José M. Azorín - Brain-Machine Interface Systems Lab

Professor

Departamento de Ingeniería de Sistemas y Automática
Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche
Avda. Universidad s/n, Edif. Innova, 03202 Elche (Alicante), Spain
E-mail:   URL (teaching): http://www.umh.es/profesores/fichaprofesor.asp?NP=5404
Phone: + 34 96 665 8902
Fax: + 34 96 665 8979
Twitter: @jmazorin

ACADEMIC STUDIES AND QUALIFICATIONS

October 2003: PhD on Robotics: Summa Cum Laude (Award for the Best Thesis of the Department). Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Spain
July 1997: MSc on Computer Science. Alicante University, Spain.

WORK EXPERIENCE

From Nov. 2017: Professor with Tenure of the Systems Engineering and Automation Department at Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Spain.
Jan. 2017 – Jul. 2017: Visiting Researcher in the Laboratory for Noninvasive Brain- Machine Interface Systems (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering) at University of Houston (USA).
Dec. 2003 to Nov. 2017: Associate Professor with Tenure of the Systems Engineering and Automation Department at Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Spain.
Jun. 2011 to May 2015: Head of the Systems Engineering and Automation Department at Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Spain.
Jul. 2010 – Aug. 2010: Visiting Researcher in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London (United Kingdom).
Oct. 2000 – Dec. 2003: Assistant Professor of the Industrial Systems Engineering Department at Miguel Hernández University of Elche.
Sep. 2000: Visiting Researcher at INRIA (National Research Center of Computer Science and Automatioin) – Sophia Antipolis (France).
Aug. 1999: Visiting Researcher at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil).
Feb. 1999 – Oct. 2000: Researcher at the Department of Engineering at Miguel Hernández University of Elche. Grant of the Spanish Government.

MANAGEMENT, INTERNATIONAL DUTIES

April 2016 – to date: Member of the IEEE Brain Initiative Core Team
Sept. 2013 – to date: Distinguished Lecturer, IEEE Systems Council
2013 – 2017: IEEE Systems Council Representative to IEEE Region 8 Chapter Coordinating Committee.
2012 – 2017: Member of the Advisory Committee of the IEEE Systems Council (RAS Representative Member).
2012 – 2017: Member of the Publications Board of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS).

CURRENT PROJECTS

Jan. 2019 – Dec. 2021: WALK – Controlling lower-limb exoskeletons by means of brain-machine interfaces to assist people with walking disabilities. Role: PI. Funding agencies: Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; Spanish State Agency of Research; and European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (RTI2018-096677-B-I00).
Jan. 2015 – Dec. 2019: Associate – Decoding and stimulation of motor and sensory brain activity to support long term potentiation through Hebbian and paired associative stimulation during rehabilitation of gait. Role: PI. Funding agency: Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Spain (DPI2014-58431-C4-2-R).
Jan. 2016 – Dec. 2019: Reasiste – Iberoamerican Network on Rehabilitation and Assistance of Patients with Neurologic Damage using Low-Cost Robotic Exoskeletons. Role: PI. Funding agency: Iberoamerican Program of Science and Technology for the Development (CYTED).

SELECTED PREVIOUS PROJECTS

Dic. 2015 – Nov. 2017: NeuroTec – Research Network on Neurotechnologies for Assistance and Rehabilitation. Role: PI. Funding agency: Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Spain (DPI2015-69098-REDT).
Oct. 2013 – Sept. 2016: BioMot – Smart Wearable Robots with Bioinspired Sensory-Motor Skills. Role: UMH Coordinator. Funding agency: European Union under Grant Agreement number FP7-ICT-2013-10-611695.
Jan. 2012 – Dec. 2014: Development of a Multimodal Brain-Neural Interface to Control an Exoskeletal – Neuroprosthesis Hybrid Robotic System for the Upper Limb. Role: Coordinator. Funding agency: Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Spain).
Jan. 2012 – Dec. 2015: Iberada – Iberoamerican network for the study and development of ICT applications based on interfaces adapted to people with disabilities. Role: PI. Funding agency: Iberoamerican Program of Science and Technology for the Development (CYTED).
Feb. 2013 – Feb. 2014: Communication system of basic needs based on EEG signals for people with severe brain damage. Role: Coordinator. Funding agency: MAPFRE Foundation (Spain).
Oct. 2010 – Jun. 2012: Multimodal interfaces to improve therApeutic outcomes in robot-Assisted rehabiliTation (MAAT). Role: Researcher. Funding agency: European Union (Framework Programme 7) project ECHORD (European clearing house for open robotics development)
Jan. 2009 – Dec. 2011: Control of Telerobotic Systems by Advanced Interfaces for Disabled People. Role: Coordinator. Funding agency: Ministry of Science and Innovation (Spain).
March 2010 – March 2011: Internet Browsing System based on Electrooculography for Disabled People. Role: Coordinator. Funding agency: MAPFRE Foundation (Spain).
Jan. 2008 – March 2009: Non-invasive Brain Interface for Disabled People to Control a Domotic System. Role: Coordinator. Funding agency: MAPFRE Foundation (Spain).
Jan. 2006 – Dec. 2009: Development of multifunctional microprobe arrays for cerebral applications. Role: Researcher. Funding agency: European Union (Framework Programme 6).

JCR SELECTED PUBLICATIONS (Google Cites)

EDITORIAL BOARDS

2013: Guest Editor for the Special Issue on «Systems-related topics in Robotics & Automation for human health» of IEEE Systems Journal.
2012: Guest Editor for the Special Issue on «Multimodal Human-Robots Interfaces» of IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Part C: Applications and Reviews.
2012: Guest Editor for the Special Issue on «Human-Robot Interaction/Interface» of Applied Bionics & Biomechanics.
2011: Guest Editor for the Special Issue on «Interfaces y sistemas en rehabilitación y compensación funcional para la autonomía personal y la terapia clínica» of Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática Industrial.

SELECTED INVITED LECTURES

“Brain-Machine Interfaces for Rehabilitation Exoskeletons”. International Workshop on Assistive Technology. 2-6 February 2015. Vitoria, Brazil.
“Neuro-interfacing with Robotic Exoskeletons”. Technology & Medicine Fall 2014 Seminar Series. Organized by: Columbia Engineering & Columbia Medical Center. Columbia University. November 18, 2014. New York City, USA.
“BMI control of robotic exoskeletons”, Tutorial on Brain-Machine Interaction: From Neural Decoding to Real-World Applications. IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics. October 5-8, 2014, San Diego, CA, USA.
“Neural interfacing in the BioMot EU project”, Session 1.2: Neural Interfacing with WRs. International Workshop on Wearable Robotics. 14-19 September 2014, Baiona, Spain.
“Brain-Machine Interfaces for Robotic Exoskeletons”. Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante (Spanish Research Council, CSIC, and Miguel Hernandez University of Elche). May 23, 2014.
“Neuro-Robotics Interfaces”. Session about “Neuroscience and robotics to develop assistive devices in rehabilitation therapy”. XXXI National Conference of Medicine Students. IX International Edition. October 16, 2013.
“Controlling robots using brain-machine interfaces”. School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. University of Manchester. Manchester (The United Kingdom). July 16, 2013.
“Interacting with robots using brain-computer interfaces”. Department of Mechanical Engineering. University of South Florida. Tampa, Florida (USA). April 16, 2013.
“Using Brain-Machine Interfaces in Rehabilitation Robotics”. BioRob 2012 Workshop on Innovative Technologies for Rehabilitation Exoskeletons. Rome (Italy). June 24, 2012.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEES

SSNR 2013. Organizing Committee Member of the 2013 Summer School on Neurorehabilitation, September 15-20, Elche, Spain.
SysCon 2013 – Tutorial. Organizer of the Tutorial on «Brain-Machine Interface (BMI) Systems» in conjunction with the IEEE Systems Conference, April 15 – 18, 2013, Orlando, Florida, USA.
BioRob 2012 – Workshop. Co-Organizer of the Workshop on «Innovative Technologies for Rehabilitation Exoskeletons» in conjunction with the IEEE International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, June 24-27, 2012, Roma, Italy.
IWINAC 2011 – Session. Co-Organizer of the session «New Challenges in Brain-Machine Interfaces» in the framework of the 4th. INTERNATIONAL WORK-CONFERENCE?on the INTERPLAY between NATURAL and ARTIFICIAL COMPUTATION -IWINAC2011, May 30 – June 3, 2011.
ICRA 2010 – Workshop. Co-Organizer of the ICRA Workshop on «Multimodal Human-Robot Interfaces» in conjunction with the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 3-8, 2010, Anchorage, Alaska.
ICRA 2009 – Workshop. Co-Organizer of the ICRA Workshop on «Interfacing the Human and the Robot (IHR)» in conjunction with the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 12-17, 2009, Kobe, Japan.
Bioengineering Simposium 2009. Chair of the Spanish CEA Bioengineering Simposium, June 1-2, 2009, Elche, Alicante, Spain.
EURON-UMH Winter School 2008. Organizing Committee Member of the Third International EURON-UMH Winter School on Rehabilitation Robotics, March 30 – April 4, 2008.
EURON-UMH Winter School 2007. Organizing Committee Member of the Second International EURON-UMH Winter School on Parallel Robots, March 25-30, 2007, Benidorm, Alicante, Spain.
EURON-UMH Winter School 2006. General Chair of the First International EURON-UMH Winter School on Telesurgery, March 26-31, 2006, Benidorm, Alicante, Spain.

SOCIETIES