Overview
Background
A/Prof. Alejandro Melendez-Calderon has an interdisciplinary background in engineering and rehabilitation with extensive experience in rehabilitation technologies (e.g. robotics, wearables, biofeedback) and computational approaches to understand human neuromuscular control (unimpaired, stroke and SCI population). He has over 20 years of experience gained in academic, clinical and industrial environments. He is one of a select few experts who has working experience in area of Rehabilitation Engineering at top academic, industrial and clinical environments around the world (Australia, Switzerland, USA, UK, Italy, Denmark). This diversity of working environments provides him with a solid understanding of the development and clinical translation processes of rehabilitation technologies - from conception in academia, to transfer, commercialization and adoption in clinical settings.
He is Principal Research Fellow and Theme co-lead of Rehabilitation and Outcomes at the Jamieson Trauma Institute (Jun 2022-present), and an Honorary Associate Professor at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Queensland (May 2026-present).
Work experience | Clinical - He leads the Rehabilitation Innovation and Technology Assessment (RITA) service across STARS (Metro North Health) and Princess Alexandra Hospital (Metro South Health); RITA aims to close the gap between the potential of existing/emerging technologies and their practical, sustainable integration into everyday rehab care. He was previously a Senior Research Scientist and Head of Technology at the cereneo Advanced Rehabilitation Institute / cereneo Center for Neurology and Rehabilitation (Switzerland; 2017-2019), where he led and conducted research in the area of neuromechanics of movement deficits after stroke. He was also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Northwestern University (USA; 2014-2020) and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (formerly Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago) (2012-2013), where he conducted research in cross-modal multisensory interactions and assessment of neuromuscular impairments. Medical industry - He led the areas of Robotic Hand Rehabilitation and Assessments, and work on adaptive control of robotic trainers (arm and legs) at Hocoma AG (Switzerland; 2014-2016), one of the world-leading manufacturers of robotic and wearable technologies for rehabilitation. Academic research - He was previously a Senior Lecturer within the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland (Australia, Jan 2020-May 2026), where he led the NeuroRehabilitation and Medical Robotics group. He was a Guest Researcher at ETH Zurich (Switzerland; 2016-2019), where he conducted research in biomechanics and motor control/learning. He received his PhD degree from Imperial College London (UK; 2007-2011) for research in robotics, rehabilitation and human motor control.
Interests | A/Prof. Melendez-Calderon has a scientific interest in understanding principled mechanisms of human behavior, in particular related to movement control/learning and physical interaction; his technical interests are in robotics and computational modeling for medical diagnostics, assistive applications & (bio)medical education.
Availability
- Hon Assoc Professor Alejandro Melendez-Calderon is:
- Available for supervision
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, Imperial College London
Research interests
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NeuroRehabilitation engineering
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Human sensorimotor control & learning
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Medical robotics
Works
Search Professor Alejandro Melendez-Calderon’s works on UQ eSpace
2012
Journal Article
A robust and sensitive metric for quantifying movement smoothness
Balasubramanian, Sivakumar, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro and Burdet, Etienne (2012). A robust and sensitive metric for quantifying movement smoothness. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 59 (8) 6104119, 2126-2136. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2011.2179545
2011
Conference Publication
Hi5: A versatile dual-wrist device to study human-human interaction and bimanual control
Melendez-Calderon, A., Bagutti, L., Pedrono, B. and Burdet, E. (2011). Hi5: A versatile dual-wrist device to study human-human interaction and bimanual control. IEEE. doi: 10.1109/IROS.2011.6048068
2011
Conference Publication
Classification of strategies for disturbance attenuation in human-human collaborative tasks
Melendez-Calderon, A., Komisar, V., Ganesh, G. and Burdet, E. (2011). Classification of strategies for disturbance attenuation in human-human collaborative tasks. 33rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering-in-Medicine-and-Biology-Society (EMBS), Boston Ma, Aug 30-Sep 03, 2011. NEW YORK: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/IEMBS.2011.6090660
2011
Journal Article
Force field adaptation can be learned using vision in the absence of proprioceptive error
Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Masia, Lorenzo, Gassert, Roger, Sandini, Giulio and Burdet, Etienne (2011). Force field adaptation can be learned using vision in the absence of proprioceptive error. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 19 (3) 5784420, 298-306. doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2011.2125990
2010
Conference Publication
ReachMAN to help sub-acute patients training reaching and manipulation
Yeong, Che Fai, Baker, Karen, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Burdet, Etienne and Playford, E. Diane (2010). ReachMAN to help sub-acute patients training reaching and manipulation. doi: 10.1109/RAMECH.2010.5513206
2010
Journal Article
Somatosensory cortical activation identified by functional MRI in preterm and term infants
Arichi, T., Moraux, A., Melendez, A., Doria, V., Groppo, M., Merchant, N., Combs, S., Burdet, E., Larkman, D. J., Counsell, S. J., Beckmann, C. F. and Edwards, A. D. (2010). Somatosensory cortical activation identified by functional MRI in preterm and term infants. NeuroImage, 49 (3), 2063-2071. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.10.038
2009
Conference Publication
ReachMAN: A personal robot to train reaching and manipulation
Yeong, Che Fai, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Gassert, Roger and Burdet, Etienne (2009). ReachMAN: A personal robot to train reaching and manipulation. IEEE RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, St Louis Mo, Oct 10-15, 2009. NEW YORK: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/IROS.2009.5354837
2009
Conference Publication
Force field compensation can be learned without proprioceptive error
Melendez-Calderon, A., Masia, L., Casadio, M. and Burdet, E. (2009). Force field compensation can be learned without proprioceptive error. Springer Verlag. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-03889-1-102
2009
Conference Publication
Analysis of pick-and-place, eating and drinking movements for the workspace definition of simple robotic devices
Yeong, Che Fai, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro and Burdet, Etienne (2009). Analysis of pick-and-place, eating and drinking movements for the workspace definition of simple robotic devices. doi: 10.1109/ICORR.2009.5209475
2007
Conference Publication
Comparison of different fuzzy controllers for powered prosthetic gait
Caltenco-Arciniega, H. A., Meléndez-Calderón, A., Došen, S. and Chong-Quero, J. E. (2007). Comparison of different fuzzy controllers for powered prosthetic gait. doi: 10.1109/CERMA.2007.4367761
2007
Conference Publication
On-line simulation tool for the design and analysis of lower-limb prosthetic devices
Meléndez-Calderón, A., Caltenco-Arciniega, H. A., Došen, S. and Chong-Quero, J. E. (2007). On-line simulation tool for the design and analysis of lower-limb prosthetic devices. doi: 10.1109/ICEEE.2007.4344983
2006
Conference Publication
Human-inspired walking-style for a low-cost biped prototype
Aceves-López, Alejandro and Meléndez-Calderón, Alejandro (2006). Human-inspired walking-style for a low-cost biped prototype. doi: 10.1109/LARS.2006.334339
2006
Conference Publication
Reliability of discrete-event control at coordination level for a powered transfemoral prosthesis
Caltenco-Arciniega, H. A., Popović, D. B., Meléndez-Calderón, A. and Chong-Quero, J. E. (2006). Reliability of discrete-event control at coordination level for a powered transfemoral prosthesis. IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.1109/CONIELECOMP.2006.50
Supervision
Availability
- Hon Assoc Professor Alejandro Melendez-Calderon is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Completed supervision
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2026
Doctor Philosophy
Immersive recovery: exploring virtual reality to advance neurorehabilitation
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Antonio Padilha Lanari Bo
Media
Enquiries
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