Elena García Armada

Elena Garcia Armada (b. 1971 Valladolid, Spain) is a Spanish researcher, roboticist, business founder and industrial engineer who leads the CSIC group at the Center for Automation and Robotics, (CAR) CSIC-UPM that has developed the first bionic exoskeleton for children with spinal muscular atrophy, for which she received the European Inventor Award Popular Prize in 2022.

Early life and education Elena Garcia Armada was born in Valladolid, Spain in 1971. She received a doctorate in robotic engineering in 2002 from the Polytechnic University of Madrid by her work “Optimizing the speed and stability of legged robots in natural environments”. She began a career in industry-orientated robotics at the Center for Automation and Robotics, (CAR) CSIC-UPM, She completed her training at the Leg Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Daniela In 2009, Garcia met Daniela, a six-year-old girl who had become tetraplegic as a result of a traffic accident. Garcia became determined to engineer paediatric robotic exoskeletons, which were not available in medicine at the time. In 2021, she received the Community of Madrid "Fermina Orduña" Technological Innovation Award, and an Honorable Mention as Industrial Engineer of the Year from Colegio de Ingenieros Industriales de Madrid (COIIM). In 2022, she received the Red Cross Gold Medal, a Special Mention in the I UICM Professional Woman Awards and the Business Insiders "Better Capitalism Top Insiders 2022" Award. In June 2022 she received the European Inventor Award Popular Prize, In February 2023, Garcia was named Doctor honoris causa by Miguel de Cervantes European University, in Valladolid. In March 2023, she received a "Premio Nacional de Discapacidad Reina Letizia" Research and Innovation Award from Government of Spain Ministry of Social Affairs (Spain) and the Community of Madrid acknowledged Garcia with a Technology Award in "Reconocimientos 8 de Marzo a mujeres destacadas por su talento y liderazgo". In July 2022, the Spanish Federation of Executive, Professional and Managerial Women (FEDEPE) acknowledged Garcia with the Leadership Professional Woman Award.

Research and publications Books

Research articles