Interview with Dr. Rui F.V. Sampaio—Winner of the Metals Travel Award

Metals (ISSN: 2075-4701) is proud to present the winner of the 2025 Metals Travel Award—Dr. Rui F.V. Sampaio!

Dr. Rui F.V. Sampaio is a researcher in mechanical engineering, highly focused on metal forming, formability, and hybrid manufacturing. He obtained an MSc in mechanical engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico (IST, Lisbon, Portugal) in 2021 and a PhD in mechanical engineering from the same institution in 2025. Besides his role as an Invited Assistant Professor since 2025 at the Department of Mechanical Engineering (DEM, IST/UL—where he also served as an Invited Teaching Assistant from 2022 to 2025), he is an Integrated Member of the Associated Laboratory for Energy, Transports and Aeronautics (LAETA). He has also worked as an Invited Visiting Researcher at SWANTEC and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in 2025. His work is characterized by integrating experimentation, analytical analysis, and numerical simulation, leading to a research approach that has been driven by a digitalization of metal forming processes, hybrid manufacturing routes, and process-oriented material characterization.

The following is a short interview with Dr. Rui F.V. Sampaio:

1. Congratulations on winning the Metals Travel Award! What does this recognition mean to you, and how has it impacted your research and professional development? Can you share with us your feelings after winning the award?
Thank you very much! This recognition means a lot, since it represents an acknowledgement of the effort and work of the past years of my research career. I feel happy and proud of this recognition, especially coming from such a well-known and respected journal as Metals.

2. Can you tell us about your current research interests? What motivated you to pursue this area of study?
My current research interests are focused on metal forming, formability, and hybrid manufacturing. The fact that the possibilities for innovation in this field are immense is something that caught my eye from the start, especially the ability to change how products are manufactured, including reducing material waste.

3. Where did you learn about how to apply for this journal award? Can you briefly introduce which conference or conferences you plan to attend with this award?
I learned about this award from a newsletter received from the journal itself. I intend to attend the ICTP 2026—15th International Conference on the Technology of Plasticity, which will be held on 11 October 2026 in Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. Known as the Olympic Games of Metal Forming, this conference has grown into the largest academic society in the field of plasticity technology and is a place to build a bridge between science and industrial applications, bringing together international scientists and engineers from across industry and academia.

4. Attending international conferences is an essential part of scientific collaboration and growth. How did the Metals Travel Award support your participation, and how do you plan to promote the journal at the conference? Do you have any thoughts on how the promotion of the journal at conferences could be more effective?
The Metals Travel Award will definitely be a financial help for the trip to Korea. I intend to promote the journal by stating that my participation is supported by the award. I believe that this may lead researchers to learn more about the journal and even to apply for the next edition of the Metals Travel Award.

5. Do you have any other suggestions on how our journal could further support young researchers and the academic community?
I believe that initiatives like this one already support young researchers greatly. Additionally, the fact that there exist open access journals like Metals is also something good for someone from academia or industry to acquire state-of-the-art research.

6. As a winner, how do you view the role of open access journals (such as Metals) in academic communication? Will you consider reviewing or contributing to them in the future?
Open access journals like Metals are something of immense importance for the spread of information in both academia and industry. I intend to contribute and review for such journals, just like I have been doing in the past years.

7. How would you describe your experience with our services and the journal so far?
I believe, as a reviewer and author of papers in Metals, that the journal has created a very streamlined process for publishing and reviewing.