Luca Santoro β˜•οΈ
Luca Santoro

Assistant Professor & Co-founder of Therness

About Me

I am a Fixed-term Assistant Professor at the Politecnico di Torino, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DIMEAS), and Co-founder & CEO of Therness, a Politecnico di Torino spinoff. My expertise lies in non-destructive testing, active thermography and welding process monitoring, with a focus on translating AI-driven inspection into industrial practice.

πŸš€ Commercial Impact

My research has been translated into Therness, a spinoff that builds AI-powered thermal monitoring for weld quality assurance. The current portfolio includes:

  • HeatCore software suite β€” Basic, AI and Robotic tiers for live weld-pool view, inline anomaly detection and turnkey robotic cells.
  • HeatCam thermal cameras β€” IR-C industrial reference sensor (up to 2000 Β°C, PoE/GigE Vision) and IR-S compact variant for tight or embedded installs.
  • PoolVision β€” 480 fps visual camera with laser-safe illumination.
  • HeatScan β€” purpose-built monitoring for induction pipe welding.
  • AI NDT Agent β€” free tool that generates ISO 9712 / ASNT Level III compliant NDT procedures.

Selected for the Tech4Planet Pre-seed investment program (CDP Venture Capital).

Download CV
Interests
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Non-Destructive Testing
  • Active Thermography
  • Welding Process Monitoring
  • Computer Vision
Education
  • PhD Machine Design

    Politecnico di Torino

  • MEng Mechanical Engineering

    Politecnico di Torino

  • BSc Mechanical Engineering

    Politecnico di Torino

πŸ“š My Research

I am a Fixed-term Assistant Professor at the (DIMEAS), working on non-destructive testing, active thermography and welding process monitoring. My research blends fracture mechanics, computer vision and machine learning to bring advanced inspection methods into industrial practice.

I use both qualitative and quantitative approaches to study the intersection of science, engineering and technology in real manufacturing environments.

πŸš€ From research to industry β€” my work has led to the creation of , a Politecnico di Torino spinoff delivering AI-powered thermal monitoring for weld quality assurance.

Feel free to connect for collaboration opportunities.

Featured Publications
Recent Publications
(2025). Infrared-Guided Thermal Cycles in FEM Simulation of Laser Welding of Thin Aluminium Alloy Sheets. Metals 2025, Vol. 15, Page 830.
(2025). Gradient-based image generation for thermographic material inspection. Applied Thermal Engineering.
(2025). A pilot study using flying spot laser thermography and signal reconstruction. Optics and Lasers in Engineering.
(2024). Correlation between thermal and density properties of chestnuts: preliminary results of experimental non-destructive testing. ARCHIVES OF CIVIL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING.
Recent & Upcoming Talks
πŸš€ Therness β€” Research to Industry

My research on active thermography and non-destructive testing has been translated into , a Politecnico di Torino spinoff delivering real-time thermal monitoring and AI-driven defect detection for welding.

Current product portfolio

  • HeatCore software suite β€” Basic, AI and Robotic tiers for live weld-pool view, inline anomaly detection and turnkey robotic cells.
  • HeatCam IR-C / IR-S β€” industrial and compact thermal cameras (up to 2000 Β°C, PoE / GigE Vision).
  • PoolVision β€” 480 fps visual camera with laser-safe illumination.
  • HeatScan β€” induction pipe welding monitoring.
  • AI NDT Agent β€” free tool generating ISO 9712 / ASNT Level III compliant NDT procedures.

Selected for the Tech4Planet Pre-seed investment program (CDP Venture Capital).

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