I graduated in Materials Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico - Universidade de Lisboa (IST-UL), Lisbon, Portugal, in 2000 and obtained my Ph.D. degree in Materials Sci. & Eng. from the same institution in 2005. I was a post-doc at the International Materials Institute for New Functionality in Glass of Lehigh University, USA, before joining the chemical company Dow Corning in Belgium, as an R&D Chemist, from 2007 to 2011. At Dow Corning, I was the leader of R&D projects, aiming at new chemical products development (e.g. halogen-free flame retardant additives) for large-scale production.

This was followed by R&D Coordination roles at Ynvisible S.A. and Greenseal Research Ltd., for the development of electrochromic displays and greener components for polyurethane foams, respectively. 8 international patents and numerous papers have resulted from my collaboration with the industry. In 2014, while holding a FCT Post-Doc grant, I started a Technology Platform on Microencapsulation and Immobilization, my main current research interest, aimed at customized solutions for enabling active materials and advanced products. Currently I am Associate Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department, at IST and belong to the research unit CERENA.