Claudio Modena is full professor of Structural Engineering at the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering of the University of Padova, and holder of the courses of "Construction Technology" and "Theory and Design of Bridges" at the School of Engineering. He is co-coordinator of the Advanced Master Course in Structural Analysis of Monuments and Historical Constructions (Master Erasmus Mundus SAHC) and Director of the Material Testing Laboratory at the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering in Padova. Professor Modena is also member of many international scientific and technical committees, such as ICOMOS-ISCARSAH, UNESCO, RILEM, CIB, CEN, ECTP-FACH, UNI. He is author of over 500 publications, and the main fields of interest are theoretical/experimental techniques and procedures (test methods, monitoring) for the structural evaluation of historic constructions, development and mechanical characterisation of materials and techniques (both traditional and innovative) for repairing/strengthening existing constructions, procedures for the assessment and mitigation of the seismic vulnerability of existing masonry structures.Francesca da Porto is associate professor at the Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering of the University of Padova. She is holder of the courses "Aseismic design of building structures" and "Structural analysis and Design 2 and laboratory" at the School of Engineering, and is also vice dean for Buildings and Safety. She coordinates and has coordinated several European research projects, as well as R&D activities funded by the industry. She is Vice President of the Commission for Structural Engineering – Masonry Structures of the Italian Normative Body and Italian representative at CEN. She is also founder partner of EXPIN srl – Advanced Structural Control, a spin-off company of the University of Padova. The main fields of interest are seismic engineering applied to historic and new masonry constructions, mechanical characterization of materials and techniques, numerical modelling and seismic evaluation of buildings structural behaviour.Maria Rosa Valluzzi is associate professor at the Department of Cultural Heritage of the University of Padova and holder of the courses "Preservative Design for Monuments and Historic Buildings" and "Restoration and laboratory". She is member of many scientific and normative bodies, such as UNI, CEN and RILEM and founder partner of EXPIN srl – Advanced Structural Control, a spin-off company of the University of Padova. She has more than 230 publications and was awarded the RILEM medal "Robert l’Heremite". Her main areas of interest are the analysis of conservation problems of historical buildings and construction materials, by means of experimental research, numerical modelling and application of both traditional and innovative techniques; the assessment and mitigation of the seismic vulnerability of existing masonry structures.
