Alexandra Santos completed her Master’s in Materials Engineering in 2024 at the University of Aveiro. In 03/2022, she participated in the CICEO Young Scientist Program, to support a PhD project on hardmetals corrosion at the corrosion laboratory of DEMaC (University of Aveiro). This experience led to a scientific publication titled “Prediction of hardmetal corrosion based on the binder response”, published in 2023, in which she is a co-author. From 11/2022 to 07/2023, she joined the NATURAL project, where she tested corrosion protection systems for aluminium substrates by incorporating layered double hydroxides (LDH) into resin-based coatings and evaluating the system’s performance in corrosive environments. This experience led to a one-month secondment at Synpo, s.a., in Czechia, where she worked to improve the dispersion of fluorescent compounds in resin matrices. This international experience enhanced both her technical capabilities and her adaptability, exposing her to industrial workflows, collaborative problem-solving, and multidisciplinary teamwork in a non-academic environment. Between 07/2024 and 07/2025, she integrated the RESINSURF project, gaining experience with new corrosion protection strategies, aluminium anodisation, and in-situ LDH growth on metallic substrates.