Daniel Vella obtained his Bachelor's degree in Science (Chemistry and Biology) from the University of Malta in 1996 and his Master's degree in Chemistry in 2001. In 2013 he successfully defended a PhD in Materials Engineering from the University of Malta. The title of his thesis is “Inorganic and Hybrid transparent protective coatings for clean and corroded steel surfaces – a conservation alignment approach”. The thesis work involved the development and testing of ‘conservation-friendly' coatings for historical steel surfaces, namely munitions and knight armour from the Palace Armoury in Valletta. He joined the Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering within the faculty of Engineering as assistant lecturer in 2009 and now holds the post of full time lecturer since 2013. Dr Vella lectures courses in Introductory Materials Science, Corrosion Degradation and Composite Materials. He is also involved in the Masters in Conservation Course offered by the Faculty of Built Environment, (Department of Built Heritage) where he delivers courses in introductory Science for Conservation, and Cleaning of Painted Surfaces and Stone.

Prior to joining the University, Dr Vella held the position of analytical Chemist with Enemalta Corporation (1996-2002) and later Assistant Lecturer/Scientist with the Malta Centre for Restoration/ Heritage Malta (2002-2009). During his time at Heritage Malta, Dr Vella delivered courses in Chemistry and Materials Science for Art Conservation within the Bachelors Degree Course in Conservation and Restoration Studies and was responsible for the day to day running of the Diagnostic Science Laboratories. During his time at Heritage Malta, Dr Vella was also heavily involved in the European funded FP6 Project PROMET (Protection of Metals in the Mediterranean Basin) that ran between 2004 and 2008.