Here you can find some of the brilliant minds who work with me at University of Seville. Our team is composed of dedicated individuals at various stages of their academic journey, including current PhD students and visiting scholars who bring fresh perspectives and collaborative opportunities. I also proudly present my former PhD students who have successfully completed their doctoral studies and are now making significant contributions in diverse fields.
Current Postdocs
PhD in Automation, Electronics, and Telecommunications Engineering
Sara Ruiz-Moreno received the her Bachelor’s and Master's degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Seville (Spain) in 2019 and 2021, respectively. She obtained her Ph.D. in 2025 at University of Seville under the supervision of Eduardo Fernández Camacho and Antonio Javier Gallego Len and under the Spanish University Professor Training Program (FPU). Her tesis deals with fault diagnosis and control of solar termal systems with artificial intelligence. Currently she works within the project Coalitional Control for Cyber-Physical Systems Optimization: Round 3 (ref. PID2023-152876OB-I00), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.
Current PhD students
FPI Grantee
Fernando Fernández Calatayud received a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering (Hardware) in 2022 from the University of Seville, where he developed a Bluetooth hand-held device to control the computer mouse cursor for his Bachelor’s Thesis.
Between late 2022 and early 2025, he completed his Master’s Degree in Computer Engineering at Pablo de Olavide University (Seville). During this period, he also worked for more than a year and a half as a Research Assistant in the Service Robotics Lab and developed the ARS_548_RDI driver for ROS2 (available on GitHub).
In 2025, he began his PhD studies in the Department of Systems and Automation Engineering at the University of Seville, under the supervision of Dr. J. M. Maestre and Dr. A. J. Gallego. His current research focuses on fault-tolerant control applied to solar plant systems.
FPU Grantee
Irene Luque received the B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering in 2020 and the M.S. degree in Robotics and Automation Engineering in 2022, both from the University of Seville, Spain. She is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in Automation Engineering at the same institution under the Spanish University Professor Training Program (FPU). She worked for ERC Advanced Grant OCONTSOLAR between 2021 and 2022. Her research focuses on model predictive control and cybersecurity approaches for cyber-physical systems.
FPI Grantee
Andrés Hernández Rivera received a Bachelor's degree in Robotics and Electronics Engineering from the University of Seville (2019). He also earned his Master's in Industrial Engineering with a specialization in automation from this institution in 2021 and additionally, a Master's in Electronic, Robotic and Automation Engineering in 2022. In 2021, he started his PhD studies in the Systems and Automation Engineering department of the University of Seville under the supervision of Dr J. M. Maestre and Dr Ascensión Zafra-Cabeza. His research interests include the application of automatic control techniques, such as Stochastic Model Predictive Control or fault-tolerance algorithms, in various fields, primarily biomedical and energy.
Airbus System Engineer
Francisco Lopez has studied Industrial Engineering, with a master thesis in control of water canals controlled with Mobile MPC Technologies (Mobile MPC). He has more than 5 years of working experience, and currently he is working for Airbus as Systems Engineer for Environmental Control Systems (Air -conditioning and pneumatic systems). In 2019 he started his PhD in the area of control with Agents-In-the-Loop, involving topics such as coalitional control and irrigation canals with human-in-the-loop. The aim of his thesis is to model and control systems where a human operator is embedded within the control loop, trying to propose different optimal and sub-optimal options aimed to achieve the control targets while preserving the overall system stability. His supervisors are F. J. Muros and J. M. Maestre.
Egyptian Scholarship Grantee
Mohamed Elkerdany received his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering in 2016 and his M.Sc. in 2022 from the Military Technical College in Cairo, Egypt, where he also served as a teaching assistant. He is currently pursuing his PhD in the Department of Systems and Automation Engineering at the University of Seville under the supervision of Prof. José María Maestre. His research focuses on energy management systems for electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, with particular emphasis on model predictive control (MPC), power electronics, and multi-energy optimization. His work aims to develop advanced EMS–BMS predictive control strategies that enhance endurance, autonomy, and energy efficiency in next-generation vehicle platforms.
Former PhD students
Technical Research Centre (TRC), Cairo, Egypt
Ahmed Hassan received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the Military Technical College (Cairo, Egypt) in 2010 and 2017, respectively, and completed his PhD in 2024 at the University of Seville under the supervision of J. R. Domínguez-Frejo and J. M. Maestre. His thesis, “Enhancing Stability in Electric Vehicles with In‑Wheel Motors,” employs neural networks and MPC to address oversteer/understeer in critical cornering. His research interests include vehicle dynamics, predictive control, and learning‑based control for EVs with in‑wheel motors.
FPU Grantee
Teresa Araúz received her Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Seville in 2019. After that, she became a pre-doctoral fellow at the Dept. of Systems and Automation Engineering, University of Seville, under the supervision of prof. E. F. Camacho and J. M. Maestre. She finished her PhD in 2025, with the thesis "Cybersecurity in model-based control: resilient
design and software rejuvenation methods".
Postdoc at University of Waterloo
Roza Ranjbar received her B.Sc. in Civil Engineering in 2013 from the University of Guilan (Iran) and her M. Sc. in Water and Hydraulic Structure Engineering in 2017 from Khajeh Nasir Toosi University of Technology (Iran). In 2020, she became a PhD student in a joint project between IMT-Lille-Douai and University of Seville, with supervisors from both institutions. In 2024, she finished her PhD "Model Predictive Controller for large-scale systems - Application to water networks" and became a postdoc at University of Waterloo, Canada.
Senior Researcher at Idener
Ana Sánchez Amores received her Bachelor’s and Master's degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Seville (Spain) in 2019 and 2021, respectively. In 2018, she became a pre-doctoral fellow at the Systems and Automation Engineering department of the University of Seville, under the supervision of J. M. Maestre and E. F. Camacho. She finished her PhD in 2024 with the PhD thesis Coalitional Model Predictive Control based on Partial Cooperation and currently she works in Idener. Her research interest focuses on developing coalitional model predictive control strategies where partial modes of cooperation are permitted.
Assistant Professor at University of Cádiz
Javier García Martín is industrial engineer (BSc.+MSc.). His master thesis consisted of the adaptation of an open source submersible Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) for monitoring environmental parameters and he performed an Erasmus internship at Azorean Aquatic Technologies (Lisbon), where the idea was to develop a product with these same characteristics from scratch. After this experience, he worked in two different firms for several years: Ernst and Young and ZonoSistem.
He did his PhD. with the research group of Automation and Industrial Robotics under the supervision of J. M. Maestre and E. F. Camacho. His thesis developed new algorithms for the distributed estimation of irradiance in a solar thermal plant using a fleet of robots.
Assistant professor at Politecnico di Milano
Eva Masero Rubio received a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Industrial Automatics Engineering from the University of Extremadura (Spain) in 2016. From March 2017 to June 2017, she worked as a Junior Research Assistant at Allbesmart (Portugal). In 2018, she received a Master’s degree in Electronics, Robotics and Automatics Engineering from the University of Seville (Spain).
She became a pre-doctoral fellow to do her PhD at Dept. of Systems and Automation Engineering, University of Seville, under the supervision of prof. E. F. Camacho and J. M. Maestre. She worked in the field of the Coalitional Model Predictive Control (MPC).
Assistant Professor at TU Eindhoven
Paula Chanfreut received her Master degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Seville (Spain) in 2019. She became a pre-doctoral fellow under the University Professor Training Program (FPU) at the Dept. of Systems and Automation Engineering, University of Seville, under the supervision of prof. E. F. Camacho and J. M. Maestre. She did her PhD thesis in the field of the Coalitional Model Predictive Control.
Technical Manager of Network Operation at Endesa & Lecturer at Loyola University
F. J. Muros received the Ph.D. on automation, robotics and telematics, summa cum laude and international mention, from the University of Seville in 2017, being awarded second and third prize, respectively, in the AISTI and CEA-Springer awards for his thesis entitled Cooperative Game Theory Tools in Coalitional Control Networks, directed by J. M. Maestre, E. Algaba and E. F. Camacho.
Associate professor at University of Loyola
P. Velarde received an engineering degree in electronics and control from the National Polytechnic School in Quito, Ecuador, in 2011, the M.Sc. degree in automatic, robotics, and telematics and the Ph.D. degree, both from the University of Sevilla, Spain, in 2014 and 2017, respectively. His thesis was entitled Stochastic Model Predictive Control for Robust Operation of Distribution Systems and was supervised by J.M. Maestre and C. Bordons. This work was focused on stochastic MPC applied to energy and water systems to guarantee a robust operation taking into account some vulnerabilities of the distributed systems.
Associate Professor at University of Seville
F. Fele received the M.Sc. degree in mechatronics engineering from the Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy, in 2008, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Seville, Seville, Spain, in 2017. His thesis was titled Coalitional Model Predictive Control for Systems of systems and was supervised by E. F. Camacho and J. M. Maestre. His research interests include the management of large-scale distribution networks through optimal control and game- theoretical methods.
Assoc. Prof. at Universidad de Antioquia
Luis A. Fletscher received the B.S. degree in electronic and telecommunications engineering from Universidad del Cauca, Popayan, Colombia, in 2001, the M.Sc. degree in telematics from the Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain, in 2010, the M.Sc. degree in telecommunications from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín, Colombia, in 2011, and the Ph.D. degree in energy systems engineering from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín, in 2018. His thesis was titled Control Strategies for Energy Efficiency of Next-generation Cellular Networks with Hybrid Energy Sources and was supervised by Catalina Valencia Peroni and J. M. Maestre.
Senior Research Consultant at Atos IT
J. R. de la Pinta studied Telecommunication Engineering at the University of Seville, and he obtained his Master in Automation, Robotics and ICT in 2011. In 2017, he got his PhD in the area of interoperability in heterogeneous systems. His thesis was mainly based on the integration of Service Robots in the Smart Home and how different interoperability technologies could be integrated to provide novel services and was supervised by J. M. Maestre and E. F. Camacho. He has contributed in papers and books related to home automation, robots integration, predictive control and interoperability solutions.