Rafael Barea Navarro

Rafael Barea Navarro is a Professor in the Department of Electronics Technology at the University of Alcalá. His research focuses on biomedical engineering, autonomous systems, robotics, artificial intelligence, and driver safety. He leads the Biomedical Engineering Research Group (GIB) and the Robótica de Servicios y Tecnologías para la Seguridad Vial (Robesafe) group. His work bridges AI applications in medical diagnostics (e.g., multiple sclerosis via OCT) and advanced autonomous vehicle technologies, including motion prediction, reinforcement learning, and real-time safety systems.

Education: PhD in Electronics from the University of Alcalá (2001), with a thesis on EOG-based human-computer interfaces for mobility assistance. His research spans over 50 peer-reviewed articles since 2000, emphasizing practical applications in healthcare and robotics.

Key research themes include: 1) AI-driven medical diagnostics; 2) autonomous vehicle control systems; 3) sensor fusion for navigation; and 4) driver attention monitoring. His work integrates robotics, computer vision, and biomedical signal processing.

Publications emphasize interdisciplinary approaches, with recent work combining OCT and explainable AI for early disease diagnosis, and hybrid reinforcement learning frameworks for urban autonomous driving.