Ph.D. in Ingegneria Civile E Ambientale , 33rd cycle (2017-2020)
Ph.D. obtained in 2021
Dissertation:
Modeling pollutant dispersion at the city and street scales: from wind tunnel experiments to complex network theory (Abstract)
Tutors:
Luca Ridolfi Pietro Stefano SalizzoniProfile
Research interests
Biography
Sofia Fellini is a researcher in environmental and hydraulic engineering, with consolidated experience in numerical and experimental modelling of environmental fluid dynamics and pollutant dispersion in urban environments. She is currently a tenure-track Assistant Professor (RTD-A) at Politecnico di Torino, where she teaches Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics and coordinates the doctoral course Urban Climates. Her research integrates numerical models, complex network theory, and wind tunnel experiments to investigate airborne pollutant dispersion, the impact of urban vegetation, and fluid dynamics in complex environments. Throughout her career, she has developed expertise in various modelling approaches, including simplified methods and Large Eddy Simulations (LES). She obtained her PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering through a joint program between Politecnico di Torino and École Centrale de Lyon, followed by a postdoctoral position at the Laboratoire de Mécanique des Fluides et d’Acoustique (LMFA) in Lyon. In 2025, she was a Visiting Researcher at Imperial College London. She obtained the French Qualification aux fonctions de Maître de Conférences (CNU section 60 – Mechanics, Mechanical and Civil Engineering) in 2022, and the Italian National Scientific Qualification in 2025 for the academic field CEAR08 (Hydraulics).
Scientific branch
(Area 0008 - Civil engineering and architecture)
Teaching
Collegi of the degree programmes
- Collegio di Ingegneria Civile ed Edile. Componente
- Collegio di Ingegneria Matematica. Componente invitato
Teachings
Master of Science
- Green water for sustainable building. A.A. 2020/21, INGEGNERIA EDILE. Collaboratore del corso
- Idraulica tecnica. A.A. 2018/19, INGEGNERIA EDILE. Collaboratore del corso
- Idraulica tecnica. A.A. 2019/20, INGEGNERIA EDILE. Collaboratore del corso
Research
Research areas
Research projects
Projects funded by competitive calls
- SCoolAir: Empowering schools for air quality action , (2025-2026) - Responsabile Scientifico
UE-funded research - RaRiskD - Rapid landslide risk mitigation: design for sustainability criteria in mountain areas (RaRiskD) , (2025-2027) - Responsabile Scientifico
Nationally funded research - PRIN - LIBRA - La Biblioteca dell’Aria: un progetto partecipato di consapevolezza ambientale , (2024-2026) - Responsabile Scientifico
Corporate-funded and donor-funded research
Supervised PhD students
- Anna Eberrini. Programme in Ingegneria Civile E Ambientale (cycle 40, 2024-in progress)
- Annika Vittoria Del Ponte. Programme in Ingegneria Civile E Ambientale (cycle 38, 2022-in progress)
Publications
Last years publications
Publications by type
Works published during the Ph.D. View all publications in Porto@Iris
- Fellini, Sofia; Salizzoni, PIETRO STEFANO; Ridolfi, Luca (2021)
Structural fragility of cities to airborne releases. In: European Colloquium on Theoretical and Quantitative Geography 2021
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding) - Fellini, Sofia; Salizzoni, Pietro; Ridolfi, Luca (2021)
Vulnerability of cities to toxic airborne releases is written in their topology. In: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, vol. 11. ISSN 2045-2322
Contributo su Rivista - Fellini, Sofia (2021)
Modeling pollutant dispersion at the city and street scales: from wind tunnel experiments to complex network theory. relatore: RIDOLFI, LUCA; Salizzoni Pietro, 33. XXXIII Ciclo, P.: 176
Doctoral Thesis - Fellini, Sofia; Marro, Massimo; Ridolfi, Luca; Salizzoni, Pietro (2020)
Vertical turbulent transport in an urban street canyon. In: AGU 2020
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding) - Fellini, Sofia; Salizzoni, Pietro; Ridolfi, Luca (2020)
Centrality metric for the vulnerability of urban networks to toxic releases. In: PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, vol. 101. ISSN 2470-0045
Contributo su Rivista - Fellini, Sofia; De Giovanni, Alessandro; Marro, Massimo; Ridolfi, Luca; Salizzoni, Pietro (2020)
Effect of trees on street canyon ventilation. In: EGU General Assembly 2020, pp. 10661-10661
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding) - Fellini, Sofia; Ridolfi, Luca; Salizzoni, Pietro (2020)
Effect of wall heating on street canyon ventilation. In: EGU General Assembly 2020, pp. 9613-9613
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding) - Fellini, Sofia; Ridolfi, Luca; Salizzoni, Pietro (2020)
Street canyon ventilation: Combined effect of cross‐section geometry and wall heating. In: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY. ISSN 0035-9009
Contributo su Rivista - Fellini, Sofia; Salizzoni, Pietro; Soulhac, Lionel; Ridolfi, Luca (2019)
Propagation of toxic substances in the urban atmosphere: A complex network perspective. In: ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT, vol. 198, pp. 291-301. ISSN 1352-2310
Contributo su Rivista - Fellini, Sofia; Vesipa, Riccardo; Boano, Fulvio; Ridolfi, Luca (2019)
Fault detection in level and flow rate sensors for safe and performant remote-control in a water supply system. In: JOURNAL OF HYDROINFORMATICS. ISSN 1464-7141
Contributo su Rivista - Fellini, Sofia; Vesipa, Riccardo; Boano, Fulvio; Ridolfi, Luca (2018)
Multipurpose Design of the Flow-Control System of a Steep Water Main. In: JOURNAL OF WATER RESOURCES PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT, vol. 144, pp. 1-12. ISSN 0733-9496
Contributo su Rivista - Fellini, Sofia; Vesipa, Riccardo; Boano, Fulvio; Ridolfi, Luca (2018)
Real-Time Measurement Fault Detection and Remote-Control in a Mountain Water Supply System. In: HIC 2018. 13th International Conference on Hydroinformatics, Palermo (ITALY), pp. 698-705. ISSN 2516-2330
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding) - Fellini, Sofia; Vesipa, Riccardo; Boano, Fulvio; Ridolfi, Luca (2018)
REAL-TIME MEASUREMENT FAULT DETECTION AND REMOTE CONTROL IN A MOUNTAIN WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM. In: XXXVI Convegno Nazionale di idraulica e Costruzioni Idrauliche, Ancona (Italia), 12-14 Settembre 2018. ISBN: 9788894379907
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding) - Vesipa, Riccardo; Fellini, Sofia (2018)
FLOW OSCILLATIONS IN A STEEP WATER MAIN. In: XXXVI Convegno Nazionale di idraulica e Costruzioni Idrauliche, Ancona (Italia), 12-14 Settembre 2018. ISBN: 9788894379907
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding)