As part of the project "Enhancing STEM Engagement Among High School Students", we are pleased to announce a special seminar that will take place on June 5, 2026, featuring Prof. Lorenzo Botto, Associate Professor at Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands).
In 2004, one of the most important discoveries of our century was made: the discovery of a new material called graphene. A material so thin that light passes through it undisturbed, and whose unusual properties have made scientists and entrepreneurs dream of a high tech future where two dimensions perform better than 3D: for example, 2D microprocessors exploiting graphene’s ultrahigh electrical conductivity, nanocomposites exploiting graphene’s record mechanical strength, sensor devices based on optical and semiconductor properties that have no counterpart in materials currently know. What has this to do with fluid mechanics? Not many people know that some of the most impactful applications of graphene require processing the material in a fluid state, as a mixture of a liquid and solid particles (exactly like paint, milk or ketchup!). Therefore fluid mechanics, the discipline that studies the interaction of moving fluids with solid objects, plays an important role in the science and technology of graphene, and of all his many material cousins, the so-called “2D materials”.
In this talk I will explain some of the work that my research group has carried out to understand the interaction of flowing fluids with this exotic material, and highlight prospects for this material to revolutionize industries where Italy, and perhaps Friuli, could play a pioneering role.
Biography
Lorenzo Botto is Associate Professor in the Department of Process & Energy at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. Lorenzo was born in Udine, and received all his foundational education in Friuli, attending the Liceo Scientifico “N.Copernico” and later obtaining a Laura degree in Ingegneria Gestionale from University of Udine in 2002. In Udine, he carried out his thesis work in fluid dynamics under the supervision of Prof. A. Soldati, in a project in collaboration with ETH Zurich, Switzerland. After obtaining a Masters degree in Applied Mathematics from U. of Milan – Bicocca, he moved to the US, where in 2009 he obtained a PhD in fluid mechanics under the supervision of Prof. A. Prosperetti. He then worked as postdoctoral researcher at University of Pennsylvania (USA) and Imperial College (UK) until 2012. He became assistant professor at Queen Mary University of London (UK) in 2013, where he taught until moving to Delft (NL) in 2019. His research interest is in micro- and nano-scale fluid mechanics of particulate suspensions, and in applications to materials physics, environmental science and critical raw materials recovery. He is passionate about the history of science, and about everything that has to do with bicycles.
