Looking for Challenges

I earned a Master's degree in Automatic and Electronic Systems Engineering from the University of Seville. During the final years of my studies, I was an undergraduate researcher at GRVC, a leading robotics group with a strong international reputation in aerial and unmanned systems. My work -and Master's thesis- led to a patent, and I continued at GRVC as a graduate researcher to complete the design.

Later, I moved to Austria to work as a mechanical design engineer at FACC, an aeronautical company. The role was both challenging and rewarding, focusing on the design of mechanisms and interior components for business jets. I was recognized as an outstanding mechanical designer, and after saving some money, I decided to pursue my lifelong dream of moving to Japan.

I joined the wearables start-up 16Lab in Yokohama as Vice President of Engineering. The company was developing a smart ring, and my role involved creating methods and algorithms to define its interactions. I added five successful patents to my portfolio and contributed to the ring winning the Innovation Award at CEATEC Japan 2015 in the Home Entertainment category. Once the product was fully developed and the company shifted its focus to business development and commercial integration, I left my position at 16Lab to develop my own robotic designs.

I began working with Kim-sensei at Iwate University, where I had full freedom to pursue my own designs while contributing to research on forestry technologies and methodologies aimed at helping elderly populations in rural areas safely cut trees. As for my designs, I applied for two new patents: a robot joint (granted) and a high-ratio gearbox (under examination). A few years later, Kim sensei started a new company in Korea, and his laboratory at Iwate University closed. I decided to stay in Iwate, where I was getting married.

I started a family in Iwate and joined my wife in running her cram school, where we taught science, robotics, and programming to children. After two years, I joined Tsukuba University as a PhD student to develop my designs as part of my doctoral research in collaboration with the japanese National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). However, as my research group began a collaboration with the Moonshot R&D program, I shifted my focus to inflatable structures and pneumatic logic, which is my current area of research. My first paper on pneumatic logic will be presented at ICRA 2025, and I expect to complete my PhD in March 2026.