Professor Maria Alexandra Sousa Rodrigues is an associate professor at the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa from the Polytechnic University of Lisbon. Alexandra Rodrigues has a degree in Mechanical Engineering, a Master's in Materials Engineering, and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, all completed at Instituto Superior Técnico from the University of Lisbon. She develops research projects related to the development and the testing of new materials for biomedical applications. In the last 5 years, she also focused her work on issues related to sustainability in engineering, the circular economy, and nature-based solutions for urban areas. In the last 4 years, she was Advisor of the ISEL Board for the sustainability area, also coordinating the ISEL-EcoCampus Program. She has published several books and numerous papers for conferences and journals. In 2024, she received the Excellence Award by the Polytechnic University of Lisbon in Recognition of Activities with relevance in the community, due to her work in the area of ​​sustainability. In 2025, she received the international Teacher Award from the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) for her work in the area of ​​environmental sustainability with ISEL students and the community.