Matteo Accardo joined the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in 2003 and is currently holding the position of Head of Instrumentation and Cryogenic systems group. As mechanical engineer he participated to the design, integration, testing and installation at the ESO observatories in Chile of a number of scientific instruments or instrument sub-systems, the majority of which are operating at cryogenic temperatures. Amongst other project activities, he is currently the lead cryo-mechanical engineer for the detector focal plane for HARMONI and METIS, two instruments in development for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). He is member of the ELT cryogenics infrastructure project office.