Joe da Costa is an Emeritus Professor at the School of Chemical Engineering, at The University of Queensland, Australia. He was an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow. He founded and was the Director of the FIM²Lab – Functional Interfacial Materials and Membranes Laboratory.

Joe has over 35 years working experience in industrial, consultancy and academic roles in Australia, Portugal, Brazil and England.  He has been involved in technology R&D for clean energy production. His R&D portfolio includes industrial projects with Johnson Matthey (UK) Fuel Cells, Saudi Aramco Petroleum (Saudi Arabia) hydrogen production from oil, hydrogen separation supported by Australian and German power companies, oxyfuel technology for CO₂ capture via the European Framework Seven program, hydrogen from coal gasification and solid sorbents to capture CO₂ via the Australian Cooperative Research Centres.

Joe had a secondment at the International Energy Agency Greenhouse Programme in the UK in 2009. Further, he was a member of the panel of experts advising the Queensland Government in Australia on underground coal gasification. Currently, Joe is an Invited Professor at NOVA School of Science and Technology.