Student Profile: Bulmaro Valdés

Throughout my career I have had the opportunity to gain international academic and research experience in four different countries (PhD-Canada, Master’s-Australia, Summer Technology Courses-Germany, Bachelor’s-Mexico), as well as industry experience (Industrial Automation Project Engineer-Mexico), and postdoctoral and teaching experience (Research Associate, Postdoctoral Fellow and Co-supervisor-Canada, and Sessional Lecturer-Mexico).

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO COME TO SFU?

I knew that my current supervisor was working on developing and testing rehabilitation and assistive technology, which are part of my research focus. As such, working in his lab was a great opportunity for me to continue expanding my knowledge in these topics.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR RESEARCH AND/OR PROGRAM.

The idea of helping people through the development of technology has been at the centre of my research career. In particular, I have been specializing in the use of robotic devices, commercially available technology, and augmented real-time feedback to aid in the rehabilitation and assistance of people with disabilities. The multidisciplinary nature of my work has also allowed me to collaborate with teams of therapists, neuroscientists, kinesiologists, and engineers.

WHAT ARE YOU PARTICULARLY ENJOYING ABOUT YOUR STUDIES/RESEARCH AT SFU?

You get a chance to work on word-class research with senior scientists and other postdoctoral fellows. SFU offers great teaching and research resources (e.g., teaching workshops, research and stats seminars, etc.).