study on the geometries of brain aneurysms for digital reconstruction. and the calculation of critical shape and size parameters.

H-Opera Spinoff

Since 2016 Nicola Cappetti, in partnership with some colleagues and a company, has founded the Start-up "H-Opera" which operates in the field of computer-assisted medical solutions. The core business of the company is the design and implementation of customized solutions for the patient to support spinal surgery in the Neurological and Orthopedic field. Support solutions for jaw surgery and brain surgery are currently being developed. A low-cost FFP2 type protective mask with interchangeable filter is in the prototype stage.