Albano Augusto Cavaleiro Rodrigues de Cavaleiro is a Full Professor at the University of Coimbra, Portugal. In 1990, he received a Ph.D. from Coimbra University in the field of Mechanical Engineering, with a thesis on the surface modification of materials by the sputtering deposition of thin coatings. Presently, he is President of the Centre for Mechanical Engineering Materials and Processes of the University of Coimbra and head of the Laboratory of Tests Wear and Materials at Instituto Pedro Nunes. His field of research and publications is related to the degradation and protection of materials, in the following fields: Materials and Surface Engineering, Structural transformations, Deposition and characterization of thin films, Tribology, Nanocrystalline, and nanocomposite materials, Biomaterials; Hard coatings, Mechanical characterization of thin films (depth sensing indentation), Corrosion and oxidation behavior of thin coatings, and Self-lubricating coatings. He belonged to the executive committee of the Portuguese Materials Society from 2010 to 2019. He represents Portugal in the Joint European Committee on Plasma Surface Engineering and is currently a member of the IUVSTA Surface Engineering Division on behalf of SOPORVAC (Portuguese Vacuum Society).
