Olavio Dos Santos Ferreira

I am currently doing my PhD in the laboratory of material and interface chemistry, group of Prof. de With at the technical university of Eindhoven (TU/e). My project consisted in understanding the adhesion process from atomistic to macroscopic level. For this purpose I used physical tests (peel, pull-off, tensile, nano-indentation), microscopy (confocal, SEM, AFM) and chemistry to qualitatively and quantitatively characterize adhesion. I also had some experience in numerical simulation to understand its mechanism. Besides my project I also had a strong commitment in education as well (supervision of 2 master students, tutor of group of 6 students, assistant for a university course).
Prior to my PhD, I graduated in 2002 from the Graduate School of Chemistry and Physics of Bordeaux (ENSCPB, France). This engineering school is unique since it is the only one in the “concours commun polytechnique” (nation-wide exam polytechnic) to provide a strong education not only in chemistry but also in physics. During this period I was involved in 2 projects. In the first one, I was performing preliminary tests to elaborate a new industrial method for B.A.S.F. to carry out bulk “living” anionic retarded polymerization of styrene with high yield. This project was succesfull and was followed by a PhD. In the second, I was responsible for organizing and realizing 3 measurement campaigns in 3 different sites of the firm (2 in France and 1 in Greece). My goal was to predict the quantities of household gases rejected during the aluminum production.

- Cinema (president of cinema club in 2001)
- Trips: I travelled in France, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, England, Germany, Czech Republic, Turkey, Italy, Greece, China, Australia and Japan
- Sport: football, squash, volley-ball, tennis
- Cooking