Dr. Barbara Cardone | Heat Island Awards | Innovative Research Award 

Dr. Barbara Cardone, University of Naples Federico II, Italy

Barbara Cardone is a researcher in Computer Science (INF/01) at the Department of Architecture, University of Naples Federico II, Italy. With a strong interdisciplinary background in architecture and computational intelligence, she specializes in the integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and fuzzy logic models for urban planning and decision support. Her academic journey includes a Ph.D. focused on GIS-based decision tools for building valuation and several advanced research projects exploring computational intelligence in GIS environments. Dr. Cardone has contributed to national research initiatives such as the PNRR-funded FAIR project on future artificial intelligence and has led efforts in constructing extensive spatial databases for urban municipalities like Naples and Pozzuoli. Her research focuses on applying fuzzy multi-criteria decision frameworks, emotion classification from social media, and geocomputational analysis to address urban complexity, infrastructure planning, and sustainable development.

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Summary of Suitability for the Innovative Research Award:

Dr. Barbara Cardone stands out as a highly deserving candidate for the Innovative Research Award due to her pioneering interdisciplinary work at the intersection of computer science, GIS technologies, urban planning, and computational intelligence. Her research has continually introduced novel methods and tools to support sustainable urban development, digital spatial analysis, and smart city planning.

🎓 Education

• 2013 – Ph.D. in Evaluation Methods for Integrated Conservation, Recovery, Maintenance and Management of Architectural, Urban and Environmental Heritage, University of Naples Federico II
  📘 Thesis: GIS as a decision support tool for improving building OMI estimation

• 2005 – Postgraduate Course in Geographic Information Systems for Urban and Complex Systems Management, University of Naples Federico II

• 2003 – Master’s Degree in Architecture, University of Naples Federico II – Score: 107/110
  🗺 Thesis: Geostatistical analysis of Naples districts

💼 Work Experience

• 2023–Present – RTDA Researcher in Computer Science (INF/01), Dept. of Architecture, University of Naples Federico II
  📌 Project: FAIR – Future Artificial Intelligence Research (PNRR/NRRP – M4C2 – PE1 FAIR)

• 2019–2020 – Research Project: Computational intelligence algorithms in GIS for urban planning
  🧠 Focus on fuzzy-based models in GIS for emotion analysis, land classification, and urban planning

• 2018–2019 – Research Fellow, University of Naples Federico II
  🗃 GIS databases for the Municipality of Pozzuoli

• 2016 – Scholarship holder, METROPOLIS Project
  🏙 GIS-based estimation of urban building volumes in Naples

• 2010–2013 – Research Fellow, Geo-computational database for infrastructure management
  🛠 Urban spatial analysis for decision support

🏆 Achievements

• Developed fuzzy decision-making GIS frameworks for urban and environmental planning

• Built one of the largest spatial databases for the Municipality of Pozzuoli

• Applied computational intelligence in urban systems, merging AI with GIS

• Significant contributor to Italy’s FAIR AI Research Program funded by the NRRP

🥇 Awards & Honors

• 🚀 FAIR (Future Artificial Intelligence Research) – PE1: Part of a prestigious national PNRR-funded research initiative (CUP: E63C22002150007)

• 🧩 Recognized for interdisciplinary work integrating AI, GIS, architecture, and urban systems

• 📍Lead researcher in several strategic urban intelligence and infrastructure management projects

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