Walter Franco

Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DIMEAS)

Profile

Research interests

Appropriate machines
Appropriate technology
Biomechanics
Fluid power
Grassroots innovation
History of mechanisms and machines
Intermediate machines
Mechatronics

Biography

Walter Franco ha conseguito la laurea in Ingegneria Meccanica nel 1994 e il dottorato in Meccanica Applicata nel 1999. E’ Professore Associato in Meccanica Applicata presso il Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Aerospaziale dal 2019. E’ titolare degli insegnamenti di Meccanica per il Design, Ingegneria Umanitaria e Tecnologie per lo Sviluppo Sostenibile, e collaboratore nell’insegnamento di Meccanica delle Macchine Automatiche. Fa parte del collegio di dottorato in Meccanica ed è uno dei promotori del nascente dottorato di interesse nazionale in Peace Studies. Ha insegnato in corsi Master ed è stato uno dei docenti coordinatori del Team Studentesco ApilPay. Il suo principale attuale tema di ricerca riguarda le Tecnologie Appropriate, e nello specifico lo studio di macchine e dispositivi appropriati finalizzati al miglioramento delle condizioni di vita di comunità marginali, sottoservite o in transizione socio-ecologica. L’attività consiste sia nella definizione delle metodologie di progettazione a partire dai bisogni delle comunità, sia nella progettazione vera e propria, seguita dalla costruzione di prototipi e dalla loro validazione con prove sperimentali di laboratorio e sul campo. Nell’ambito della terza missione, oltre a collaborare con aziende ed enti in attività di trasferimento tecnologico, ha promosso, organizzato o partecipato come relatore invitato a più di quaranta eventi pubblici finalizzati alla condivisione della conoscenza, in particolare sul tema delle tecnologie appropriate.

Curriculum

Download file (99KB, in Italian)

Scientific branch

ING-IND/13 - APPLIED MECHANICS
(Area 0009 - Industrial and information engineering)

Skills

ERC sectors

SH6_14 - History of science, medicine and technologies
PE8_13 - Industrial bioengineering
PE8_10 - Industrial design (product design, ergonomics, man-machine interfaces, etc.)
PE8_7 - Mechanical and manufacturing engineering (shaping, mounting, joining, separation)
SH3_14 - Science and technology studies
PE7_3 - Simulation engineering and modelling
PE8_11 - Sustainable design (for recycling, for environment, eco-design)

SDG

Goal 1: No poverty
Goal 2: Zero hunger
Goal 3: Good health and well-being
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities
Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production
Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

Awards and Honors

  • Best Paper Award, First International Conference of IFToMM Italy, IFIT 2016, Vicenza, Italy conferred by First International Conference of IFToMM Italy, IFIT 2016 (2016)
  • Second Best Poster Award, Foot International Congress, Berlin, Germany conferred by Foot International Congress, 2016 (2016)
  • IHTC2017 First Prize in the Technical Paper Award conferred by International Humanitarian Technology Conference 2017 and IEEE Canada (2017)
  • Silver Best Application Paper Award, 2nd International Conference of IFToMM Italy, IFIT 2018, Cassino, Italy conferred by 2nd International Conference of IFToMM Italy (2018)
  • Bronze Best Research Paper Award, 4th IFToMM Symposium on Mechanism Design for Robotics, MEDER 2018, Udine, Italy conferred by 4th IFToMM Symposium on Mechanism Design for Robotics (2018)
  • Gold Best Research Paper Award, 6th International Workshop on New Trends in Medical ad Service Robot, MESROB 2018, Cassino, Italy conferred by 6th International Workshop on New Trends in Medical ad Service Robot, MESROB 2018 (2018)
  • Best Applicative Paper Award, 27th International Conference on Robotics in Alpe-Adria-Danube Region, RAAD conferred by 27th International Conference on Robotics in Alpe-Adria-Danube Region, RAAD 2018 (2018)
  • Best Research Paper Award, The 15th IFToMM World Congress, Krakow, Poland conferred by The IFToMM World Congress 2019. (2019)
  • Springer Best Research Paper on the History of Mechanism and Machines Science, The 15th IFToMM World Congress, Krakow, Poland conferred by The IFToMM World Congress 2019 (2019)
  • Silver Best Application Paper Award, The First IFToMM for Sustainable Developmenmt Goals conference, I4SDG 2021 conferred by IFToMM for Sustainable Developmenmt Goals conference (2021)
  • Nomination for Best Application Paper Award, IFToMM World Congress 2023 conferred by IFToMM World Congress 2023 (2023)
View moreView less

Fellowships

  • Steering Committe member - Museo dell’Agricoltura del Piemonte, Italia (2023-)
  • Effective member - Centro interuniversitario Scienza Nuova “Umberto Eco”, Italia (2023-)
  • Effective member - Cross Disciplinary Group " Securing our Future Environment – Air, Water, Energy" - IFToMM, regione non valida o sconosciuta (2021-)
  • Effective member - Community “Sustainable agricultural mechanization” - Food and Agriculture Organization FAO, regione non valida o sconosciuta (2021-)
  • Scientific Committee member - Museo dell'Agricoltura del Piemonte, Italia (2019-)
  • Effective member - Technical Committee for Biomechanical Engineering - IFToMM, regione non valida o sconosciuta (2014-)
  • Effective member - International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanism and Machine Science - IFToMM Italy, Italia (2014-)
  • Effective member - Permanent Commission for the History of Mechanism and Machine Science - IFToMM, regione non valida o sconosciuta (2014-)
  • Effective member - Technical Commitee for Sustainable Energy Systems - IFToMM;, regione non valida o sconosciuta (2014-)
View moreView less

Editorial boards

  • Human Power – The technical journal of the International Human Powered Vehicle Association IHPVA (2019-), Associate Editor of magazine or editorial series
  • INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MECHANICS AND CONTROL (2017-), Associate Editor of magazine or editorial series

Conferences

  • The 1st IFToMM for Sustainable Development Goals (25/11/2021-26/11/2021), Participation to the organizing committee
  • Global Humanitarian Technology Conference 2020, GHTC 2020. (29/10/2020-1/11/2020), Certified auditor
  • The 6th Conference for Sustainable Energy, CSE2020, Brasov, Romania, October 22–24, 2020 (22/10/2020-24/10/2020), Program committee

Other titles

  • Coordinatore del progetto: “Tecnologie appropriate e microimprenditorialità contadina e pastorale nelle terre alte piemontesi” (2017-2018)

Teaching

Collegi of the PhD programmes

  • INGEGNERIA MECCANICA, 2022/2023 (39. ciclo)
    Politecnico di TORINO
  • INGEGNERIA MECCANICA, 2021/2022 (38. ciclo)
    Politecnico di TORINO
  • INGEGNERIA MECCANICA, 2020/2021 (37. ciclo)
    Politecnico di TORINO
  • INGEGNERIA MECCANICA, 2019/2020 (36. ciclo)
    Politecnico di TORINO
  • INGEGNERIA MECCANICA, 2018/2019 (35. ciclo)
    Politecnico di TORINO
MostraNascondi collegi passati

Collegi of the degree programmes

Teachings

Master of Science

MostraNascondi A.A. passati

Bachelor of Science

MostraNascondi A.A. passati

Research

Research groups

Research projects

Projects funded by commercial contracts

Supervised PhD students

  • Maria Paterna. Programme in Ingegneria Meccanica (36th cycle, 2020-in progress)
    Thesis: Passive upper-limb exoskeleton based on Pneumatic Artificial Muscles
  • Marco Pozzi. Programme in Ingegneria Meccanica (36th cycle, 2020-in progress)
    Thesis: La memoria della ingegneria meccanica - Ipotesi di un metatesto digitale su un protagonista della cultura piemontese: l¿ingegner Filippo Burzio

Publications

PoliTO co-authors

Last years publications View all publications in Porto@Iris

More publicationsLess publications

Society and Enterprise

Patents and other intellectual properties

More patentsLess patents