Prof. Giorgio Besagni, PhD
Principal Investigator
Leads the AURIGA project at the Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano. His research on bubble column fluid dynamics — from the dual effect of viscosity to the lift-force interpretation of flow regime transitions — forms the foundation on which AURIGA builds its general theory of gas–liquid flows.
Nicolò Varallo, PhD
Post-doctoral Researcher · Fluid dynamics & mass transfer
Experimental and numerical research on gas–liquid fluid dynamics and mass transfer. Bridges the bubble-scale and large-scale activities and supports the doctoral students across the AURIGA work packages.
Stefano Puricelli, PhD
Post-doctoral Researcher · Environmental impact assessment
Environmental engineer with a European Joint Doctorate (Politecnico di Milano, 2021) and research stays at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. Life Cycle Assessment specialist with 20 Scopus-indexed publications. Since July 2026 he assesses the environmental impact of the CO₂ capture technology in AURIGA.
Khaled Sayed Gad, PhD
Post-doctoral Researcher · Energy systems modelling
Models long-term decarbonisation pathways and sector-coupling strategies, connecting AURIGA’s bubble-column research to system-level energy transition planning.
Andrea Ferrario
PhD Student · Coalescence
Quantifies bubble coalescence phenomena at the bubble-scale, using adjacent capillaries and image analysis.
Alberto Arici
PhD Student · Mass transfer & scaling-up
Studies mass transfer in CO₂–ionic-liquid systems and the scaling-up of laboratory results towards industrial reactors.
Djamel Eddine Aissaoui
PhD Student · Bubble-scale
Studies bubble columns across scales, from single-bubble dynamics to swarm and column-scale behaviour, to connect local fluid dynamics with reactor performance for CO₂ capture.
Francesco Pierini
PhD Student · Large-scale
Designs and operates the large-scale bubble column: gas holdup, gas disengagement, optical probe and wire-mesh measurements.
Vitor Augusto Regert dos Santos
PhD Student · Theoretical research
Develops the flow regime theory: multi-scale modeling of the operating curve Ω, transition criteria for the flow regime transitions and the variable drift-flux formulation.