Diogo Mata

- Development of active LDH-based surface treatments against corrosion to improve radically the long-term performance of aircrafts and automobiles parts; - Advanced corrosion protection characterisation of the new LDH coatings; - Optimisation and validation of LDH processes, keeping industrially acceptable costs and technological parameters; - Market analysis and seeking of business opportunities with potential stakeholders (within the project consortium and outsiders);

- Sales management of additive products for the global market of protective and marine coatings, covering the main market sectors of transportation and building; - Customers managing and supporting interface for technical issues; - Active seeking for new business lines and innovation projects with relevant players, under non-discloser agreements (NDA), in line to the core business of Smallmatek; - Responsible for sales prospecting and business growth in Portuguese and German markets.

- R&D studies, validation and upscaling of nano-sized additives with active protection (i.e. self-healing ability) against corrosive damage; - Quality control, technical support and implementation of continuous improvement actions in the production and filtration lines of 500l batches; - Give technical recommendations and business inputs to the sales department in regard to products specifications and their potential applications and markets.

- Development and process optimisation of electrospun nano-sized chitosan fibers reinforced with carbon nanotubes with potential use in regenerative medicine; - Structural and morphological characterisation of the prepared biomaterials, and evaluation of cytotoxicity and biocompatibility; - Functional characterisation of the materials under external stimuli (mechanical and electrical) to promote in situ cell growth and differentiation; - Results dissemination: 4 scientific articles.

- Design and optimisation of new hybrid sol-gel coatings with hydrophobic and self-cleaning properties for the environmental protection of macro textured limestones; - Preparation of significant demonstrators and validation following well-established standards; - The new coatings technology conferring waterproofing, anti-stains and thermic isolation properties to limestone without changing its natural aspect, was patented and is being commercialised worldwide (Saudi Arabia, Quatar).

TEandM – Materials Technology and Engineering, SA is regarded as a Portuguese leader in supplying all the industrial applications of advanced materials for thick films (thermal spraying) and thin films (PVD). - Preparation and characterisation of PVD magnetron sputtered coatings (CrN, DLC, TiN) with wear protection properties for drills, cutting tools and plastic moulds.

- The thesis project entitled "Carbon nanotube/bioceramic composites for in situ electrical stimulation of bone" was done in collaboration with the Faculty of Engineering of University of Porto, and also had a training period of 6 months at CAPE, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. John Robertson.

- Relevancy attributed to the project work entitled “Preparation of nanodiamond films by cross-section and plan-view achieved by HFCVD and characterisation by TEM"; Final grade: 17 values, on a 0-20 grading scale.