Joel Antunes is a research engineer in the Integrated Micro and Nanotechnologies group at INL since 2025, providing technical and hands-on expertise on advanced systems and techniques to INL researchers and external entities and promoting the development of novel experimental approaches to advance the research programs at INL.

He graduated with a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minho, specializing in Manufacturing Technologies, with the development of a diamond wire stone cutting prototype for further process parameterization and optimization. With robust experience in product and systems design and development in research and development centers, often working in close proximity with Universidade do Porto and Universidade do Minho, he developed a versatile background and has 2 published papers and 1 WO patent. His skills range from mechanical project design, workbench setups and prototype development and retrofitting, to automated devices programming, both using the IEC 61131-3 PLC programming languages and C++, as well as data acquisition and analysis via LabVIEW from a wide range of sensors, in particular piezoelectric accelerometers.