A total of sixteen members from the 'Automation, Robotics, and Mechatronics' (ARM) Research Group at the University of Almería participated in the XLVII Automation Conference, a key national forum for the automation community. Their presence contributed to the scientific program and strengthened national and international collaborations.
These conference sessions, organized by the Spanish Committee of Automation (CEA) with support from the University of Córdoba, brought together experts in control engineering, robotics, bioengineering, and computer vision. The UAL group was recognized for its research in control engineering, teaching innovation, practical training, and the promotion of inclusive STEM vocations.
The work ‘Democratizing Control Laboratories: The CE2Labs Initiative’ received the PRODEL 2026 Award for Best Work in Automation Education. This project aims to make control engineering laboratories more accessible for university teaching, with collaboration from universities such as Lund University, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Université Paris-Saclay, and Imperial College London.
Another significant award was for Best Work in Control Engineering, granted to research on anti-windup titled ‘Validation of anti-windup tuning rules in a solar furnace’, developed in collaboration with Lund University.
Furthermore, UAL students earned accolades in the Master's and Bachelor's categories of the Control Engineering Competition. Juan Sánchez and Francisco Pérez won the Master's modality, while Adrián Zamora and Francisco Ferrer secured second place in the Bachelor's modality.
Professor José Luis Guzmán highlighted that these results underscore the value of education that connects academic knowledge with real-world engineering problems and consolidates UAL's presence in national competitions.
Researchers including María del Mar Castilla, Ángeles Hoyo, and Malena Caparroz participated in outreach initiatives focused on equality and promoting STEM vocations. Castilla leads the project ‘Promoting Automatic Control at an Early Age: An Inclusive STEM Workshop Initiative’, which aims to introduce STEM careers to young people aged 12 to 16.
The initiative plans workshops across nine Spanish institutions to foster technological vocations, with a special focus on gender equality and social inclusion. María del Mar Castilla is also involved in ‘3 minutes, 1 voice: Women in Automation’, an initiative for early-career female researchers.
The participation of the Almería delegation in these conferences spanned from student training to applied research and the promotion of STEM vocations, reinforcing the ARM group's commitment to more inclusive engineering and knowledge transfer to society.
