Open to opportunities

Adrian Leon

@adrianleon

Message

PhD XR researcher focused on accessibility and multimodal interaction for virtual environments.

Portugal

Message

What I'm looking for

I seek research or engineering roles building accessible XR systems, collaborating cross-disciplinarily, with emphasis on real-world impact, publishing, and teaching.

I am a PhD student researching XR accessibility, developing multimodal inputs (eye-tracking, BCI, voice) and AI-driven systems to make virtual environments more accessible for people with disabilities.

My work blends engineering, programming and neuroscience — I have designed XR studios, developed Unity 3D environments, modeled fMRI data, and secured funding for immersive-technology projects in education.

I collaborate across disciplines and with European stakeholders to produce guidelines, workshops and publishable research, aiming to translate technical innovation into social impact.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Teaching Assistant

Current

CMU Portugal Academy

Jan 2025 - Present (11 months)

Designed and guided XR Studio projects, mentoring participants in hands-on collaboration, design, and prototyping to introduce XR concepts and workflows.

Prototyping Teaching Mentoring Workshop Facilitation Collaboration

Current

Ph.D. Student

Current

Instituto Superior Técnico

Conducting Ph.D. research on multimodal inputs and AI for accessibility in virtual environments, developing VR, eye-tracking, and BCI solutions to improve gaming for disabled individuals.

Eye Tracking Python AI ML Experimental Design

Cost Action Member

LEAD-ME

Jan 2024 - Present (1 year 11 months)

Active member of the LEAD-ME media accessibility project, organizing workshops and seminars and collaborating with European stakeholders to develop accessibility guidelines and best practices.

Accessibility Stakeholder Engagement Public Speaking

Researcher & Technician

CEPRA XVI

Jan 2022 - Present (3 years 11 months)

Secured funding and developed immersive technologies for physics education, built XR environments, rendered 3D models in Unity, and published review articles on immersive tech in education.

Unity 3D Modeling Educational Technology Research Scientific Writing

Teaching Assistant

Neuromatch Academy

Jan 2021 - Present (4 years 11 months)

Served as teaching assistant for an online computational neuroscience course, leading discussions, tutoring coding, and supporting topics in biological principles and machine learning.

Python Teaching Tutoring Machine Learning

Intern

Max Planck Institute

Jan 2020 - Present (5 years 11 months)

Conducted Representation Similarity Analysis on fMRI data, modeled BOLD signals and contributed to voxel-level lexical representation analyses using Python and Matlab.

FMRI Analysis Representation Similarity Analysis Python Matlab BOLD Modeling Neuroimaging Data Analysis

Education

Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework

Instituto Superior Técnico

Ph.D., XR for Accessibility

Activities and societies: Research, workshops, seminars, collaboration with stakeholders on media accessibility (LEAD-ME)

Ongoing Ph.D. research on multimodal inputs for game control and accessibility using VR, eye tracking, BCI devices, and AI to enhance gaming for disabled individuals.

Instituto Superior Técnico

Master in Microelectronics, Microelectronics

2022 - 2022

Activities and societies: Study of electronic components, microcircuit fabrication, and C++ programming

Master in Microelectronics focusing on stability and behavior of dynamical systems and design of controllers and observers for non-linear systems.

Yachay Tech University

Engineering in Nanotechnology, Nanotechnology

2021 - 2021

Activities and societies: Computational physics (Python, Mathematica, Matlab), biosignal processing, game design exposure

Engineering in Nanotechnology bilingual program with research, internship, and lab experience; focus on computational physics and biosignal processing.