Antonio P. Sberna
Research fellow in Structural Engineering
Antonio P. Sberna is a Research Fellow of Structural Engineering at the University of Chieti-Pescara in Italy. His research mainly focuses on earthquake engineering, with particular emphasis on seismic retrofitting design of existing structures, performance-based earthquake engineering, reduced-order modelling of structures, and regional-scale seismic risk assessment.
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Visiting research period
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
Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering
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
M.Sc. Civil Engineering (structures)
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
B.Sc. Civil and Environmental Engineering
Bachelor thesis: Influenza dello sforzo normale sul collasso plastico di strutture intelaiate
Advisor: Prof. Annalisa Greco
Papers
in International Peer-Review Journals
How bedrock input-motion modelling affects local seismic response and the nonlinear seismic demand on RC frames.
Closed-form super-ellipse expressions, calibrated via symbolic regression, for biaxial curvature and ductility domains of rectangular RC sections.
Engineered design frameworks for seismic retrofitting: state-of-the-art methodologies, emerging trends, and future research directions.
Conference Proceedings
International peer-reviewed conferences
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4th fib Italy YMG Symposium on Concrete and Concrete Structures, 15th–16th September 2026 | Naples (Italy)
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20th ANIDIS Conference, 7th–11th September 2026 | Assisi (Italy)
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20th ANIDIS Conference, 7th–11th September 2026 | Assisi (Italy)
Activities
Books
- Chapter 3: Sustainable Retrofitting Toward Resilient Buildings & Infrastructures - Optimal retrofitting design (on preorder, it will be released on 25 October 2026) — Tiago Ferreira - World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd, 2026
- Working group member: Progettazione e verifica sismica di tamponature murarie in edifici in c.a. (in Italian) — P. Morandi, P. Ricci, G. Magenes, ReLUIS / Doppiavoce, 2026
- Chapter 6: Metodi di analisi strutturale — Sistemi di Travi e Telai Piani (in Italian) — Fabio Di Trapani, CLUT, 2022
Teaching activities
- Summer 2026: Lecturer — Ph.D. Course on Nonlinear Analysis of Masonry Structures — University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy
- Spring 2026: Lecturer — 10th International Course on Seismic Analysis of Structures using OpenSees — University of Minho, Portugal
- Spring 2025: TA — Safety assessment and retrofitting of existing structures and infrastructures — Politecnico di Torino, Italy
- Spring 2025: Lecturer — 9th International Course on Seismic Analysis of Structures using OpenSees — EPFL, Switzerland
- Summer 2024: Instructor — 8th International Course on Seismic Analysis of Structures using OpenSees — Tsinghua University, China
- Spring 2024: TA — Safety assessment and retrofitting of existing structures and infrastructures — Politecnico di Torino, Italy
- Summer 2022: Tutor — 7th International Course on Seismic Analysis of Structures using OpenSees — Politecnico di Torino, Italy
- Spring 2022: TA — Safety assessment and retrofitting of existing structures and infrastructures — Politecnico di Torino, Italy
- Summer 2021: Tutor — 6th International Course on Seismic Analysis of Structures using OpenSees — University of Palermo, Italy
Presentations in conferences
- Sep 2026: 18th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering — Berlin, Germany
- Jul 2026: 7th Eurasian Conference on OpenSees — Lausanne, Switzerland
- 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: 18th 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
- Organizing committee: 7th Eurasian Conference on OpenSees — Lausanne, Switzerland, Jul 2026
- 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
Fellowships
- Feb 2026: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship – Seal of Excellence, European Commission (Awarded to a high-quality proposal that could not be funded due to budgetary constraints)
- May 2025: Visiting Research Scholar, University of California, San Diego (UCSD) (Erasmus+ Staff Exchange programme)
Participation in Research Projects
- 2024 – 2026: Research Unit Member, Politecnico di Torino / University of Chieti-Pescara
DPC-ReLUIS 2024–2026, WP11 Reinforced Concrete Structures, Task 11.2: Methods for the Execution of Non-Linear Dynamic Analyses
Funded by Italian Civil Protection Department (DPC) · Coordinated by ReLUIS Consortium - 2024 – 2026: Research Unit Member, Politecnico di Torino
DPC-ReLUIS 2024–2026, WP10 Masonry Structures, Task 10.3: Local and Global Capacity Models for the Assessment of Limit States – Non-Structural Masonry
Funded by Italian Civil Protection Department (DPC) · Coordinated by ReLUIS Consortium - 2024 – 2026: Adjunct (Invited) Research Unit Member, Sapienza University of Rome
DPC-ReLUIS 2024–2026, WP11 Reinforced Concrete Structures, Task 11.1: Capacity Models
Funded by Italian Civil Protection Department (DPC) · Coordinated by ReLUIS Consortium - 2023 – 2025: Research Unit Member, Politecnico di Torino
RETURN: Multi-Risk Science for Resilient Communities under a Changing Climate
Funded by European Union - NextGenerationEU, NRRP Mission 4, Component 2, Investment 1.3 (Extended Partnership PE00000005) · Coordinated by University of Naples Federico II - 2023 – 2025: Research Unit Member, Politecnico di Torino
AI-ENVISERS: Artificial Intelligence for ENVIronmental impact minimization of SEismic Retrofitting of Structures
Funded by European Union - NextGenerationEU, PRIN 2022 PNRR (MUR D.D. 1409, 14/09/2022) · Coordinated by Roma Tre University - 2022 – 2026: Research Unit Member, Politecnico di Torino
ERIES-ENFRAG, within ERIES: Engineering Research Infrastructures for European Synergies
Funded by Horizon Europe, Research Infrastructures (GA 101058684) · Coordinated by IUSS Pavia - 2021 – 2025: Research Unit Member, Politecnico di Torino
ADDOPTML: ADDitively Manufactured OPTimized Structures by means of Machine Learning
Funded by H2020 MSCA-RISE-2020 (GA 101007595) · Coordinated by National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) - 2022 – 2024: Research Unit Member, Politecnico di Torino
DPC-ReLUIS 2022–2024, WP10 Masonry Structures, Task 10.3: Local and Global Capacity Models for the Assessment of Limit States – Non-Structural Masonry
Funded by Italian Civil Protection Department (DPC) · Coordinated by ReLUIS Consortium
Special session organizer and chair
- Mini symposium: Reduced-Order and Surrogate Models: Advances in Computationally Efficient Structural Dynamics — COMPDYN 2027, Rhodes, Greece, July 2027,
- Mini symposium: Recent Advancements in OpenSees for Earthquake Engineering: Methods, Tools, and Applications — COMPDYN 2027, Rhodes, Greece, July 2027,
- Chair: Session 1a - Session 2 — 7th Eurasian Conference on OpenSees, Lausanne, Switzerland, July 2026,
- Special Session: Optimization-based strategies for the design and rehabilitation of sustainable concrete structures — 7th fib Congress. Lisbon, Portugal, June 2026,
- Chair: Analysis methods, modeling and capacity models — XX ANIDIS Conference, Seismic Engineering in Italy. Assisi, Italy, September 2025,
- Special session and Chair: Advancements in OpenSees applications for Earthquake Engineering — XX ANIDIS Conference, Seismic Engineering in Italy. Assisi, Italy, September 2025,
- Mini symposium: Optimization-Driven Design and Retrofit Strategies for Enhancing Sustainability in Structural Systems — COMPDYN 2025, Rhodes, Greece, June 2025,
- Chair: Session 3 - Session 6 — 6th Eurasian Conference on OpenSees, Beijing, China, July 2024,
- Chair: Session 4 — 2nd Eurasian Conference on OpenSees, Torino, Italy, July 2022,
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
Structural Engineering
- Engineering Structures
- Computers & Structures
- Structures
- Natural Hazards
- Reliability Engineering & System Safety
- Structural Concrete
- Journal of Building Engineering
- Construction and Building Materials
- Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering
- Discover Applied Sciences
- Advances in Civil Engineering
- Buildings
- Journal of Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering
- Sustainability
- Modelling
- Infrastructure
- Structures and Buildings
- Smart Infrastructures and Construction
- Engineering History and Heritage
- Engineering and Computational Mechanics
- Transport
- Forensic Engineering
- Journal of Structural Integrity and Maintenance
Contact
Email
antonio.sberna@polito.it
Politecnico di Torino
asberna@ucsd.edu
University of California San Diego