María Jesús Ávila-Gutiérrez holds a Ph.D. in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Cádiz, with a background in industrial design and product development, and a master's degree in Installations and Product Design from the University of Seville.  After combining her professional activity as a project engineer in the industry with her research activity for more than five years, she is currently a doctoral assistant professor at the University of Seville. Her research interests include industrial design engineering and holonic manufacturing systems.