Paulo Freitas is a Full Professor of Physics at the Instituto Superior Tecnico (IST) in Lisbon, and the Director of INESC Microsystems and Nanotechnologies. Current research topics include MRAMS, read heads for ultra high density recording, magnetoresistive biochips, and sensors for biomedical applications. He has been involved in research in the area of magnetoresistive materials and devices since he received his Ph.D in Solid State Physics from Carnegie Mellon University in 1986. His PhD thesis was on the subject of anisotropic magnetoresistance of ferromagnetic thin films and alloys. He then joined IBM Research at Yorktown Heights as a post doctoral fellow working on high-TC superconductivity and transport properties of ferromagnetic thin films. In 1988 he joined INESC in Lisbon, where he started the Solid State Technology Group. In 1989 he became Professor of Physics at the Instituto Superior Tecnico in Lisbon. From 1992 to 1996, he was responsible for the start up and operation of INESC´s ASIC back-end of the line microfabrication facility. From 1996 till now, his research areas expanded to magnetoresistive read elements for magnetic data storage, magnetoresistive sensors, MRAMS, and biomedical applications including magnetoresistive biochips. He became director of INESC Microsystems and Nanotechnologies in 2001, and Full Professor of Physics at IST in 2002. Over this period, he co-authored over 200 technical papers and several chapter books. Professional activities include membership in IEEE, participation in several Publication/Program/Advisory Committees of MMM and Intermag Conferences.