Lorenzo Mazzei PhD

21 April 2021

In the context of the latest ANSYS Simulation World I had the privilege to be invited to speak about our work carried out about on the use of CFD to fight the diffusion of Covid-19. The presentation was entitled “CFD modelling of the role of air conditioning in the diffusion of Sars-CoV-2 in indoor environments” and presented the results of the work carried out in 2020 with the Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù and SIMA.
I hope you had the possibility to enjoy the presentation!

29 October 2020

The COVID pandemic hit us hard and especially during March-May 2020 forced us to stay home while in Italy we had the first national lockdown. In the meanwhile, thanks to the social networks (they also have some pros) I met virtually a researcher from the Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù (OPBG), the pediatric hospital of the Vatican State. I was trying to simulate with CFD the spreading of the virus in indoor scenarios representative of the hospital environment.

In collaboration with Società Italiana Medicina Ambientale (SIMA) we started together this activity (with a bit naivety about the actual effort required, I have to admit) that allowed us to land great and unexpected outcomes:
– a scientific publication on Elsevier’s Environmental Research;
– several contacts with researchers and companies for further collaboration;
– the publication of the outcomes in some of the most relevant national newspapers, several TVs and a few websites/magazines dedicated to the topics of health, HVAC system design and CFD simulations;
– the increase in awareness in the public due to an effective communication (mainly thanks to OPBG!)

21-25 September 2020

The COVID pandemic affected deeply all aspects of our life and so it was for Turbo Expo. After a preliminary postponement from June to September, ASME decided to make this event virtual, as well as for all the future events to be held in 2021.

Having participated in the 2020 conference both as author and co-chairman, I have to say that the organization was pretty good. The presentations were pre-recorded in August so as to avoid any potential technical issues during the live streaming of the sessions. The Q&A at the end has somehow worked, with some questions from the audience (but not as many as during the past live events).

Despite all the efforts, I have to admit that for me it does not work. A conference without our live presence is just a journal. It gives you the possibility to publish a paper, but it has in no way the educational role for new engineers who have to learn how to present a work in public. There is almost no possibility to develop a professional network or meet new friends. Because part of the magic of Turbo Expo is the capability to create new relationships with people you meet only a couple of hours a year. And without a live event you are not fully immersed for a week in the turbomachinery world, without the typical everyday distractions we have in the office and often prevent us from focusing and carrying out our work as engineers.

We had anyway the opportunity to present a significant amount of papers, some of which required tears and blood (and plenty of spare time) to be completed, but given the interest they received, they justified the effort. A list of them:
– CFD modelling strategies for the simulation of roughness effects on friction and heat transfer in additive manufactured components
– Application of Uncertainty Quantification Methods to the Prediction of Effusion Cooled Combustor Liner Temperature
– Numerical modeling of gaseous partially premixed low-swirl lifted flame at elevated pressure
– Development of Experimental and Numerical Methods for the
Analysis of Active Clearance Control Systems