Mario Muñoz Organero - my time in CATCH

For the last year here in CATCH we have been highly fortunate to be joined by visiting Professor Mario Muñoz Organero from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain where he is an Associate Professor in Telematics Engineering.

During this time, Professor Muñoz Organero has collaborated on live projects, contributed to proposals, made new connections, kicked-off new collaborations and travelled to international conferences and events.

“I’ve participated in a number of activities with CATCH including three workshops with three groups of people (stroke survivors, knee pains and healthy controls) for the  SMART-STROKE  project. This was in conjunction with Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Yorkshire and Humber (CLAHRC YH) and the Telehealth and Care Technologies (TaCT) theme. Here the individuals used an insole with pressure sensors from Kinematix to record the way they walk. We have already contributed to two jointly produced papers here and we’re hoping to write two more”. Professor Muñoz Organero has also further developed machine learning techniques for predicting stress while driving based on the heart rate variability sensor and is currently moving forward a couple of publications here.

Mario has fully made the most of his time in CATCH having built connections that will continue to be valuable for future international collaborations for years to come. He is already moving forward on a European proposal with the team: “During this year here in CATCH I have had the great opportunity to meet a team of marvelous people and excellent researchers and I have learnt a lot from them.” Mario also paid special thanks to Professor Mark Hawley, Centre Director, for his continuous support in his research activities.

Through his attendance at the IN-LIFE project workshop and Med-e-Tel conference in Luxembourg as well as regular attendance at CATCH Networking Lunches, Mario has been able to discuss ideas with many academics and prospective partners. His connections also span institutions having collaborated with Sheffield Hallam University in activity detection based on accelerometer sensors. This work has aided the development of Bayesian algorithms for detecting movements based on single accelerometers.

Professor Muñoz Organero has also shared his expertise in contributing to proposals submitted to the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme and proposals to industrial partners.

We wish Mario every success in his future research and we will no doubt continue to collaborate with him in writing papers, submitting proposals, research visits and developing assistive technology tools.

In CATCH, we’re committed to the UK remaining a welcoming home of global scholarship and we will continue to ensure our research knows no geographical boundaries.

To find out more about the #WeAreInternational campaign and to show your support, visit http://www.weareinternational.org.uk/

Written by Prof. Mario Muñoz Organero