Summary
Ana is the UK Manager of DIH-HERO, a European Digital Innovation Hub for Healthcare Robotics that aims to foster innovation in robotic healthcare products by connecting SMEs with service providers, including universities, hospitals, business development units, manufacturers, regulators and policy makers. A Horizon 2020 grant, this hub kicked off in 2019 and provides cascade funding over the next four years for cross border partnerships between SMEs and service providers working in healthcare robotics.
At Imperial, she is also the manager of the Robotics Forum - a network that connects academics pursuing cutting edge research in robotics from across multiple departments and faculties to 1) Foster collaboration and coordination of internal projects, proposals, bids, and grants, 2) Create awareness and act as a single point of contact to facilitate robotics activity at Imperial College, 3) Attract, develop and promote the next generation of roboticists, with a particular focus on under-represented groups.
Biography
Ana holds a BSc in Mechatronics from the Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana (2011), a MSc in Advanced Robotics from École Centrale de Nantes (2013), and a PhD in Mechanics from INRIA (French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation) and the École normale supérieure de Rennes (2016).
Her previous research at the Institut de Recherche en Communications et Cybernétique de Nantes - IRCCyN (now Laboratory of Digital Sciences of Nantes) focused on the mechanical design of Cable-Driven Parallel Robots (CDPRs), which resulted in algorithms and software tools to design and assess the performance of CDPRs during in multiple tasks and workspaces. At INRIA she focused on analyzing human motion to design more efficient control strategies for avatars and robots.
She also has experience developing and managing education projects in Europe and in Honduras, with a particular focus on empowering underserved and underrepresented groups in STEM.
Publications
Journals
Cruz Ruiz AL, Pontonnier C, Levy J, et al., 2017, A synergy-based control solution for overactuated characters: Application to throwing, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds, Vol:28, ISSN:1546-4261, Pages:e1743-e1743
Cruz Ruiz AL, Pontonnier C, Pronost N, et al., 2017, Muscle-Based Control for Character Animation, Computer Graphics Forum, Vol:36, ISSN:0167-7055, Pages:122-147
Cruz Ruiz AL, Pontonnier C, Dumont G, 2017, Low-Dimensional Motor Control Representations in Throwing Motions, Applied Bionics and Biomechanics, Vol:2017, ISSN:1176-2322, Pages:1-19
Cruz Ruiz AL, Pontonnier C, Sorel A, et al., 2015, Identifying representative muscle synergies in overhead football throws, Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, Vol:18, ISSN:1025-5842, Pages:1918-1919
Conference
Cruz Ruiz AL, Pontonnier C, Levy J, et al., 2015, Motion control via muscle synergies, MIG '15: Motion in Games, ACM