Elena García Armada

Spanish engineer
Elena García Armada
Elena García Armada in 2018
Born1971 (1971)
Valladolid, Spain
EducationTechnical University of Madrid
Occupation(s)Engineer, roboticist
Websitehttps://car.upm-csic.es/author/?id=7402249975

Elena Garcia Armada (b. 1971 Valladolid, Spain) is a Spanish researcher, roboticist, business founder and industrial engineer who leads the CSIC group at the Center for Automation and Robotics, (CAR) CSIC-UPM[1] that has developed the first bionic exoskeleton for children with spinal muscular atrophy, for which she received the European Inventor Award Popular Prize in 2022.[2]

Early life and education

Elena Garcia Armada was born in Valladolid, Spain in 1971. She received a doctorate in robotic engineering in 2002 from the Polytechnic University of Madrid by her work “Optimizing the speed and stability of legged robots in natural environments”.[3] She began a career in industry-orientated robotics at the Center for Automation and Robotics, (CAR) CSIC-UPM,[1] as a postdoctoral research fellow.[4] She completed her training at the Leg Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[5]

Daniela

In 2009, Garcia met Daniela, a six-year-old girl who had become tetraplegic as a result of a traffic accident.[6] Garcia became determined to engineer paediatric robotic exoskeletons, which were not available in medicine at the time.[4] The goal of these exoskeletons was to provide gait assistance to contribute to the rehabilitation of injured children or children suffering from degenerative neuromuscular diseases.[6]

Career

Garcia continues to work for CAR as a Tenured senior scientist within the Centre for Automation and Robotics (CSIC-UPM). She leads her own research group creating artificial legs and quadrupeds developing versatile artificial muscles.[5] The aim of the groups research is to improve the performance of legged robots, including, active compliance in foot-ground interaction, developing new actuators, improving dynamic stability, and designing and controlling agile quadrupeds and lower-limb exoskeletons for mobility aid.[5]

Garcia cofounded Marsi Bionics in 2013 as a spin-off of CAR. It builds adjustable paediatric exoskeletons that incorporate small motors to mimic muscle movements and provide the person with the strength to walk.[6]

During her Career, Garcia has published 80 international scientific articles and one book on legged locomotion. Additionally, Garcia is a member of the editorial board of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.[5]

Awards and honors

In 2020, Robohub (an online communication platform about robotics) considered Garcia as one of the "30 women in robotics you need to know about".[7]
In 2021, she received the Community of Madrid "Fermina Orduña" Technological Innovation Award,[8] and a Honorable Mention as Industrial Engineer of the Year from Colegio de Ingenieros Industriales de Madrid (COIIM).[9]
In 2022, she received the Red Cross Gold Medal, [10] a Special Mention in the I UICM Professional Woman Awards[11] and the Business Insiders "Better Capitalism Top Insiders 2022" Award.[12] In June 2022 she received the European Inventor Award Popular Prize,[2] awarded by the European Patent Office (EPO), for her paediatric exoskeleton design. [13]
In February 2023, Garcia was named Doctor honoris causa by Miguel de Cervantes European University, in Valladolid.[14]
In March 2023, she received a "Premio Nacional de Discapacidad Reina Letizia" Research and Innovation Award from Government of Spain Ministry of Social Affairs (Spain)[15] and the Community of Madrid acknowledged Garcia with a Technology Award in "Reconocimientos 8 de Marzo a mujeres destacadas por su talento y liderazgo".[16]
In July 2022, the Spanish Federation of Executive, Professional and Managerial Women (FEDEPE) acknowledged Garcia with the Leadership Professional Woman Award.[17]

Research and publications

Books

  • García Armada, Elena (2022). Los Robots y sus capacidades (in Spanish). Los Libros de la Catarata: Madrid : Editorial CSIC Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. p. 140. ISBN 84-1352-394-X.
  • García Armada, Elena (2015). Robots (in Spanish). Los Libros de la Catarata: Madrid : Editorial CSIC Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. p. 94. ISBN 978-84-00-09914-5.
  • Gonzalez de Santos, Pablo; Garcia, Elena; Estremera, Joaquin (2006). Quadrupedal Locomotion. Springer-Verlag London Limited. p. 277. ISBN 978-1-84628-307-9.

Research articles

  • Garcia Armada, E (February 2009). "Robots que caminan". Investigación y Ciencia (389): 8–9.
  • Garcia, E; González de Santos, P (2001). "Soft computing techniques for improving foot trajectories in walking machines". Journal of Robotic Systems. 18: 343–356. doi:10.1002/rob.1028. hdl:10261/7888.
  • Garcia Armada, E; González de Santos, P; Canudas de Wit, C (2002). "Velocity dependence in the cyclic friction arising with gears". The International Journal of Robotics Research. 21 (9): 761–771. doi:10.1177/0278364902021009877. hdl:10261/7864. S2CID 1411236.
  • Garcia Armada, E; Estremera, J; Gonzalez de Santos, P (2002). "A comparative study on stability margins for walking machines". Robotica. 20 (6): 595–606. doi:10.1017/S0263574702004502. hdl:10261/8219. S2CID 28590143.
  • Garcia Armada, E; Galvez, J.A.; Gonzalez de Santos, P (2003). "On finding the relevant dynamics for model based controlling walking robots". Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems. 37 (4): 375–398. doi:10.1023/A:1026104815610. S2CID 32158349.
  • Garcia Armada, E; González de Santos, P (2004). "Mobile Robot Navigation with Complete Coverage of Unstructured Environments". Robotics and Autonomous Systems. 46 (4): 195–204. doi:10.1016/j.robot.2004.02.005. hdl:10261/12814.
  • Garcia Armada, E; González de Santos, P (2005). "An improved energy stability margin for walking machines subject to dynamic effects". Robotica. 23 (1): 13–20. doi:10.1017/S0263574704000487. S2CID 6669366.
  • Garcia Armada, E; González de Santos, P (2006). "On the Improvement of Walking Performance in Natural Environments by a Compliant Adaptive Gait". IEEE Transactions on Robotics. 22 (6): 1240–1253. doi:10.1109/TRO.2006.884343. hdl:10261/7869. S2CID 1629387.
  • Garcia Armada, E; Jiménez, M.A.; Gonzalez de Santos, P; Armada, M.A. (2007). "The Evolution of Robotics Research from Industrial Robotics to Field and Service Robotics". IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine. 14 (1): 90–103. doi:10.1109/MRA.2007.339608. S2CID 16854708.
  • Garcia Armada, E; González de Santos, P; Matia, F (2008). "Dealing with Internal and External Perturbations on Walking Robots". Autonomous Robots. 24 (3): 213–227. doi:10.1007/s10514-007-9079-y. S2CID 36269354.
  • Garcia Armada, E; Arevalo, J.C.; Muñoz, G; Gonzalez de Santos, P (2011). "Combining series-elastic actuation and magneto-rheological damping for the control of agile locomotion". Robotics and Autonomous Systems. 59 (10): 827–839. doi:10.1016/j.robot.2011.06.006.
  • Garcia Armada, E; Arevalo, J.C.; Muñoz, G; Gonzalez de Santos, P (2011). "On the Biomimetic Design of Agile-Robot Legs". Sensors. 11 (12): 11305–11334. Bibcode:2011Senso..1111305G. doi:10.3390/s111211305. PMC 3251984. PMID 22247667.
  • Garcia Armada, E; González de Santos, P (2013). "Modular and versatile platform for the benchmarking of modern actuators for robots". Smart Structures and Systems. 11 (2): 135–161. doi:10.12989/sss.2013.11.2.135.
  • Garcia Armada, E; Arevalo, J; Cestari, M; Sanz-Merodio, D (2015). "On the technological instantiation of a biomimetic leg concept for agile locomotion". ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics. 7 (3).
  • Sanz-Merodio, D; Puyuelo, G; Ganguly, A; Garces, E; Goñi, A; Garcia, E (2020). "EXOtrainer Project Clinical Evaluation of Gait Training with Exoskeleton in Children with Spinal Muscular Atrophy". Advances in Robotics Research: From Lab to Market. 132: 211–227. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-22327-4_10. hdl:10261/226193.

References

  1. ^ a b "CAR (CSIC-UPM)". Centre for Automation and Robotics. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b "All the winners: European Inventor Award 2022". Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Optimización de la estabilidad y la velocidad de robots caminantes". Tesis doctorales: TESEO (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Biography of Elena García, Spanish computer Scientist". Salient Women. Salientwomen.com. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d "Elena García Armada". Biography at CAR (CSIC-UPM). Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  6. ^ a b c "Elena Garcia Armada". Entre Cientificas. Fundación Séneca-Agencia de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Región de Murcia. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  7. ^ "30 women in robotics you need to know about – 2020". Robohub. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Elena García Armada (CAR, CSIC-UPM), "Fermina Orduña" 2021 Technological Innovation Award of the Community of Madrid". RoboCity2030.org. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  9. ^ "Llegan las Menciones Honoríficas 2021, ¿quieres conocer a los premiados?" (in Spanish). Colegio Oficial de Ingenieros Industriales de Madrid. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  10. ^ "S.M. la Reina entrega las Medallas de Oro de Cruz Roja" (in Spanish). Cruz Roja. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  11. ^ "Unión Interprofesional otorga el I Premio Mujer Profesional a la primera Ingeniero de Minas de España, María Dolores Norte" (in Spanish). UICM. 9 March 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Top Insiders 2022: El mundo cambia. Elige a los líderes que lo están transformando". Business Insider España (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  13. ^ "Meet the finalists. Elena Garcia Armada". EPO. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  14. ^ "La experta internacional en robótica Elena García Armada, Doctora Honoris Causa por la UEMC". Universidad Europea Miguel de Cervantes (in Spanish). 10 February 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  15. ^ "Luis Cayo y la investigadora Elena García Armada, entre los galardonados con los Premios Nacionales de Discapacidad". Europa Press (in Spanish). 24 March 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  16. ^ "La Comunidad de Madrid entrega los Reconocimientos 8 de Marzo a mujeres destacadas por su talento y liderazgo". Comunidad de Madrid (in Spanish). 13 March 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  17. ^ "Reconocimiento a las mujeres en la vanguardia española de la robótica, la inteligencia artificial, la investigación biomédica y la gestión cultural" (in Spanish). FEDEPE. 13 July 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
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