Angelica Tuttolomondo

Biography

Dr. Angelica Tuttolomondo graduated with the highest distinction from the University of Palermo (Italy) in July 2016, earning a Master of Science in Civil Engineering with a focus on structures and geotechnics (110/110 cum laude). As part of her studies, she conducted research at University College Dublin, culminating in a thesis entitled “Cohesive frictional materials: comparison between discrete formulation and mesoscale modelling.”

In February 2021, she obtained her Ph.D. in Geomechanics at EPFL, Lausanne, with a thesis entitled “Effective stress for unsaturated active clays and in-situ effective stress estimation methodology.” Her doctoral research focused on the chemo-hydro-mechanical behavior of active clays under saturated and unsaturated conditions, the prediction of fluid pressures and mechanical responses in undrained states, and the development of in-situ stress estimation methods.

She is currently Project Leader of an SNSF-funded project (“New insights in the analysis and prediction of the mechanical behavior of compacted expansive clays as engineered barriers”), and Principal Investigator of the IS-E project at Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory, carried out in collaboration with BGR, TotalEnergies, and Swisstopo. At the Laboratory of Soil Mechanics, she supervises Ph.D. students and scientific assistants, advancing research on chemo-hydro-mechanical processes in geomaterials and innovative stress measurement technologies.

Alongside her academic activities, Dr. Tuttolomondo is CEO and co-founder of InSituMetrix, a start-up developing deep-tech instruments for reliable in-situ stress estimation in geo-energy applications such as CO₂ storage, geothermal energy, and hydrogen storage. She has been awarded several innovation and entrepreneurial grants, including the ENAC Innovation Seed Grant, the Design and Prototype Grant, the NTN Innovation Booster Grant, Venture Kick (Phase 1), and Innosuisse Initial Coaching.

She serves as the Swiss representative in two ISSMGE Technical Committees: TC-308 “Energy Geotechnics” and TC-215 “Environmental Geotechnics.”

Mission

 Her mission is to advance reliable and sustainable geo-energy technologies by bridging the gap between fundamental geomechanics research and real-world engineering practice.