Team
JOSÉ LUIS GUZMÁN SÁNCHEZ
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
José Luis Guzmán Sánchez received the Computer Science Engineering degree and the European Ph.D. degree (extraordinary doctorate award) from the University of Almería, Spain, in 2002 and 2006, respectively. He started working at the University of Almería in 2001 with a scholarship and since then he has been linked to the University. Currently, and since September 2017, he is Full Professor of automatic control and system engineering with the University of Almería, where he also belongs to the Automatics, Robotics and Mechatronics research group. His research interests are focused on the fields of MPC techniques, PID control, feedforward control, and robust control with applications to mobile robots, agricultural processes, solar plants, and biotechnology. Moreover, he is very active in research on teaching/learning methodologies/technologies on control education.
JOSÉ CARLOS MORENO ÚBEDA
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
José Carlos Moreno Úbeda recieved the Computer Engineering degree at the University of Almería and the University of Murcia, graduating with honors. He began his academic career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Murcia and later moved to the University of Almería, where he obtained an FPI scholarship. He completed his Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2003, focusing on robust control of nonlinear systems. That same year, he became a University Lecturer and later a full Professor in 2010. His research interests include Robotics and Automatic Control, particularly in robust QFT control, PID control, and hierarchical control applied to agricultural processes, solar plants, and bioprocesses. His medium- to long-term goals are to develop control strategies that improve industrial efficiency and reduce operational costs, especially regarding conventional energy use. His short-term focus is on optimizing biomass production in industrial photobioreactors for renewable energy.
MANUEL BERENGUEL
ARM research group header / RESEARCH team
Manuel Berenguel is a professor of Systems and Automatic Engineering at the University of Almería, Spain. He holds a degree in Industrial Engineering (second in his class) and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering with an Extraordinary Doctorate Award from the University of Seville. His main research focuses on predictive and hierarchical control, with applications in energy systems (including solar energy), agriculture, and biotechnology. His medium- to long-term goals include developing control strategies that enable efficient operation, reduce costs (particularly those related to conventional energy use), and optimize performance through the use of renewable energy. He is also involved in automation education, developing interactive learning tools, virtual and remote laboratories, and e-books. He served as Vice-Rector for ICT at the University of Almería (2007-2012) and has led the “Automation, Robotics, and Mechatronics” group at the University since 2000.
JUAN DIEGO GIL VERGEL
RESEARCH TEAM
Dr. Juan D. Gil is currently an Associate Professor in the Systems Engineering and Automatic Control Area of the Department of Informatics of the University of Almería (Spain). Before his current position, he received a B.S. degree in Industrial Electronic Engineering, M.S. degrees in Advanced and Industrial Computing and Industrial Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Almería, in 2015, 2016, 2019, and 2020, respectively. He also obtained the Laurea in Ingegneria dell’Automazione Industriale from the University of Brescia (Italy) in 2016. His thesis was awarded the best Ph.D. thesis in Control Engineering during the 2019-2021 edition of the award call organized by the Spanish Committee of Automatic Control. Juan D. Gil’s main research line consists of the application of predictive and hierarchical control techniques in different fields such us solar thermal systems, desalination, and agriculture.
JOSÉ LUIS BLANCO CLARACO
RESEARCH team
José Luis Blanco Claraco is a Full Professor (Catedrático de Universidad) at the University of Almería and a consultant specializing in mobile robotics for industrial applications. He is a member of the ARM TEP197 research group and was previously affiliated with the MAPIR Lab at the University of Málaga, where he earned a European Ph.D. in 2009 and an M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering in 2005. His research interests span robotics, computational dynamics, estimation theory, and computer vision. He has contributed to several research projects and had the opportunity to collaborate with leading laboratories, including the MRG Lab at Oxford University (2008) and the LIM Lab at the University of A Coruña (2013). Prof. Blanco Claraco is the lead developer of the Mobile Robot Programming Toolkit (MRPT), a widely recognized robotics software library with over 350 academic references, 89,000+ downloads, and contributions dating back to 2005. He has played a significant role in the academic community through his editorial work, serving as Senior Editor (2023–Present) for Localization and Mapping at the International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR), Associate Editor and Multimedia Editor (2017–2022) for IJRR, and Associate Editor (2015–2022) for IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L). He has also served on editorial boards for prestigious conferences, including RSS, ICRA, IROS, and ECMR, and has been actively involved in organizing committees and technical program reviews.
ÁNGELES HOYO SÁNCHEZ
WORK TEAM
Ángeles Hoyo Sánchez received a B.Sc. in Industrial Electronic Engineering and an M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Almería (Spain) in 2016 and 2018, respectively. She obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Almería in 2023, where she was honored with the distinction of an outstanding Ph.D. thesis. Ángeles is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Málaga in the Department of Automatic and Systems Engineering. Her research interests include PID control, control education, process control, and robust control, with applications in agricultural processes, solar energy, and biotechnology.
MALENA CAPARRÓZ
WORK team
Malena Caparroz holds a B.S. degree in Industrial Electronic Engineering, an M.S. in Advanced and Industrial Computing, and an M.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Almería. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science, focusing on the development and testing of advanced control techniques to optimize the combined process of microalgae production and wastewater treatment. Her research aims to contribute to sustainable solutions at the intersection of engineering, computing, and the environment, addressing global challenges such as efficient resource management and environmental protection. Malena is passionate about exploring innovative approaches through interdisciplinary collaboration and believes that integrating diverse perspectives can enrich research and lead to significant advancements in technological and environmental projects.
JOÃO LEMOS
WORK TEAM
João Miranda Lemos received the Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Technical University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal, in 1989, after extensive periods of work at the University of Florence, Florence, Italy.,He is a Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, IST, and Leader of the Dynamic Systems Control Research Group at Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores-R&D (INESC-ID), Lisbon, Portugal. His main research interests include modelling and control of dynamic systems.
ANTONIO VISIOLI
WORK team
Antonio Visioli was born in Parma , Italy, on August 21, 1970. He received the Laurea degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Parma in 1995. In 1999 he received the Ph.D. degree in Applied Mechanics from the University of Brescia, discussing a Ph.D. thesis entitled “Control strategies for industrial robot manipulators”. Currently, he holds a full professor position in Control Systems at the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering of the University of Brescia. He is a senior member of IEEE, the chair of the IFAC Technical Committee on Education, a member of the Technical Committee on Education of the IEEE Control Systems Society, the secretary of the subcommittee on Industrial Automated Systems and Control of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society Technical Committee on Factory Automation. His research interests include industrial controllers, mechatronics, dynamic inversion based control, fractional control, and anesthesia control.
TORE HÄGGLUND
WORK TEAM
Tore Hägglund received the M.Sc. degree in engineering physics and the Ph.D. degree in au- tomatic control from the Lund University, Lund, Sweden, in 1978 and 1984, respectively, where he is currently a Professor. He was with ABB, Lund, Sweden, from 1985 to 1989, where he was involved in the development of industrial adaptive controllers. His research is still per- formed in collaboration with the industry. He has authored or co-authored several books, e.g., Advanced PID Control. His current research interests include process control, tuning and adaptation, and supervision and detection.
JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ HERNÁNDEZ
WORK team
José González Hernández was born in Almeria, Spain. He obtained the degree in Electronic Engineering in 2020 and the Master in Industrial Engineering in 2023, from the University of Almeria, Spain, where he is a researcher since 2020 in the Automatic Control, Robotics and Mechatronics Group. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Hybrid control strategies and optimization for microalgae biorefineries based on machine learning techniques.
IGOR PATARO
WORK TEAM
Igor M.L. Pataro holds a B.S. in Process Control and Automation Engineering (2016) and an M.S. in Mechatronics Engineering (2019) from the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil. He conducted a research internship at the Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy, in 2018. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering (with Honors) from the University of Almería, Spain, in June 2024, with an International Mention after a research stay at the Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, in 2022. His research focuses on applying control engineering to optimize energy systems, with previous work on enhancing ethanol distillation and improving solar thermal energy system efficiency.
ENRIQUE RODRÍGUEZ MIRANDA
WORK team
Enrique Rodríguez Miranda was born in Almería on December 24, 1992. He obtained a degree in Electronic Engineering in 2015, a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering in 2017, and finished his doctoral stage in 2021, at the University of Almería, Spain, where he is a researcher at the Automatic Control, Robotics, and Mechatronics Group. He is currently working in the area of modeling and control focused on processes related to the production of microalgae biomass in open raceway-type reactors.
ELIA RUIPÉREZ ALGARRA
WORK TEAM
Elia Ruipérez Algarra holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Electronic Engineering and a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering at the University of Almería. She currently works as a Control and Process Engineer at the University of Almería, where she is involved in modeling, controlling, and optimizing microalgae production at an industrial and semi-industrial scale at the IFAPA research center. Her work includes maintaining key systems in the plant, designing and assembling PLC panels, programming PLCs, implementing communication protocols, and developing SCADA systems.
