Antonio J. del Ama Espinosa

I am a university professor and researcher in Wearable Robotics for movement assistance with a multi-disciplinary background. I started my research career as researcher in 2006 at the Biomechanics and Assistive Technology Unit of the National Hospital for Paraplegics, where I developed a research protocol and technology for manual wheelchair propulsion analysis. I received the Technological Innovation award from the Rodolfo Benito Samaniego foundation for this work. I also participated in several research projects related to movement biomechanics of lower and upper limb of spinal cord injured people and analysis of assistive technology. Later in 2008 I shifted towards wearable robots for movement assistance, where I developed my MSc & PhD studies. I am responsible for the first lower limb robotic exoskeleton developed in Spain: Kinesis exoskeleton. Furthermore, Kinesis was also the first Spanish hybrid exoskeleton combining FES and robotic actuation, and one of the few worldwide with automatic modulation of joint stiffness. The technology was further developed and transferred to TEchnaid and GoGoa companies and tested in a RCT clinical study. From 2017 to 2019 I was promoted to Head of the Biomechanics and Assistive Technology Unit until I moved to my current position as Associate Professor at the Rey Juan Carlos University. From 2015 to 2019 I was part-time lecturer at Castilla-La Mancha and Rey Juan Carlos Universities, teaching subjects related to Advanced Electronic Instrumentation and Control Engineering. From 2012 he is also a member of the Commission of Medical and Health Engineering of the Association of Industrial Engineers of Madrid. I have also participated on international research networks such as EU COST Action on Wearable Robots (CA16116) and the Red Iberoamericana de rehabilitación y asistencia de pacientes con exoewqueletos de bajo coste (CYTED-REASISTE: 216RT0504)
I have been involved in several competitive regional, national, and European projects related to lower limb wearable robots and motor neuroprosthetics for walking assistance as researcher (6) and PI (5): regional (EXOSTIM) European (BioMot, EXTEND, INTENTION) and National (TAILOR) competitive calls. I am author of 40 indexed publications: 32 in JCR and 8 in SJR; 29 Q1 & 12 Q2, and 87 contributions to national and international congress with peer-review.
My key focus and career goal are a) to develop modular robotic technology customizable to the user needs, b) to investigate synergies of robotic assistance with electrophysiological therapies, and c) to develop robot controllers that provide optimal rehabilitation outcomes. All of these focusing on the immediate transfer application.