VISITING PROFESSOR Luciana Maccarini Schabbach is an Associate Professor at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Brazil. She holds a degree in Chemical Engineering and earned both her Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and her PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the same university. During her doctoral studies, she also completed a research period abroad at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy. Her doctoral thesis focused on computerised colour formulation for ceramic glazes (colour matching). In 2004, she obtained an International First-Level University Master’s degree from the same Italian university. She subsequently spent a period in Italy, working with companies in the Sassuolo ceramic district on colour-matching applications and conducting research at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. Since 2014, she has taught in the Materials Engineering degree programme and in two PhD programmes at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, one of which is recognised as a Programme of Excellence. She has also contributed to establishing an international agreement between UFSC and a European university to promote student and academic staff mobility. Her research focuses on the development of cool pigments, the optical properties of materials, and materials for sustainable development. Her publications include articles in leading international journals in the fields of materials science, ceramic pigments, waste valorisation, and the circular economy. - The course aims to provide an understanding of the main phenomena involved in the interaction of light with solids, emphasizing the human colour perception and procedure methods and equipment available for its measurement. The theoretical concepts will be complemented by practical application examples drawn from different industrial sectors, illustrating how colour and optical characterization support material selection, product development, quality control, and performance assessment.

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- Introduction to the interaction of light with solid materials - Behavior of metallic and non-metallic materials regarding the absorption, reflection, refraction, and transmission of light radiation. - Colour Physiology, Colorimetry, Colorimetric Systems, Color Difference (ΔE) - Fundamentals of UV-Vis Spectrophotometry, Metamerism; - Reflectance and Transmittance measurement - Color Matching: Pigments - UV-Vis-NIR Spectrophotometry - Application examples.

In presenza

Presentazione orale - Presentazione report scritto

P.D.1-1 - Novembre

Assessment will be based on the preparation and presentation of a short individual project in which students apply the concepts and measurement techniques covered in the course to a material, product, or research problem relevant to their doctoral activities. Students will be expected to select appropriate characterization methods, interpret the results critically, and discuss their potential application in a specific industrial or research sector. Active participation in lectures and discussion of the case studies will also contribute to the final assessment. • Individual project and oral presentation: 70% • Critical discussion and interpretation of results: 20% • Active participation in lectures and case-study discussions: 10% November -Decenber 2026