Personnel

Raquel Barco

Full Professor

Raquel Barco holds a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Malaga. From 1997 to 2000, she worked at Telefónica in Madrid (Spain) and at the European Space Agency (ESA in Darmstadt (Germany). In 2000, she joined the University of Malaga, where she is currently Full Professor. She took part as researcher in a Nokia Competence Center on Mobile Communications for three years. She has led projects with the main mobile communications operators and vendors for a value >7 million €, she is author of 7 patents and has published more than 100 high impact journals and conferences

Matias Toril

Full Professor

Matías Toril gained his M.S. in Telecommunication Engineering and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Málaga, Spain, in 1995 and 2007, respectively. Since 1997, he has b
een lecturer at the Communications Engineering Department of the same university, where he is currently Full Professor. His research interests include mobile network planning and
optimization, radio resource management and data analytics.

Salvador Luna

Professor

Salvador Luna-Ramírez received the M.S. degree in telecommunication engineering and the Ph.D degree from the University of Málaga, Spain, in 2000 and 2010, respectively.
Since 2000, he has been with the Department of Communications Engineering, University of Málaga, where he is currently an Associate Professor. His research interests include self
-optimization of mobile radio access networks and radio resource management

Mariano Fernández

Professor

Mariano Fernández-Navarro receivedthe M.S. degree in telecommunication engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, in 1988, and the Ph.D. degree from the Unive
rsity of Málaga, in 1999. After three years as a Design Engineer at Fujitsu Spain S.A., he has been a Staff of the Department of Communications Engineering, University of Málaga,
since 1992.His research interests include optimization of radio resource management for mobile networks and location-based services and management.

Marta Solera

Professor

Marta Solera Delgado received her MSc and PhD degrees in Telecommunication Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, in 1996 and 2006 re
spectively. She is an Associate Professor in the department of Communication Engineering at the Universidad de Málaga (UMA).

Fernando J. Ruiz Vega

Professor

Fernando Ruiz received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Málaga, Spain, in 1994 and 2012, respectively. After working in
CETECOM testing laboratory with type-approval test systems for communication equipment, he joined the Departamento de Ingeniería de Comunicaciones, Escuela Técnica Superior de I
ngeniería de Telecomunicación, Universidad de Málaga, where, in 2001, he became an Associate Professor. In 1995 he was a Visiting Researcher with the Department of Electrical Eng
ineering and Electronics, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK. From 2000 to 2002 he took part in the Nokia Mobile Communications Competence Centre, Málaga, Spain. His research
interests include mobile radio propagation channel characterization and WSSUS channels simulation.

Sergio Fortes

Professor

Sergio Fortes received his MSc degree in Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Málaga in 2010. He began his career being part of the German (DLR), French (
CNES) and European (ESA) space agencies and the satellite operator Avanti Communications plc, where he participated in various research, consultancy and coordination activities o
n broadband and aeronautical satellite communications. In 2012 he joined the University of Málaga, where in 2017 he obtained his PhD in Telecommunication Engineering focused on s
elf-organizing networks (SON). He is currently Interim Professor at the same university where his research topics include satellite communications, aeronautical systems and advan
ced applications of machine learning techniques for the management of cellular and IoT networks.

Isabel de la Bandera

Professor

Isabel de-la-Bandera holds an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in telecommunication engineering from the University of Malaga. In 2010, she joined the Communications Engineering Departm
ent, University of Malaga. Since then, she has participated in many projects, national and international, concerning radio resource management in mobile networks. She has collabo
rated with major mobile operators and vendors. She is currently Associate Professor at the same university.

Emil J. Khatib

Associate Professor

My main research interests are Machine Learning and Big Data Analytics applied to 5G, IoT and Industry 4.0 applications. I enjoy seeing my system designs working in reali
ty, so I have actively worked on testbeds in the Mobilenet group (where I worked on AI/ML for network management and worked on the development of an HTTP/REST API as an enabler o
f SON algorithms) and with our collaborators in Aalborg University (where I developed a multi-connectivity testbed using USRPs and a prediction scheme for URLLC in in industrial
scenarios). Currently, I am working on assessing the performance of wireless connections in an assembly line, using the ML toolset provided by our team.

Hao Qiang Luo Chen

P.H.d Candidate

Hao Qiang Luo-Chen obtained a Bachelor's degree in Sound and Image Engineering and a Master's degree in Telematics and Telecommunication Networks in 2018 and 2021 respectively, both from the University of Malaga. Currently, he is a research assistant at TELMA (Telecommunication Research Institute of the University of Malaga) and a visitant researcher at AAU (Aalborg University) Department of Electronic Systems. He is also pursuing a PhD degree in Telecommunication Engineering. His field of research is in the context of cellular networks, in topics such as self-healing, user localisation, ML security and energy efficiency.

Carolina Gijón Martín

Postdoc

Carolina received her B.Sc. Degree in Telecommunication Systems Engineering and M.Sc. Degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Málaga, Spain, in 20
16 and 2018, respectively. Currently, she is working towards the Ph.D degree. Her research interests include self-organizing networks, machine learning and radio resource managem
ent

Carlos Álvarez Merino

Postdoc

Carlos S. Álvarez Merino holds a PhD in Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Málaga. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Telecommunication Engineering in 2019, completing his final academic year at the Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza (AGH) University of Science and Technology in Krakow. He later specialized in satellite-based aeronautical communications, carrying out his Master's Thesis at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Neustrelitz, Germany. Since 2019, he has worked as a researcher in the Department of Communications Engineering, focusing on user localization, rescue scenarios, and the Internet of Things. Author of numerous publications and conference papers, he currently combines teaching with research in energy efficiency. Additionally, he has collaborated with industry leaders such as Ericsson and participated in European-level research projects.

Antonio Tarrías Muñoz

Researcher

Antonio received his M.Sc. degree in Telematic Engineering from the University of Malaga, Spain, in 2019. Since then, he works as a Research Assistant with the Department
of Communications Engineering at the University of Malaga. Currently, he is pursuing a Master in Telematic and Telecommunication Networks.

David Segura

Researcher

David Segura received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Malaga in 2024, with a focus on the performance assessment of cellular networks applied to the industrial scenario. In 2019, he started to work as a researcher with the Communication Engineering Department, University of Malaga. His research interests include wireless communication for Industry 4.0, cellular network optimisation, and AI security of b5G/6G networks.

Jose Antonio Trujillo

Researcher

Jose Antonio received his M.Sc. degree in Telematic Engineering from the University of Malaga, Spain, in 2019. Since then, he works as a Research Assistant with the Depar
tment of Communications Engineering at the University of Malaga. Currently, he is pursuing a Master in Telematic and Telecommunication Networks.

Javier Villegas

Researcher

Javier Villegas Carrasco obtained his degree in Telecommunication Systems Engineering from the University of Malaga, Spain, in 2020.  He works as a Research Assistant wit
h the Department of Communications Engineering at the University of Malaga. Currently, he is pursuing a Double Master’s Degree in Telecommunication Engineering and in Telematic a
nd Telecommunication Networks. 

Juan Cantizani Estepa

Researcher

Juan Cantizani Estepa was born in Córdoba, Andalucía, Spain, on November 21, 1997. He received the B.Sc. degree in Electronics, Robotics and Mechatronics engineering and
a M.Sc. degree in Mechatronics Engineering from the University of Málaga (UMA) in 2019 and 2020, respectively. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. in Communications Engineering at
UMA. His main research focuses in mobile communication networks and machine learning techniques as well as IoT networks.

Sebastián Peñaherrera Pulla

Postdoc

Sebastian Peñaherrera Pulla holds a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Malaga and a B.Sc. from the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana in Ecuador. His research focuses on service-based network management, E2E service quality assurance, and AI/ML approaches. He also has particular expertise in advanced multimedia services (e.g. Extended Reality, Cloud Gaming).

Francisco Muro

Researcher

David Carrasco Martínez

Researcher

Joaquín Manuel Sánchez

Researcher

José Pulido Alegre

Researcher

José Pulido Alegre received his B.Sc. degree in Telecommunication Technologies Engineering and his M.Sc. degree in Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Málaga, Spain, in 2021 and 2023, respectively. Currently, he is working working towards the Ph.D. degree. His research interests include machine learning, digital twin and big data solutions for optimization and management WiFi, NTN, 5G and IoT networks.

Pablo Vera Soto

Researcher

Pablo Vera Soto received the B.Sc. degree in electronics, robotics, and mechatronics engineering and the M.Sc. degree in mechatronics engineering from the University of Málaga, Spain, in 2021 and 2022, respectively. In 2020, he began the career with an internship with the Department of Communications Engineering, University of Málaga, where he has been a Research Intern, since July 2021. He is currently pursuing the PhD at the University of Málaga. His main research interests include the IoT networks, avionics networks, and optimising communications for the robotics use case.

Ramón Montoro Mazuela

Researcher

Ramón Montoro Mazuela is currently taking a B.Sc. degree in Telecommunication Technologies Engineering at the University of Málaga (UMA), since 2023. In addition to his studies, he is collaborating in UMA's entrepreneurial space and satellite application ideas initiative, KSAT: Space & Entrepreneurship Lab of the University of Málaga, as part of the student team, complemented by learning in the use of applied ML and research in mobile networks.

Daniel Eliot Iolani Garcia Fernandez

Scholar Researcher

Daniel Garcia Fernandez is currently taking a M.Sc. degree in Telecommunication Engineering while also finishing his B.Sc. degree in Telecommunication Technologies Engineering from the University of Málaga, Spain. He has been working as a researcher for the Communications Engineering Department since February 2025, and his main areas of interest are 5G and ML.