Luca Dal Zilio is a computational geoscientist focused on studying natural hazards, with a strong interest in the mechanics of fracture, frictional sliding, and multiphase flow in porous media.

His research combines theory, physics-based simulations, and laboratory experiments to characterize and understand earthquakes, crustal deformation, tsunamis, and similar phenomena. Specific focus is on identifying the fundamental mechanical processes governing a system of interest, developing numerical models incorporating these processes, validating them using geophysical observations, and then using the models to predict system behaviour. Research areas include earthquake rupture dynamics, earthquake source processes, tsunami generation, large-scale geodynamic processes, and geoenergy exploration due to anthropogenic operations involving underground fluid extraction or injection, with applications in enhanced geothermal systems and carbon sequestration.

Prior to joining NTU and EOS, Dal Zilio was a Senior Researcher at ETH Zurich and the coordinator of the Modelling Working Group in Bedretto Underground Laboratory for Geosciences and Geoenergies (BedrettoLab), conducting in-situ experiments focused on geothermal energy, fault reactivation, and earthquake physics. He also held a postdoctoral position at Caltech as the Cecil and Sally Drinkward Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow in Mechanical Engineering, focusing on bridging spatiotemporal scales from tectonic to earthquake scales. He holds a Master's in Geophysics from the University of Padova and a Ph.D. from ETH Zurich, awarded in 2019.

For his work, Dal Zilio received the 2023 Jason Morgan Early Career Award from the American Geophysical Union, the 2022 Prix Schläfli award from the Swiss Academy of Sciences, the 2021 Giorgio Dal Piaz award from the Italian Geological Society, the 2020 Silver Medal from ETH Zurich for an outstanding doctoral thesis, and the 2019 Springer Nature Thesis Award. Since 2020, he has also served as an associate editor for the journals Nature Communications Earth & Environment and AGU Tectonics.

DR-NTU