Francisco José Vico Vela


Francisco José Vico Vela is a scientist and engineer who is full professor of Artificial Intelligence at University of Malaga. As a researcher, Vico is founder and head of the Biomimetics and EdTech Research Groups at University of Malaga, and founder and CEO of the University spin-offs Melomics Media and Digitomica as entrepreneur. His work is mostly known for using evolutionary computation in the field of automated computer composition and industrial design.

Education and career

Vico graduated from University of Malaga with a BA in computer science in 1991 and was the recipient of a doctoral grant, receiving his PhD in 1995. After developing a post-doctoral in Buffalo, Vico started working as a lecturer in computer science at the University of Malaga in 1996, and then became an assistant professor in 2000 and full professor in 2012.

Basic research

Vico developed research in computational neuroscience and computer vision from his doctoral thesis until 2005, where his interests turned to evolutionary computation and artificial life. He has advised or co-advised eight PhD thesis, leaded as PI more than 40 research projects, mostly with public funding, and has two patents.

Applied research

Despite his basic research in brain function and form evolution, Vico's interest has been mainly focused on the applicability of the results. His research projects with industry have ranged from day trading to knee replacement surgery.

Artificial creativity

An early research project with Alcatel in the field of automating industrial design resulted in his most cited paper. A decade later, Vico leaded the Melomics project, which was a milestone in the application of artificial intelligence to computer music. This research produced Iamus, a computer cluster for automated composition, whose pieces were recorded in an album, including a piece interpreted by London Symphony Orchestra, described by New Scientist as "The first major work composed by a computer and performed by a full orchestra.". For its disruptive novelty in the artistic and technological disciplines, Melomics was acknowledged as one of the scientific contributions of 2012 by Discover Magazine. It also found applications in health, and was presented in the Seoul Digital Forum in 2015.

Educational technologies

Since 2015, Vico's activity has focused on Educational Technologies. ToolboX is a programming environment developed by Vico that adapts modern computer technology to coding education.

Games

Vico has also designed Selfo, a connection board game.