Antonio Alcántara Mata

About Me

Background, positions, education and awards

I am a Tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Quantitative Methods at CUNEF Universidad (Madrid, Spain). Before joining CUNEF, I was a postdoctoral researcher at DTU Wind and Energy Systems (Denmark), working with Prof. Spyros Chatzivasileiadis. I obtained my Ph.D. in Mathematical Engineering from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, where I was supervised by Prof. Carlos Ruiz Mora. My doctoral research focused on machine learning and surrogate modeling for optimization.

My research interests include machine learning, probabilistic forecasting, data-driven optimization, and surrogate modeling, with a particular focus on applications in sustainable energy systems. Further details are available in my list of publications and my curriculum vitae.

Positions

  • Tenure-track Assistant Professor CUNEF Universidad Quantitative Methods Department Madrid, Spain 09/2026 - Present Research on machine learning and data-driven optimization for decision-making under uncertainty, with a particular interest in energy and power systems. Teaching in analytics and operations research for the Department of Quantitative Methods.
  • Postdoctoral Researcher Technical University of Denmark (DTU) Wind and Energy Systems Department Copenhagen, Denmark 09/2025 - 08/2026 Research on trustworthy AI/ML and data-driven optimization, with a focus on sustainable energy and power systems applications.
  • Predoctoral Researcher Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) Statistics Department Madrid, Spain 12/2021 - 06/2025 Doctoral research in the Department of Statistics on machine learning models as surrogates in optimization problems, such as mixed-integer reformulations of neural networks, alongside undergraduate teaching.
  • Research Assistant Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) Computer Science Department Madrid, Spain 01/2021 - 11/2021 Research on probabilistic forecasting of regional renewable energy generation with deep neural networks.

Education

  • Ph.D. in Mathematical Engineering Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) Madrid, Spain 2021 - 2025
  • Master's in Applied Statistics Universidad de Granada (UGR) Granada, Spain 2020 - 2021
  • Bachelor's in Statistics and Business Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) Madrid, Spain 2016 - 2020

Awards & Recognition

FPU Fellowship, Spanish Ministry of Science and Universities One of fifteen fellowships awarded nationally in the field.
2021-2025
Teaching Excellence Acknowledgement, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
2022-2024
Competitive Mobility Grant, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
2023
Extraordinary End of Studies Award, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
2020
Social Council Excellence Award, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
2019
Santander Progreso Scholarship, Santander Bank
2019
Excellence Award, Comunidad de Madrid
2018