Before starting my PhD at the Royal College of Art, I was working as a designer, coordinator and researcher on 3D additive manufacturing technologies at the Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia in Rio and as the coordinator of the PUC-Rio University Design laboratories.

I wanted to learn more about product design, 3D modelling and additive manufacturing while living in London where you can access so many different art and design events. I’d met Professor Ron Arad in Rio in 2000, and I became very interested in his work, about the RCA design course methodology and also about the additive manufacturing technology facilities at RapidformRCA.

Studying at the RCA was an amazing experience, particularly learning and sharing information about new technologies with students from around the world, and tutorials with renowned international designers. The experimental design process at the RCA taught me a lot about new materials and technologies, and the whole RCA ambience (the workshops, studios and multiculturalism) was very important for me to grow intellectually and write my thesis.

Since finishing my PhD, I’ve been disseminating the ‘hands on’ design experimentation culture back in Rio, and I’ve become more open-minded to conceptual design projects from different areas related to creative industries such as architecture, fashion, ceramics and sculpture, which is very important to stimulate our economy.