Doctorate for Globetrotter Beatriz Leon

Beatriz Leon, a former student of the Master of Autonomous Systems programme (MAS) created in 2002, defended her doctoral thesis titled "From Robot to Human Grasping Simulation"at University Jaume I. in Castellon de la Plana in Spain. Hence she is the first female MAS student of BRSU ever to achieve a doctor's degree.

The defence took place on Friday, May 3, 2013, at the university in Castellon. Leon's thesis was conducted under the supervision of Prof. Antonio Morales and Prof. Joaquin Sancho-Bru. Leon presented her work in an hour-long presentation (as per the rules of the university). This was followed by questions from the four-member tribunal. Since she is receiving an International PhD, the questioning took place in two languages, both in English and in Spanish. After a short conference behind closed doors, the tribunal finally delivered their decision to award Leon a doctor's degree cum laude.

In her work, Leon studies grasping techniques and possibilities of the human hand and puts them together in a comprehensive simulation model that is then implemented into a robot. She compares the acquired knowledge to the possibilities of a prosthetic hand and demonstrates how the gap between robot and human grasp manipulation could be reduced.

The Columbian globetrotter received a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the National University of Colombia (Bogota, 2003) and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University Antonio Nariño (Bogota, 2001). Leon then joined the MAS program in the wintersemester of 2005 and graduated in March 2008.

She is now headed for London where she is starting her post-doc at the University of Hertfordshire in the SCRIPT (Supervised Care and Rehabilitation Involving Personal Tele-robotics) Project.

Related links:

Homepage of Beatriz Leon: Link

Doctoral thesis of Beatriz Leon: Link

Beatriz Leon on her way to defend her doctoral thesis in Castellon

The doctoral candidate presenting her thesis

The happy PhD with her supervisors professors Antonio Morales and Joaquin Sancho-Bru