Laura MM Ribeiro holds a PhD from FEUP in benchmarking methodologies for metalcasting industry. She is Associate Professor at FEUP and researcher at INEGI/LAETA– Associated Laboratory for Energy, Transports and Aeronautics. Her research activity has been focused on the developing super duplex stainless steels and Ni-base superalloys processed by casting and heat treatment, in particular, on the understanding of the formation of secondary phases and mechanical and microstructural characterization of the alloys. The modelling of the microstructure for the residual stresses evaluation at the microscale has been also another topic of research. At present, she is dedicated to developing metal matrix composites for cast components reinforcement using in-situ methods. The aforementioned research topics have being investigated in the context of consortium projects funded by companies and public entities.