CV and Credentials

About Me #

Senior AI Engineer/Researcher with 3.5+ years of dedicated experience in Computer Vision, specializing in applying deep learning to complex image and video analysis challenges.
Proven track record of delivering production-ready solutions (including a certified liveness detection system) and contributing to published research.

Background in Physics Engineering provides a strong analytical foundation, coupled with a proactive, collaborative, and innovative mindset, and strong adaptability honed in a dynamic startup environment.

Technical Skills #

• Programming Languages: Python, R, MATLAB, Java
• AI/ML Frameworks & Libraries: PyTorch, TensorFlow, OpenCV, NumPy, Scikit-learn, Pandas
• Tools & Platforms: Docker, DVC, Hydra, MLFlow, ONNX, MongoDB, Git, Linux
• ML Architectures: CNN, ViT, GAN, Diffusion, Transformers, VLM
• Cloud Platforms: AWS, Azure

Professional Experience #

Youverse — Lisbon, Portugal #

Senior AI Researcher | Sep 2021 – Present

• Engineered a production-ready liveness detection system, certified for ISO/IEC 30107-3 (iBeta Level 2).
• Developed and improved deepfake detection models to enhance security in identity verification pipelines.
• Designed a robust morphing attack detection system, achieving 2nd place at SYN-MAD 2022 Competition.
• Built ICAO-compliant face-image quality assessment models for ID/travel document verification.
• Developed solutions for synthetic data generation, injection attack detection, and fraudulent document matching.
• Standardized research workflows using MLOps tools, promoting team-wide best practices.
• Organizer and lead of the Adversarial Attack Challenge on Secure Face Recognition — IJCB 2025.

Talkdesk — Coimbra, Portugal #

Algorithms Intern | Jun 2019 – Aug 2019

• Designed and implemented signal processing algorithms for analyzing call and email time-series data.
• Contributed directly to U.S. Patent 11,146,681: “Systems and Methods for Scheduling Deferred Queues”.

LIBPHYS-FCTUC — Coimbra, Portugal #

Research Intern | Mar 2019 – Jun 2019

• Performed simulations of electric fields in particle detectors using COMSOL Multiphysics and SolidWorks.

Education #

• BSc + MSc, Physics Engineering — University of Coimbra (2016 – 2021)
  • Final Grade: 17.1 / 20.0 — Achieved Top 5% University Prize
• Erasmus+ Exchange — University of Groningen (Sep 2019 – Jan 2020)

Certifications #

• Generative AI with Large Language Models — DeepLearning.AI + AWS / Coursera (Apr 2025)
• Machine Learning in Production — DeepLearning.AI / Coursera (Apr 2025)
• Ladybird Guide to Spacecraft Communications — ESA Academy (Jan 2019)

Publications #

• Adversarial Attack Challenge for Secure Face Recognition 2025
• QualFace: adapting deep learning face recognition for ID and travel documents with quality assessment
• Towards understanding the character of quality sampling in deep learning face recognition
• SYN-MAD 2022: Competition on face morphing attack detection based on private synthetic training data

Leadership & Involvement #

• JEKnowledge (Junior Enterprise) — Innovation Consultant (Dec 2018 – Apr 2020)
• Physis (Physics Student Group) — Career Prospects Department Lead (Mar 2020 – Nov 2020)
• NEDF/AAC (Student Association) — Image & Communication Coordinator (May 2018 – Jun 2019)
• Coimbra Space Summer School — Attendee & Winner (Sep 2018)

Languages #

• Portuguese: Native
• English: C1 (certified)

To whom it may concern
My name is Nuno Gonçalves, and I am Tenured Assistant Professor of the University of Coimbra (Portugal), at the Department of Electrical and Computers Engineering, Senior Researcher of the Institute of Systems and Robotics – Coimbra at the Computer Vision Lab and Innovation Manager at the Portuguese Mint and Official Printing Office.

I concluded my PhD in 2008, and my research interests include Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence, mainly related to biometrics, face imaging, authentication, secure Facial Recognition Systems, printer-proof steganography, geometry, robotics, computer graphics, medical imaging, plenoptic cameras, augmented reality, and also other fields.

João Tremoço joined my group in September 2020 to develop the work that conducted him to the Master’s degree, in October 2021. João worked on the important problem of improving the performance of facial recognition algorithms based on the quality of portraits for ID and travel documents.

João did an outstanding research work, creating new algorithms and a quality-driven approach to the problem. His work was published in a small, yet very important conference of the topic – BIOSIG. João was always a dedicated student working very hard and with an extremely focused working method, which is rare in Master students.

During his studies, João Tremoço has always demonstrated high abilities to understand the mathematical complexity of the models involved in the research and to manipulate the fundamentals of the Deep Learning and Biometrics, while these concepts are no easy to understand due to their intrinsic abstract and technical nature. He has also demonstrated strong abilities in programming these concepts, searching for a trade-off solution and the associated algorithms to make them work and be effective.

More recently, I have been working with João Tremoço, in a collaboration between my research group and the company where João currently works, to the creation and dynamization of the Adversarial Attack Challenge to be held at the International Joint Conference on Biometrics, in Osaka, Japan, in September 2025. Almost 4 years have passed, and I noticed that João has considerably evolved as professional, still doing upfront Research and truly with enthusiasm about his work and new challenges.

From the exposed above, I believe that João Tremoço is a very strong candidate to work in industry and research in several topics.

— Nuno Gonçalves, PhD

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to offer my strongest recommendation for João Tremoço, who served as a Senior AI Scientist at Youverse. During his tenure with us, João consistently demonstrated exceptional expertise and an innovative mindset in the field of artificial intelligence, leaving a lasting and measurable impact on our organization.

From the outset, João proved to be a rare combination of deep technical knowledge, excellent soft skills, and strategic thinking. He led several high-impact projects, including deepfake detection and AI monitoring, which not only improved our core products but also significantly advanced Youverse’s AI capabilities in support of the company’s growth. His ability to design and implement cutting-edge models—particularly in the areas of computer vision and biometrics— was instrumental in driving both efficiency and innovation.

João brings not only a deep command of AI and machine learning but also a strong sense of integrity, curiosity, and a genuine passion for solving real-world problems. I have no doubt that he will be a tremendous asset to any organization fortunate enough to have him.

Please feel free to contact me if you require any further information.

— Miguel Lourenço