Antonio P. Sberna
Research fellow in Structural Engineering
Education & Experience
Research topic: Seismic retrofit optimization of non-ductile RC buildings using soft-computing techniques within the framework of probabilistic performance-based earthquake engineering.
Advisor: Prof. Joel P. Conte
Research interest: Optimization of retrofitting intervention of existing structures. Artificial intelligence applications for seismic engineering and collapse risks reduction.
Advisors: Prof. Giuseppe Marano and Prof. Fabio Di Trapani
Master thesis: Optimal seismic retrofitting of reinforced concrete buildings by steel-jacketing using a genetic algorithm-based framework
Advisors: Prof. Fabio Di Trapani and Prof. Giuseppe Marano
Bachelor thesis: Influenza dello sforzo normale sul collasso plastico di strutture intelaiate
Advisor: Prof. Annalisa Greco
Papers
in International Peer-Review Journals
Engineered design frameworks for seismic retrofitting: state-of-the-art methodologies, emerging trends, and future research directions.
Performance-based seismic design framework of retrofitting systems for existing structures.
Proposing an analytical model that accurately predicts additional shear demand due to frame-infill interaction under seismic loads.
Conference Proceedings
International peer-reviewed conferences
Activities
Presentations in conferences
- Sep 2025 4th fib Symposium on Concrete and Concrete Structures , Naples, Italy
- Sep 2025 XX ANIDIS Conference - Italian Conference of Earthquake Engineering , Assisi, Italy
- Jun 2025 14th International Conference on Structural Safety and Reliability — ICOSSAR'25 , Los Angeles, US
- Jul 2024 6th Eurasian Conference on OpenSees , Beijing, China
- Jul 2024 World Conference of Earthquake Engineering 2024 , Milan, Italy
- Aug 2023 Engineering Mechanics Institute International Conference 2023 , Palermo, Italy
- Sep 2022 19th Italian Conference on Earthquake Engineering , Turin, Italy
- Sep 2022 3rd European Conference on Earthquake Engineering & Seismology , Bucharest, Romania
- Aug 2022 14th Computational Structures Technology , Montpellier, France
- Jul 2022 2nd EOS Eurasian Conference on OpenSees , Turin, Italy
- Nov 2021 2nd FIB Symposium on Concrete and Concrete Structures , Rome, Italy
- Jun 2021 8th International Conference on Computational Methods in Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering , Athens, Greece
Organizing committee
- Scientific and Organizing committee — 9th International Course on Seismic Analysis of Structures using OpenSees, Lausanne, Switzerland, Mar 2025
- Organizing committee — 6th Eurasian Conference on OpenSees, Beijing, China, Jul 2024
- Scientific and Organizing committee — 8th International Course on Seismic Analysis of Structures using OpenSees, Beijing, China, Jul 2024
- Scientific and Organizing committee — 2nd EOS Eurasian Conference on OpenSees, Turin, Italy, Jul 2022
- Scientific and Organizing committee — 7th International Course on Seismic Analysis of Structures using OpenSees, Turin, Italy, Jul 2022
Invited Talks & Keynotes
- Jul 2025 — Keynote speaker — 10th International Conference on Computational Methods in Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Rhodes, Greece
- Jul 2024 — Invited speaker — 3rd Structural Engineering Workshop, Palermo, Italy
- Jan 2024 — Invited speaker — Recent research results using OpenSees, University College London, UK
Teaching activities
- 2026 Spring — Instructor — 10th International Course on Seismic Analysis of Structures using OpenSees , University of Minho, Portugal
- 2025 Spring — TA — Safety assessment and retrofitting of existing structures and infrastructures , Politecnico di Torino
- 2025 Spring — Instructor — 9th International Course on Seismic Analysis of Structures using OpenSees , EPFL, Switzerland
- 2024 Summer — Instructor — 8th International Course on Seismic Analysis of Structures using OpenSees , Tsinghua University, China
- 2024 Spring — TA — Safety assessment and retrofitting of existing structures and infrastructures , Politecnico di Torino, Italy
- 2022 Summer — Tutor — 7th International Course on Seismic Analysis of Structures using OpenSees , Politecnico di Torino, Italy
- 2022 Spring — TA — Safety assessment and retrofitting of existing structures and infrastructures , Politecnico di Torino, Italy
- 2021 Summer — Tutor — 6th International Course on Seismic Analysis of Structures using OpenSees , University of Palermo, Italy
Books
- Chapter 6 — Metodi di analisi strutturale — Sistemi di Travi e Telai Piani (in Italian) — Fabio Di Trapani — CLUT, 2022
Fellowships
- May 2025 — Visiting Research Scholar, University of California, San Diego (UCSD) (Erasmus+ Staff Exchange programme)
Thesis advisor
- Riccardo Ditta — Assessment of aleatory and epistemic uncertainties in the seismic response of reinforced concrete structures with masonry infill walls — Di Trapani F., Taner Y., Sberna A.P. — University of Palermo, 2025
- Luca Biancotto — Fragility functions of unreinforced masonry aggregate buildings under varying unit-interconnectivity conditions — Castaldo P., Di Trapani F., Villar S., Sberna A.P. — Politecnico di Torino, 2025
- Fabio Fraschini — Development of a Graphical User Interface for the Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Sections — Di Trapani F., Sberna A.P. — Politecnico di Torino, 2024
- Cristian Marra — Definition of reduced structural models for the nonlinear dynamic analysis of framed reinforced concrete structures — Di Trapani F., Sberna A.P. — Politecnico di Torino, 2024
- Santosh Shrestha — Calibration of a multi-strut macro model for seismic analysis of infilled reinforced concrete frames — Di Trapani F., Sberna A.P., Di Benedetto M. — Politecnico di Torino, 2024
- Alexandre Milliet — Investigation of collapse resistance in tall timber buildings — Frangi A., Cao A.S., Sberna A.P. — ETH Zurich, 2023
- Dario Coletta — Optimization of seismic reinforcement for masonry structures using genetic algorithms — Di Trapani F., Sberna A.P. — Politecnico di Torino, 2021
Reviewer activity
Peer reviewer for the following international journals:
Structural Engineering
- Engineering Structures
- Computers & Structures
- Structures
- Natural Hazards
- Reliability Engineering & System Safety
- Journal of Building Engineering
- Construction and Building Materials
- Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering
- Advances in Civil Engineering
- Buildings
- Journal of Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering
- Sustainability
- Modelling
- Structures and Buildings
- Smart Infrastructures and Construction
- Engineering History and Heritage
- Engineering and Computational Mechanics
- Transport
Algorithms & AI
- Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence
- Algorithms
- AI
- Symmetry
- Drones
- Big Data and Cognitive Computing
- Biomimetics
Conference proceedings
- 13th U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering
- Proceedings of the 20th Italian Conference on Earthquake Engineering
- Proceedings of the 6th Eurasian Conference on OpenSees
- Proceedings of the 19th Italian Conference on Earthquake Engineering
- Proceedings of the 2nd EOS Eurasian Conference on OpenSees


