Juan M. Gandarias is an Assistant Professor at the Systems Engineering and Automation Department at the University of Malaga, Spain, where he conducts his research in the Robotics and Mechatronics Lab. Previously, he received his B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Malaga, Spain, in 2015 with a spezialization in Robotics, Automation and Control. He received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechatronics Engineering from the University of Malaga in 2017 and 2020, respectively. During his PhD he was a Ph.D. visitor at the Soft Haptics & Robotics Lab at the University College London. Lately, from 2020 to 2023, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Human-Robot Interfaces and Interaction group at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), where he was a researcher in the Horizon-2020 project SOPHIA, ERC project Ergo-Lean, and the Real-Move project awarded with an ERC-POC grant. During his time in IIT he also participated in other projects, and academic and technology transfer initiatives. He has also contributed to several Spanish, Italian and European research projects related to search-and-rescue, physical robotic assistance, and Human-Robot Collaboration in Industrial environments. He is the author of several publications in flagship international journals and conferences in the fields of robotics and automation. He is also the inventor of one international patent. He has contributed as academic editor of special issues in scientific journals, conferences and international workshops. He has served as a reviewer for high-relevance journals and conferences such as IEEE RAM, RA-L, ICRA, IROS, ToH, or RCIM among others.

Awards and honors

• ICRA 2024 Best Paper Award Finalist on Human-Robot Interaction.
• IROS 2022 Best Paper Award Finalist on Mobile Manipulation sponsored by OMRON Sinic X Corp.
• Best PhD in Mechatronics Engineering Award from the University of Malaga.
• Ph.D. Thesis with honors (Cum Laude). Intelligent Haptic Perception for Physical Robot Interaction.
• Travel award IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2022).
• Grant from the European Commission for the completion of the Ph.D. Thesis. BES-2016-078237.
• M.S. Thesis with honors. Applications of tactile perception to rescue robotics, 2017.
• B.S. Thesis with honors. Enhanced control of an admittance-type haptic device for education, 2015.

Workshops Organization

• IROS WS, “Workshop on Assistive Robotic Systems for Human Balancing and Walking: Emerging Trends and Perspectives”, 2022.
• Humanoids WS,"Workshop on Floating-base Robots in Manufacturing and Logistics Operations: Opportunities and Challenge" 2021.

Committees

• IEEE International Congerence on Autonomous Robots (ICAR), Associate Editor, 2023.
• Teh Sixth Iberian Robotics Conference (ROBOT), International Program Committee, 2023.
• IEEE RAS Young Reviewers Program, Senior Reviewer, 2023.
• IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts (ARSO), Session Chair, 2023.
• Frontiers in Robotics and AI - Robot Design, Review Editor, 2022.
• MDPI Sensors, Guest Editor of the Special Issue on Robotic Contact with the Human Body in Physical Human-Robot Interaction, edition I (2021) and edition II (2024).