Past Member

Jose Balsa Barreiro

Contact Information:

jobalbar@media.mit.edu

Groups

Human Dynamics

[Updated: Jan. 01st, 2023]

Scientist at MIT Media Lab (MA) + NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (CA)

José Balsa-Barreiro is a research scientist (Postdoc Fellow in the academic year 2017-18, Visiting Professor in 2018-2019 and after that, Research Affiliate) in the Human Dynamics group at the MIT Media Lab. This research group is led by Alex 'Sandy' Pentland, who is renowned as "the Godfather of Wearables." Prof. Pentland is one of the most-cited scientists in the world. In fact, Forbes recently declared him one of the "7 most powerful data scientists in the world," along with the Google founders and the Chief Technical Officer of the United States.

Dr. Balsa-Barreiro is currently working on various topics related to socio-economic issues such as polarization, inequality, and segregation of societies. Further, his scope covers different topics related to human dynamics, computational social science, demography, territorial/urban planning, and transportation, amongst others. His main focus is to apply in his studies GIS mapping, multiscale analysis, and theories/strategies of complex networks. In addition, he is involved in various research projects in relation to a variety of topics, such as refugee integration, blockchain application to health systems, big data and machine learning.

He is also part of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (henceforth JPL) and Caltech, working at the Aerosols and Clouds (329J) research group under the supervision of Anthony B. Davis in collaboration with Katie L. Bouman. His work is focused on the application of photogrammetric methods to multi-angle images of convective cloud scenes from JPL's Airborne Multi-Spectral Polarimetric Imager (AirMSPI) at 20 m resolution and/or from JPL's Multi-angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MISR) on NASA's Terra satellite at 275 m resolution. Outputs will result in an optimized facet-based reconstruction of the outer shape of the vertically developed convective clouds at scales commensurate with the pixels.

With regard to his background, he earned an international Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of A Coruna and the Politecnico di Torino. His Ph.D. thesis dissertation was focused on the application of GNSS techniques and GIS mapping to naturalistic driving data. During this time, he was involved in diverse departments/institutions, such as the Research Institute on Traffic and Road Safety (INTRAS), the Department of Mathematical and Representation Methods (DMMR), and the Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI).

After successfully defending his thesis in 2015, Balsa-Barreiro has been working on various research lines and projects. In mid-2015 he took up the position as an EU experienced researcher at the Institute for Photogrammetry (IFP) in Stuttgart, funded by the Marie Curie Fellowship Program. Supervised by the Prof. Dieter Fritsch, Head of the Institute for Photogrammetry from 1992 to 2016 and Rector of the University of Stuttgart from 2000 to 2006, he was working on the generation of 3D/4D models of historical urban areas and additionally developed strategies on the digital preservation of cultural heritage by applying techniques of photogrammetry, laser scanning, and computer vision.

In 2016, he became part of the Institute for Transport Planning and Systems (IVT) at ETH Zurich. In this role, he was working together with Prof. Monica Menendez, Head of the research group of Traffic Engineering (SVT). Being involved in various projects and proposals, the main focus of his research was investigating new methodologies and possibilities of applying travel-time maps to transport infrastructures.

Currently, Balsa-Barreiro is a lecturer at the Department of Geography at the University of Santiago de Compostela. In addition, he is part of the University Institute of Research and Development of Galicia (IDEGA) and a member of the scientific team of the 'Observatorio de las Ideas'. Previously, he moreover collaborated with the Research Centre for Vehicle Technology (CiTV) in 2014 and the Cartographic Institute of Valencia, from 2010 to 2012.

Balsa-Barreiro enjoys analyzing current topics related to politics, society, and economy. During the last years, he has collaborated in The Objective from 2014 to 2015, and has published essays in notable media sources, such as [2021] Telos-Fundación Telefónica, [2020] Foreign Affairs (Hellenic Ed. and Latin American Ed.), Forbes México, Los Angeles Times, El País, [2019] Journal of International Affairs (SIPA/Columbia University), Harvard International Review, El País, [2018] Foreign Affairs (Hellenic Ed.), [2016] Foreign Affairs (Latin American Ed.), [2014] Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit, [2013] Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Foreign Affairs (Latin American Ed.), Instituto Choiseul, Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos, Nueva Tribuna, [2012] Le Monde Diplomatique, International Institute of Political Sciences, Nueva Tribuna. He also published some extended works at the [2011] United Nations Public Administration Network and the Galician School of Public Administration related to the management of Public Administrations, besides other ones related to industrial maintenance [2015] (UF2240, UF0904).

In his free time, he enjoys developing and collaborating in art initiatives, successfully participating in international institutions and events such as [2022] the Hatch Kingdom (Sticky Be@rbricks by Manuel), [2020] the Central Academy of Fine Arts in China (Exhibition: More Than The Immune Problem), Caltech Art Contest in Pasadena, CA (United States), Labocine Scenes, Phroom Magazine, and [2019] ARCO Spam in Madrid (Spain). More info about him can be found in Labocine Habitat.

Research Interests

These include geographical analysis, mapping, human dynamics, economic geography, urban planning, transportation, complex networks, and big data, among others.

Selected Peer-Reviewed Papers

J. Balsa-Barreiro, P.M. Valero-Mora, M. Menéndez and R. Mehmood (2023). Extraction of naturalistic driving patterns with Geographic Information Systems. Mobile Networks and Applications 28: 619-635.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, S. Wang, J. Tu, Y. Li and M. Menendez (2023). Editorial: The nexus between innovation and environmental sustainability. Frontiers on Environmental Science, Sec. Environmental Economics and Management (Research Topic: The Nexus between Innovation and Environmental Sustainability), Vol. 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1194703.

M. Maleki, M. Bahrami, M. Menendez and J. Balsa-Barreiro (2022). Social behavior and COVID-19: Analysis of the social factors behind compliance with interventions across the United States. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19(23): 15716. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315716

J. Balsa-Barreiro, M. Menendez and A. Morales (2022). Scale, context, and heterogeneity: the complexity of the social space. Scientific Reports 12(1): 9037. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-12871-5

A. Carballosa, J. Balsa-Barreiro, P. Boullosa, A. Garea, J. Mira, A. Miramontes and A.P. Muñuzuri (2022). Assessing the risk of pandemic outbreaks across municipalities with mathematical descriptors based on age and mobility restrictions. Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chaos.2022.112156

A.M. Carballada and J. Balsa-Barreiro (2021). Territorial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Galicia (Spain): a geographical approach. Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles 91. https://doi.org/10.21138/bage.3157

A. Carballosa, J. Balsa-Barreiro, A. Garea, D. García-Selfa, A. Miramontes and A.P. Muñuzuri (2021). Risk evaluation at municipality level of a COVID-19 outbreak incorporating relevant geographic data: the study case of Galicia. Scientific Reports 11(1): 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00342-2

A.M. Carballada and J. Balsa-Barreiro (2021). Geospatial analysis and mapping strategies for fine-grained and detailed COVID-19 data with GIS. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 10(9):602. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi10090602

J. Balsa-Barreiro, A. Morales and R.C. Lois (2021). Mapping population dynamics at local scales using spatial networks. Complexity 2021, ID 8632086. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/8632086

J. Balsa-Barreiro, P.M. Valero-Mora, M. Menéndez and R. Mehmood (2020). Extraction of naturalistic driving patterns with Geographic Information Systems. Mobile Networks and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11036-020-01653-w

J. Balsa-Barreiro, A. Vié, A. Morales and M. Cebrián (2020). Deglobalization in a hyper-connected world. Nature Palgrave Communications 6(1): 28.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, Y. Li, A. Morales and A.S. Pentland (2019). Globalization and the shifting centers of gravity of world's human dynamics: Implications for sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production 239 (2019): 117923.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, P.M. Valero-Mora, J.L. Berné-Valero and F.A. Varela-García (2019). GIS mapping of driving behaviour based on naturalistic driving data. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 8(5): 226.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, L. Ambuhl, M. Menendez and A.S. Pentland (2019). Mapping time-varying accessibility and territorial cohesion with time-distorted maps. IEEE Access 7(1): 41702-41714.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and D. Fritsch (2018). Generation of visually aesthetic and detailed 3D models of historical cities by using laser scanning and digital photogrammetry. Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage 8: 57-64.

O. Abdalmenem, J. Balsa-Barreiro and D. Fritsch (2018). Methodology for digital preservation of the cultural and patrimonial heritage: generation of a 3D model of the Church St. Peter and Paul (Calw, Germany) by using laser scanning and digital photogrammetry. Sensor Review 38(3): 282-288.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and D. Fritsch (2015). Generation of 3D/4D photorealistic building models. The testbed area for 4D Cultural Heritage World project: The historical center of Calw (Germany). Lecture on Notes in Computer Science 9474(1): 361-372.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, P.M. Valero-Mora, I. Pareja and M. Sánchez (2015). Proposal of GIS methodology for Quality Control procedures (QC) of data obtained in naturalistic driving studies. IET Intelligent Transport Systems 9(7): 673-682.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2014). Insostenibilidad de modelos territoriales desde un punto de vista demográfico: A Costa da Morte (Galicia, España). Papeles de Población 19(78): 167-206.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and J.L. Lerma (2014). Empirical study of the variation of the LiDAR point density over different land uses. International Journal of Remote Sensing 35(9): 3372-3383.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and J.L. Lerma (2014). A new methodology to estimate the discrete-return point density on airborne LiDAR surveys. International Journal of Remote Sensing 35(4): 1496-1510.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, T. Hermosilla and R.C. Lois (2014). La campaña de incendios de 2006 en Galicia: Un análisis del cambio en el modelo de distribución espacial de la actividad incendiaria. Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles 64: 81-100.

T. Hermosilla, J. Palomar-Vázquez, A. Balaguer-Beser, J. Balsa-Barreiro and L.A. Ruíz (2014). Using street based metrics to characterize urban typologies. Computer, Environment and Urban Systems 44: 68-79.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and T. Hermosilla (2013). Socio-geographic analysis of the causes of the 2006’s wildfires in Galicia (Spain). Forest Systems 22(3): 497-509.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, P.M. Valero-Mora, I. Pareja and M. Sánchez (2013). Geo-referencing naturalistic driving data using a novel method based on vehicle speed. IET Intelligent Transport Systems 7(2): 190-197.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, J.P. Avariento and J.L. Lerma (2012). Airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) point density analysis. Scientific Research and Essays 7(33): 3010-3019.

Nature Portfolio

J. Balsa-Barreiro, M. Menendez and A. Morales (Jun 24th, 2022). Fitting the complexity of the social space into the right dimension. Behavioural and Social Sciences.

A. Morales, A. Vié, J. Balsa-Barreiro and M. Cebrián (Feb 09th, 2021). Challenges of a hyper-connected world. Behavioural and Social Sciences.

Other Peer-Reviewed Papers

J. Balsa-Barreiro and D. Fritsch. (2018). La generación de modelos urbanos 3D en zonas históricas y su aplicabilidad desde un punto de vista estratégico-militar. Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos 11: 217-245.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2016). La transición demográfica de Latinoamérica y el Caribe. Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica 16(1): 128-134.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and S. Landsperger (2015). A Costa da Morte (Galicia, España): un modelo demográfico antagónico al español. Análisis de su evolución demográfica en el siglo XXI. Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research 21(1): 63-86.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and S. Landsperger (2013). Pérdida de capital humano y desarrollo insostenible: un círculo vicioso. El caso de A Costa da Morte (Galicia, España) desde mediados del siglo XX. Cuaderno Interdisciplinar de Desarrollo Sostenible 10: 55-84.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and S. Landsperger (2012). Declive demográfico y cambio del modelo de poblamiento en un sector de costa del NW español: A Costa da Morte (A Coruña, Galicia) y su evolución desde 1960. Boletim da Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa 130(1-12): 105-128.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2012). La tecnología LIDAR y sus posibles aplicaciones técnicas al mundo de la ingeniería. Papeles de la Ingeniería 68: 4.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2012). El modelo de gestión de la superficie forestal de Galicia y su repercusión en la crisis incendiaria de 2006. Revista Galega de Economía 21(2): 11-39.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2012). La magnitud de la crisis incendiaria de 2006 en Galicia. Montes, Revista de Ámbito Forestal 109: 39-44.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and R. Brocal (2011). Aplicación de las metodologías de trabajo propias de la ingeniería industrial y geográfica a los modelos de gestión de las administraciones públicas. Revista Centroamericana de Administración Pública 60-61: 135-169.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2011). Evolución del urbanismo y de la disposición territorial del poblamiento en un municipio coruñés de interior: el caso de Santa Comba (Galicia, España). Revista de Urbanismo 24: 76-118.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and R.C. Lois (2010). Particularidades y estado actual de la cartografía turística oficial en Galicia. Cuadernos de Turismo 26: 76-118.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and J.L. Lerma (2006). Aplicación de la tecnología del láser escáner aerotransportado (ALS) a la generación de modelos digitales urbanos. TopCart - Topografía y Cartografía 23(136): 3-8.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and J.L. Lerma (2006). La tecnología LIDAR: Una visión general. TopCart - Topografía y Cartografía 23(135): 28-33.

Selected Essays

J. Balsa-Barreiro and M. Cebrian (2023). Viral chaos, mechnical awakening. DAMN 86 (Winter 2023).: 84-87.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and M. Cebrian (Oct. 07th, 2022). Internet y sociedad en el siglo XXI. La arquitectura del vacío. Los Angeles Times.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, M. Cebrián and A. Ortega (Mar. 23th, 2022). Problemas intratables. El Diario.es (Opinión: Zona Crítica).

J. Balsa-Barreiro and M. Menendez (Jan. 10th, 2022). Fisionomía urbana y flujos de tráfico ¿Cómo entender la movilidad en las ciudades? Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica.

M. Cebrián and J. Balsa-Barreiro (2021). An Antimodernity Manifesto. DAMN 77 (Winter 2021): 28-30.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and M. Menendez (Oct. 27th, 2021). Cómo son y cómo se mueven las redes urbanas. Los Angeles Times.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and E. Rossi (Aug. 18th, 2021). The future of work and forced automation after COVID-19. European Foreign Affairs 17 (qr.2): 65-74.

M. Cebrián and J. Balsa-Barreiro (Apr. 09th, 2021). La enésima ola. El País (Tribuna).

M. Cebrián and J. Balsa-Barreiro (2020). La sociedad Instalo/Desinstalo ¿Cómo salgo del bucle de la metamodernidad? Telos115 (Dic. 2020): 96-101.

E. Rossi and J. Balsa-Barreiro (2020). The future of work before the 4th Industrial Revolution...in the post-COVID world. Foreign Affairs (Hellenic Ed.) 66(Oct.-Nov): 33-43.

E. Rossi and J. Balsa-Barreiro (2020). The future of work in the post-COVID world. Economic and Political Weekly 55(44): 23-26.

M. Cebrián and J. Balsa-Barreiro (Sep. 25th, 2020). A short guide to destroying reality. Little Atoms.

M. Cebrián and J. Balsa-Barreiro (2020). El virus de la metamodernidad y la confusión permanente. Forbes México (Sep. 07th) / Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica (Sep. 11th).

M. Cebrián and J. Balsa-Barreiro (Aug. 15th, 2020). La primera pandemia metamoderna. Los Angeles Times.

S. Poole (2020). Reality check. Think:Act 31: 68-71 [Review of M. Cebrián and J. Balsa-Barreiro (Sep. 25th, 2020). A short guide to destroying reality. Little Atoms].

J. Balsa-Barreiro and M. Cebrián (2020). Saint-Étienne. The art of living places, times and emotions. Phroom Magazine.

A. Ortega, J. Balsa-Barreiro and M. Cebrián (Apr. 08th, 2020). Los límites del capitalismo de vigilancia. El País (Tribuna).

J. Balsa-Barreiro and E. Rossi (Aug. 25th, 2019). The common enemy: how the rhetoric of fear is subverting democracies. (SIPA/Columbia University) Journal of International Affairs.

E. Rossi and J. Balsa-Barreiro (2019). Is it dead or only sleeping? The crisis of social democracy (and the Establishment) in Europe. Harvard International Review XL(2, Spring): 38-40.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, M. Cebrián and A. Ortega (Jan. 10th, 2019). Por un Internet español con emoción. El País (Tribuna).

J. Balsa-Barreiro and E. Rossi (2018). Political discourse in the social media era. Foreign Affairs (Hellenic Ed.) 51(Apr.-May): 23-28.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (Jun. 11th, 2014). La calma antes de la tempestad (o viceversa). Una reflexión acerca del estado de la crisis española de la deuda. Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit (FNST), Sede México-Latinoamérica.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (Jun. 11th, 2013). ¿Cómo enfrenta España la crisis de la deuda? (España en la crisis de la deuda). Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica 83.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2013). España: deuda pública, paro y crisis. Diálogo Politico (Fundación Konrad Adenauer para América Latina) 2: 139-154.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2013). La dificultad por controlar la deuda pública española en el contexto actual. Seguridad Global (Instituto Choiseul) 04: 127-138.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (Aug. 30th, 2012). La crisis económica y el cambio en el poder geopolítico en Europa. Le Monde Diplomatique (ed. Chile).

Books + Book Chapters

Instituto Geográfico Nacional (2021). Atlas Nacional de España. La pandemia del CoVID en España. Primera ola: de los primeros casos a finales de junio de 2020. Madrid: Ed. Centro Nacional de Información Geográfica, 160 pp. -> J. Balsa-Barreiro et al. (2021) -Colaborador Científico en "Sec. 2. Tema 11. Comportamientos espaciales diferenciados. Subtema Galicia", pp.62-63.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and E. Rossi (2021). The future of work and forced automation after COVID-19. In: A. Morales, J. Norman and M. Bahrami (eds): COVID-19, A Complex Systems Approach, STEM Academic Press: 249-259.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2019). LiDAR for management in natural disasters and catastrophes. In: K.G. Greene (ed.): Government Briefing Book: Emerging Technology & Human Rights, 1(Aug): 11.

M.A. Bakker, D.A. Piracha, P.J. Lu, K. Bejgo, M. Bahrami, Y. Leng, J. Balsa-Barreiro, J. Ricard, A.J. Morales, V.K. Singh, B. Bozkaya, S. Balcisoy, A. Pentland (2019). Measuring fine-grained multidimensional integration using mobile phone metadata: the case of Syrian refugees in Turkey. In: A. Salah, A. Pentland, B. Lepri, E. Letouzé (eds), Guide to Mobile Data Analytics in Refugee Scenarios. Springer, Cham: 123-140.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2016). UF0904. Selección de equipos y elementos en instalaciones de climatización. Certificado de Profesionalidad IMAR0109. Madrid: Ed. Nuevos Negocios en la Red.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2015). UF2240. Mantenimiento correctivo de electrodomésticos de gama blanca. Certificado de Profesionalidad ELEM0411. Madrid: Ed. Nuevos Negocios en la Red.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2012). El desarrollo económico de Santa Comba de Xallas. Bases para la elaboración de un Plan Estratégico Municipal (PEDEM). Santiago de Compostela: Ed. Publishing Service of the University of Santiago de Compostela.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and R. Brocal (2011). Los sistemas GMAO y SIG como herramientas para la gestión integrada en la administración local. New York: United Nations of Public Administrations Network (UNPAN).

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2008). Análise para a implementación dun sistema de información xeográfica para a xestión de servizos en calquera nivel da administración. Particularización e aplicacións de mellora para o caso da Dirección Xeral de Turismo-Turgalicia (Consellería de Innovación e Industria). Santiago de Compostela: Galician School of Public Administration.

J.R. Chantada Acosta and J. Balsa-Barreiro (2007). Evolución de los habitantes de derecho en los núcleos de población de O Xallas de 1888 a 2005. Santiago de Compostela: Ed. J. Chantada.

J.R. Chantada Acosta and J. Balsa-Barreiro (2007). Evolución de los habitantes de hecho en los núcleos de población de O Xallas de 1888 a 1991. Santiago de Compostela: Ed. J. Chantada.

Conference papers

J. Balsa-Barreiro, S. Batista and M. Menéndez (2023). Mapping terrestrial accessibility with the timedistorted maps: the Spanish case. XV Congreso de Ingeniería de Transporte (CIT 2023), La Laguna, Spain, Jun 14-16.

S. Batista, D. Bramich, J. Balsa-Barreiro and M. Menendez (2022). Partitioning of urban networks for MFD applications. 11th Triennial Symposium on Transportation Analysis conference (TRISTAN XI), Mauritius Island, Jun. 19-25.

S. Batista, J. Balsa-Barreiro and M. Menendez (2022). Understanding transport flows in urban environments with Macroscopic Fundamental Diagrams (MFDs). Data and Modeling: Complex Systems Applications, Satellite Session at Conference on Complex Systems, CSS, Palma, Spain, Oct 17-21.

A. Miramontes and J. Balsa-Barreiro (2021). Identifying spatial patterns related to COVID-19 pandemic. Case study in the region of Galicia (Spain). 34th International Geographical Congress, IGU, Istambul, Turkey, Aug 16-20.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, M. Rodríguez, L. Villar and R. Vila (2019). The internal energy imbalance in Spain: analysis focused on the hydrolectric power in the region of Galicia. Regional Studies Association, Pushing regions beyond their borders, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, Jun 05-07.

M.A. Bakker, D.A. Piracha, P.J. Lu, K. Bejgo, M. Bahrami, Y. Leng, J. Balsa-Barreiro, J. Ricard, A.J. Morales, V.K. Singh, B. Bozkaya, S. Balcisoy and A. Pentland (2019). Measuring fine-grained multidimensional integration using mobile phone metadata: the case of Syrian refugees in Turkey. Netmob, Oxford, UK, Jul 08-10.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, L. Ambuhl, M. Menendez and R.C. Lois (2017). Propuesta de representación del territorio empleando travel-time maps: Aplicación al caso suizo. XXV Congreso de la AGE: Naturaleza, Territorio y Ciudad en un Mundo Global, Madrid, Spain, Oct 25-27.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, L. Ambuhl, M. Menendez and R.C. Lois (2017). Representation of the degree of territorial cohesion by using travel-time maps from transport infrastructure networks. Paper presented at the 17th Swiss Transport Research Conference, Monte Ascona, Switzerland, May 17-19.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, P.M. Valero, J.L. Berne and F.A. Varela (2016). Representation of kinematic driving behaviour using Geographic Information Systems. Paper presented at the 5th European Conference on Human Centred Design for Intelligent Transport Systems, Loughborough, UK, Jun 30-Jul 01.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and D. Fritsch (2015). Generation of 3D/4D photorealistic building models. The testbed area for 4D Cultural Heritage World Project: The Historical Center of Calw (Germany). 11th International Symposium on Visual Computing, Las Vegas, USA, Dec 14-16.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, P.M. Valero, I. Pareja and M. Sánchez (2014). Quality control procedure for naturalistic driving data using Geographic Information Systems. 4th European Conference on Human Centred Design for Intelligent Transport Systems, Vienna, Austria, Jun 05-06.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, I. Pareja, A. Tontsch and M. Sánchez (2012). Preprocessing of data for recovery of positioning data in naturalistic driving trial. 3rd European Conference on Human Centred Design for Intelligent Transport Systems, Valencia, Spain, Jun 14-15: 235-244.

T. Hermosilla, L.A. Ruíz, A. Recio and J. Balsa-Barreiro (2012). Land-use mapping of Valencia city area from aerial images and LiDAR data. Geoprocessing 2012, the 4th International Conference on Advanced Geographic Information Systems, Applications and Services, Valencia, Spain, Jan 30-Feb 04.

J. Balsa-Barreiro and R.C. Lois (2009). Changes in the urban model of the city of Valencia (Spain): An analysis from the point of view of the published cartography. International Conference on Multilayered Cities and Urban Systems, Hyderabad, India, Jul 30-Aug 10.

Podium presentations

M. Filgueiras, S. Batista, J. Balsa-Barreiro, M. Menéndez, S. Ferreira and J.P. Tavares (2023). Car-less
cities, then what? A case study for the City of Porto. CITTA 15th Annual Conference on Planning Research, Coimbra, Portugal, Jun 22.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, G.J. Hannoun, S. Batista and M. Menéndez (2023). Equitable accessibility to healthcare facilities considering population settings. CITTA 15th Annual Conference on Planning Research, Coimbra, Portugal, Jun 22.

Poster sessions

J. Balsa-Barreiro, G.J. Hannoun, S. Batista and M. Menéndez (2023). Analysis of travel-time accessibility to healthcare facilities at the regional scale: a case study of Galicia, Spain. 102nd Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting, Washington DC, USA, Jan 08-12.

S. Batista, D. Bramich, J. Balsa-Barreiro and M. Menéndez (2023). A fully Bayesian Mixture Model for partitioning urban networks for MFD applications. Transportation Research Board 102nd Annual Meeting, Washington DC, USA, Jan 08-12.

M. Maleki, M. Bahrami, M. Menendez and J. Balsa-Barreiro (2022). Investigating the causal impact of education levels on compliance with mandates. 8th International Conference on Computational Social Science (IC2S2), Chicago IL, USA, July 19-22.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, L. Ambuhl, M. Menendez and R.C. Lois (2018). Assessment of time-varying accessibility and territorial cohesion using time distorted maps: a case study based on public transport systems in the region of Galicia, Spain. 97th Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting, Washington DC, USA, Jan 07-11.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, A. Morales and A. Pentland (2018). Mapping population dynamics by using spatial networks. A case study focused on the traditional pattern of settlement in northwestern Spain. 9th International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS), Cambridge MA, USA, July 22-27.

J. Balsa-Barreiro, A. Morales and A. Pentland (2018). World human dynamics: Evidence from the changing patterns of centers of gravity since the 1960s. 9th International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS), Cambridge MA, USA, July 22-27.

Reviews

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2023). ¿Cuán real es la realidad virtual? Revista de Ideas. Observatorio de las Ideas 123(Jun.): 12-14. Review of the original journal paper: Schöne, B. et al. (2023): The reality of virtual reality. Frontiers in Psychology 14.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2022). Minúsculas redes detrás de las protestas globales. Revista de Ideas. Observatorio de las Ideas 106 (Jan.): 14-16. Review of the original journal paper: Ferreira, L.N. et al. (2021): The small-world network of global protests. Scientific Reports 11:19215.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2021). ¿Qué pueden aprender del pasado las ciudades de los países en desarrollo?. Revista de Ideas. Observatorio de las Ideas 103 (Oct.): 9-11. Review of the original journal paper: Glaeser, E.L. (2021): What can developing cities today learn from the urban past? Regional Science and Urban Economics (in press).

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2021). La superinteligencia no puede ser contenida. Revista de Ideas. Observatorio de las Ideas 96 (Mar.): 10-12. Review of the original journal paper: Alfonseca et al. (2021): Superintelligence cannot be contained: Lessons from computability theory. Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research 70: 65-76.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2021). Menor fragmentación informativa en dispositivos móviles. Revista de Ideas. Observatorio de las Ideas 94 (Jan.): 13-15. Review of the original journal paper: Yang et al. (2020). Exposure to news grows less fragmented with an increase in mobile access. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117(46): 28678-28683.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2020). Dispersión en las ciudades en la post-pandemia. Revista de Ideas. Observatorio de las Ideas 92 (Nov.): 6-8. Review of the original papers: [1] Kotkin (Mar. 2020). The coming age of dispersion. Quillette; [2] Ciaraldi (Jun. 2020). How Covid-19 is reshaping our cities. WBCSD Insights; [3] Foster (Sep. 2020). The pandemic will accelerate the evolution of our cities. The Guardian.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2020). Blockchain aplicado a la seguridad de enjambres de robots. Revista de Ideas. Observatorio de las Ideas 88-89 (Jul.-Aug.): 17-19. Review of the original journal paper: Strobel et al. (2020). Blockchain technology secures robot swarms: a comparison of consensus protocols and their resilience to byzantine robots. IRIDIA Technical Report Series (n.º TR/IRIDIA/2019-004), Nov. 2019.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2020). Cómo hacer que un grupo de robots cooperen de forma segura . Revista de Ideas. Observatorio de las Ideas 86 (May.): 10-12. Review of the original journal paper: Castelló Ferrer et al. (2020). Secure and secret cooperation of robotic swarms by using merkle trees. Science Robotics (in review).

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2020). Elecciones en EEUU: Escaso impacto de la injerencia rusa en Twitter. Revista de Ideas. Observatorio de las Ideas 85 (Abr.): 9-11. Review of the original journal paper: Bail et al. (2020). Assessing the Russian Internet Research Agency’s impact on the political attitudes and behaviors of American Twitter users in late 2017. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117(1): 243-250.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2020). Dinámicas humanas y desplazamiento al este del centro de gravedad mundial. Revista de Ideas. Observatorio de las Ideas 83 (Feb.): 6-8. Review of the original journal paper: Balsa-Barreiro et al. (2019). Globalization and the shifting centers of gravity of world’s human dynamics: implications for sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production 239: 117923.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2019). El estatus como servicio de las redes. Revista de Ideas. Observatorio de las Ideas 76-77 (Jul.-Aug.): 24-25. Review of the post in the blog Remains of the Day: Eugen Wei (2019). Status as a Service (StaaS). Remains of the Day (published on Feb. 2019).

J. Balsa-Barreiro (2018). La comunicación aumenta la polarización. Revista de Ideas. Observatorio de las Ideas 68 (Nov.): 24-25. Review of the original journal paper: Bail et al. (2018). Exposure to opposing views on social media can increase political polarization. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115(37): 9216-9221.

Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Board

PLOS One (Social and Behavioral Sciences), Ed. PLOS (United States).

Hummanities and Social Sciences Communications, Springer Nature (United Kingdom).

Frontiers in Environmental Science *Special Topic: The nexus between innovation and environmental sustainability, Frontiers (Switzerland).

International Journal of Operations Management Research and Practices, BOHR Publishers (India).

Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Computer, IEC Science (United States).

Sustainability *Special Issue: Social polarization, inequality and segregation*, MDPI (Switzerland).

Philosophies *Special Issue: Agency and autonomy in the age of hyperconnectivity*, MDPI (Switzerland).

Open Transportation Journal, Bentham Open (United Arab Emirates).

SDCA Asia-Pacific Multidisciplinary Research Journal (Philippines).

Reviewer Board

Applied Sciences; Algorithms; Current World Environment; Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity; Forest Systems; Future Transportation; Geographies; Geographical Research; Humanities and Social Sciences Communications; Infrastructures; IEEE Access; IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing; IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Magazine; IEEE Open Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems; IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems; International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation; International Journal of Management Reviews; Inventions; ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information; International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health; International Journal of Health Geographics; Journal of Imaging; Landscape and Urban Planning; Remote Sensing; Revista de Teledetección; Revista Galega de Economía; Scientific Reports; Sensors; Symmetry; Social Network Analysis and Mining; Societies; SSM Population Heath; Sustainability; Technologies; Telecom; Urban Science.

Membership of scientific committees

[2023-26] International Member of the Standing Committee on Geographic Information Science (AED40), Transportation Research Board (TRB), Washington DC. -Communications Team-

[2022] Program Committee of the Data and Modeling: Complex Systems Applications. Satellite session at the Conference on Complex Systems (CSS2022), Mallorca, Spain , Oct. 17-22th.

[2020] Program Committee of the 10th International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS 2020), Cambridge, Massachusetts, Jul. 27-31th.

[2019] Program Committee of the Machine Learning and Modeling for Complex Systems at Conference on Complex Systems (CSS 2019), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Sep. 30th-Oct.04th.

[2019] Program Committee of the 2nd Northeast Regional Conference on Complex Systems (NERCCS 2019), Binghamton, New York, Apr. 03-05th.

[2018] Program Committee of the 9th International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS 2018), Cambridge, Massachusetts, Jul. 22-27th.

[2018-...] Scientific Committee of the Observatorio de las Ideas, Barcelona, Spain.

[2014-...] Consultative Forum of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Madrid, Spain.

Projects

[2020-2021] Balsa-Barreiro J, Pentland A, and Hernandez-Orallo: "COST-OMIZE: Understanding Customer Behavior under Urban Segregation for Cost-reducing and Sustainable Logistics". Funder: MISTI Global Seed Fund, MIT-INDITEX Sustainability Seed Fund.

[2020-2021] Miramontes A, and Balsa-Barreiro J: "Xeración de cartografía de risco da COVID-19 nos espazos urbanos e rurais de Galicia". Funder: Galician Innovation Office.

[2013-2016] Fritsch D , Balsa-Barreiro J et al: "Four Dimensional Cultural Heritage World (Grant Agreement ID: 324523 )". Funder: FP7-People, European Commission.

[2012-2014] Fernández F, Balsa-Barreiro J et al: "Diseño de un sistema de localización de fotografías aéreas históricas (España). Aplicaciones a la docencia, la investigación, el planeamiento, la ordenación del territorio y los estudios de paisaje". Funder: Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiviviness.

[2012-2014] Rovira A, and Balsa-Barreiro J: "Desarrollo de herramientas de predicción de desgaste de los perfiles rueda y carril en vehículos ferroviarios (PAID-UPV 06-12)". Founder: Technical University of Valencia, Spain.

[2009-2011] Valero-Mora P, Balsa-Barreiro J et al: "Promoting real life observations for gaining understanding of road behaviour in Europe (Grant Agreement ID: 233597)". Funder: FP7-TRANSPORT, European Commission.

[2005] Balsa-Barreiro J: "Proyecto de adaptación al espacio europeo de educación superior en el área de GIS y produccioón cartográfica (04-106S Proyecto Tipo C) ". Funder: Technical University of Valencia, Spain.

[2004] Balsa-Barreiro J: "Proyecto de adaptación al espacio europeo de educación superior en el área de geodesia y microgeodesia (nº146) ". Funder: Technical University of Valencia, Spain.

Thesis supervision

Paillaqueo Muñoz, Maria Loreto (2024). Generación de un modelo 3D para la puesta en valor del patrimonio arquitectónico en la comuna de La Serena, Coquimbo (Chile). International Master's Degree in Territorial Planning and Organization (Latin America Ed.), Department of Geography, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Supervisor: J. Balsa-Barreiro.

Cano Navarro, Ignacio (2022). Studying the relationship between Twitter users' feelings about cultures and the visits to businesses associated with their respective cultures. M.Sc. in Data Science, School of Informatics, Technical University of Valencia. Supervisors: J. Hernández-Orallo, C. Ferri and J. Balsa-Barreiro.

Rodriguez Garcia, Manuel (2019). Application of GIS to Biogeography. Analysis of the Fragas do Eume's wildfire in 2012. M.Sc. in Planning and Management of Territorial Development, Department of Geography, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Zelong, Lian (2018). Digital Preservation of Calw Market Square-Lederstrasse by Means of Automated HDS and Photogrammetric Texture Mapping (Part 4). M.Sc. in Geomatics Engineering, GEOENGINE. Institute for Photogrammetry, University of Stuttgart. Supervisors: D. Fritsch and J. Balsa-Barreiro.

Owda, Abdalmenem (2017). Digital Preservation of Calw Market Square - Im Zwinger by Means of Automated HDS and Photogrammetric Texture Mapping. M.Sc. in Geomatics Engineering, GEOENGINE. Institute for Photogrammetry, University of Stuttgart. Supervisors: D. Fritsch and J. Balsa-Barreiro.

Zhai, Ning (2017). Digital Preservation of Calw Market Square-Lederstrasse by Means of Automated HDS and Photogrammetric Texture Mapping (Part 3). M.Sc. in Geomatics Engineering, GEOENGINE. Institute for Photogrammetry, University of Stuttgart. Supervisors: D. Fritsch and J. Balsa-Barreiro.

Yangteng, Jiang (2016). Digital Preservation of Calw Market Square-Lederstrasse by Means of Automated HDS and Photogrammetric Texture Mapping (Part 2). M.Sc. in Geomatics Engineering, GEOENGINE. Institute for Photogrammetry, University of Stuttgart. Supervisors: D. Fritsch and J. Balsa-Barreiro.

Wang, Yiwen (2016). Digital Preservation of Calw Market Square-Lederstrasse by Means of Automated HDS and Photogrammetric Texture Mapping (Part 1). M.Sc. in Geomatics Engineering, GEOENGINE. Institute for Photogrammetry, University of Stuttgart. Supervisors: D. Fritsch and J. Balsa-Barreiro.

Feng, Bo (2016). Digital Preservation of Calw Altburgerstrasse by Means of Automated HDS and Photogrammetric Texture Mapping. M.Sc. in Geomatics Engineering, GEOENGINE. Institute for Photogrammetry, University of Stuttgart. Supervisors: D. Fritsch and J. Balsa-Barreiro.

Invited Talks

J. Balsa-Barreiro, G.J. Hannoun, S. Batista and M. Menéndez (Jan. 08th, 2024). Traffic congestion and travel time accessibility to healthcare facilities across urban networks: A case study in Madrid, Spain. 103rd Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting, Urban Lectern Session "Urban Data Analysis Using GIS", Presentation TRBAM-24-04575, Washington DC, USA, Jan 07-11.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (Oct. 24th, 2019). Data visualization applied to Big Data and Machine Learning. Presented at the Introductory Workshop: Big Data and AI Methods and Tools, which was organized by MIT, Data-Pop Alliance, iNNpulsa Colombia, and the Ministerio de Comercio de Colombia, Oct. 24th and 25th.

J. Balsa-Barreiro (Feb. 14th, 2019). Visualization and analysis of human dynamics (from a spatial dimension). Presented at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, Porto (Portugal).

J. Balsa-Barreiro, A. Morales and E. Castelló (Nov. 09th, 2018). Datos, inteligencia artificial y complejidad. Una visión de la sociedad del futuro. Presented at the School of Informatics, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Valencia (Spain).

J. Balsa-Barreiro, A. Morales and E. Castelló (Nov. 08th, 2018). Datos, inteligencia artificial y complejidad. Una visión de la sociedad del futuro. Presented at the Fundación Valenciana de Estudios Avanzados, Valencia (Spain).

J. Balsa-Barreiro, A. Morales and E. Castelló (Nov. 07th, 2018). Human Dynamics: Data, AI and Complexity at Scale. Presented at the IMDEA Networks Institute, Leganés (Spain).

J. Balsa-Barreiro, A. Morales and E. Castelló (Nov. 05th, 2018). Datos, inteligencia artificial y complejidad. Una visión de la sociedad del futuro. Presented at the Institute of Engineering of Spain, Madrid (Spain).

J. Balsa-Barreiro (Apr. 15th, 2016). 3D preservation of the Berlin Brandenburg Gate. Presented at the 30th Berliner Denkmaltag, Berlin (Germany).

J. Balsa-Barreiro. (Mar. 28th, 2016). Proceso de reconstrucción virtual (3D/4D) del patrimonio arquitectónico. Presented at the Institute of Engineering of Spain, Madrid (Spain).

C. Coughneour and J. Balsa-Barreiro (Sep. 06th, 2015). 3D/4D modelling for cultural heritage applications. Presented at the 55th Photogrammetric Week-Tutorial, Stuttgart (Germany).

J. Balsa-Barreiro (Jun. 27th, 2012). La tecnología LiDAR y sus posibles aplicaciones al mundo de la Ingeniería. Presented at the Institute of Engineering of Spain, Madrid (Spain).

Awards

[2019] M. Bakker, D. Piracha, P. Lu, K. Bejgo, M. Bahrami, Y. Leng, J. Balsa-Barreiro, J. Ricard, A. Morales, V. Singh, B. Bozkaya, S. Balcısoy and A.S. Pentland. Measuring fine-grained multidimensional integration using mobile phone metadata: the case of Syrian refugees in Turkey. Honorable Mention in the Data For Refugees (D4R) Challenge (category: Social Integration).

[2013] J. Balsa-Barreiro -supervised by J.L. Lerma, A. Rovira, L. Duenas -. LIDAR: from cartographic to industrial engineering. Some applications of low-cost geoprocessing with LiDAR data. 2nd position in the 1st Ed. of the IDEAS StarUPV (category: Final Projects 2K13).

[2013] J. Balsa-Barreiro -supervised by J.L. Lerma, A. Rovira, L. Duenas -. LIDAR: from cartographic to industrial engineering. Some applications of low-cost geoprocessing with LiDAR data. Quality Mention in the 4th Ed. of the ESRI Final Studies.

[2007] J. Balsa-Barreiro -supervised by R.C. Lois-González-. Analysis and implementation of a GIS for services management in any level of Public Administrations. Particularization and enhancing applications for the Directorate General of Tourism-Turgalicia (Counseling of Innovation and Industry of the Galician Government). Winner of the 16th Ed. of the Manuel Colmeiro Award organized by the Galician School of Public Administration (EGAP) (category: most relevant study on Public Administrations).

[2006] J. Balsa-Barreiro -supervised by J.L. Lerma-. LiDAR Technology (Light Detection and Ranging) and its application to the generation of digital urban models. Finalist of the 6th Ed. of the Jordi Viñas i Foch Award organized by the Cartographic Institute of Catalonia (category: most relevant study on mapping applications).

[2006] J. Balsa-Barreiro -supervised by J.L. Lerma-. LiDAR Technology (Light Detection and Ranging) and its application to the generation of digital urban models. Finalist of the 1st Ed. of the Padre Tosca Award organized by the Cartographic Institute of Valencia (category: most relevant study on mapping applications).