Cátia Afonso holds a Bachelor's degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering with a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering, both completed at the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Portugal, in 2016 and 2018, respectively. During her master's degree, she worked on the extraction of bioactive compounds from natural cork using supercritical CO2, and also on the evaluation of the retention of these compounds in molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). In February 2021, Cátia joined the Institute for Polymers and Composites (IPC) of the University of Minho (Factory of the Future: Intelligent Manufacturing) as a researcher, working in cooperation with the company BOSCH, in the development of thermoelectric composites. In February 2022, Cátia joined the Physics Department of the University of Minho in the project NanoAir - Nanomaterials Applied in Innovative Road Pavements for Air Cleaning, in the development of semiconductor materials for air purification. In January 2023, Cátia joined CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, at the University of Aveiro, as a researcher, working in cooperation with the company Amorim Cork, S.A., in the GCORK project - "Development of agglomerated cork stoppers with bio-glues and surface treatments, produced by more ecological and sustainable processes," During her career, Cátia acquired a vast experience in the area of materials processing (biomaterials, polymers), in the extraction of phenolic compounds using supercritical CO2 and in characterization techniques. Cátia also received the award for Best Student of the Biological and Chemical Engineering Course in the year 2015/2016.