Rui Leal has a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (Production Technology specialty), a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering (Technology and Materials specialty), and a degree in Mechanical Engineering (Production branch) from the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra. He is currently an associate professor at ESAD.CR, where he has been teaching since 1998, being responsible for and teaching curricular units in the areas of Technical Design, Materials and Technologies. He is also a researcher at the Center for Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Processes (CEMMPRE-FCTUC) and collaborating researcher at the Research Laboratory of Design and Arts (LIDA-ESAD.CR). His main research areas focus on materials and production technologies, and he participates and/or has participated in six research projects. As a result of his research, he has participated in national and international events, such as conferences and congresses, and has published in scientific journals of the specialty. He has supervised 12 MSc dissertations and is the supervisor of 2 Ph.D. theses, and has been the arguer in 41 MSc theses and 3 Ph.D. thesis projects. In his Science Vitae curriculum, the most frequent terms in the contextualization of scientific, technological and artistic-cultural production are Copper; Tailor Welded blanks; Friction Stir Welding; Aluminium; Mechanical Characterization; Laser welding; Formability; dissimilar welding; Modelling; Microstructural characterization; Digital image correlation; Mechanical Engineering – Mechanical Technology; Mechanical Engineering.