Polymers Compounding

Associate Professor in the Department of Polymer Engineering at the University of Minho and a member of the Institute of Polymers and Composites. She was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Centre for Advanced Engineering Fibres and Films, Clemson University, SC, USA, between 2000 and 2003. Her research focuses on surface and interface studies, the preparation of functional polymer matrix composites and nanocomposites, and the environmental aspects of plastics. She has participated in forty research projects, six of which she coordinated. She has published over 100 articles in international peer-reviewed journals, as well as book chapters, two international patents and one national patent. She is a reviewer for funding agencies in Europe and in Portugal. She has collaborated with companies and research centres, including the Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research in Dresden, Germany; the University of Manchester, School of Materials and National Graphene Institute, in the United Kingdom; and the École Nationale d’Ingénieurs in Tunis, Tunisia.

Full Professor in the Department of Polymer Engineering at the University of Minho, where he has been a member of staff since 1979. His research focuses on polymer extrusion (monitoring and optimisation), formulation (preparation of composites and nanocomposites, polymer modification and blending), and additive manufacturing. Between 2009 and 2015, he coordinated the European Master in Engineering Rheology (EURHEO). He is Editor-in-Chief of the *International Polymer Processing* journal, Associate Editor of the journal *Polímeros*, and a member of the editorial board of eight other scientific journals. He acts as a reviewer for various funding agencies in Europe and Canada. He has published over 230 articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals and book chapters, one book, co-edited five books, and holds 12 patents (one of which won a gold medal at the 47th International Exhibition of Inventions, Geneva, 2019). He regularly collaborates with national and European companies in the polymers sector, as well as with the ESA and CERN. He is a member of the Board of Directors of PIEP, of which he was the first Director-General.

He obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, specialising in Quality Control of Plastics, from the University of Minho in 2004, followed by a specialisation in Materials Processing and Characterisation from the University of Minho in 2007. He is head of the Extrusion, Composition and Advanced Materials department at PIEP, where he has experience in the coordination, management, technical support and development of research, innovation and technology transfer projects in collaboration with industry. His main areas of scientific research are extrusion, reactive extrusion and the composition/functionalisation of thermoplastics for the development of more sustainable and smart products.

Degree in Polymer Engineering from the University of Minho, with over 20 years of experience in the field of plastic materials characterisation and failure analysis, currently serving as Coordinator of the Tests and Failure Analysis area and Technical Manager of the PIEP Laboratories.