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Maria C. Escobar

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I am a PhD candidate in Engineering and a researcher at the Center for Research and Formation in Artificial Intelligence (CINFONIA) supervised by Prof. Pablo Arbeláez. I previously did a Research Internship at Google, working on pose estimation methods for Project Starline. My main interests include Computer Vision and Deep Learning, as well as their role in human understanding through embodied AI. When I’m not running experiments, I am usually crocheting, dancing or volunteering.

Photo credits: Nidhal and Marion Fregeac.
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Publications & Awards

Publications

    *Denotes equal contribution.
  • EgoCast: Forecasting Egocentric Human Pose in the Wild.
    M. Escobar, J. Puentes, C. Forigua, J. Pont-Tuset, KK. Maninis, P. Arbeláez.
    WACV, 2025. Project page / paper
  • Ego-Exo4D: Understanding Skilled Human Activity from First- and Third-Person Perspectives.
    K. Grauman et al.
    CVPR, 2024 (ORAL PRESENTATION). Project page / paper
  • BoDiffusion: Diffusing Sparse Observations for Full-Body Human Motion Synthesis.
    A. Castillo*, M. Escobar*, G. Jeanneret, A. Pumarola, P. Arbeláez, A. Thabet, A. Sanakoyeu
    Computer Vision for Metaverse @ ICCV, 2023. Project page / paper
  • EgoCOL: Egocentric Camera pose estimation for Open-world 3D object Localization.
    C. Forigua, M. Escobar, J. Pont-Tuset, KK. Maninis, P. Arbeláez
    Ego4D challenge @ CVPR, 2023 Project page / paper
  • FeST: Learning Spatio-Temporal Priors for Fetal Brain MRI Segmentation.
    MF. Peñuela, L. Vargas, S. Usma, M. Escobar, A. Castillo, P. Arbeláez
    ISBI, 2023 paper
  • SuperFormer: Volumetric Transformer Architectures for MRI Super-Resolution.
    C. Forigua, M. Escobar, P. Arbeláez
    SASHIMI @ MICCAI, 2022 Project page / paper
  • Video Swin Transformers for Egocentric Video Understanding @ Ego4D Challenges 2022.
    M. Escobar*, L. Daza* , C. González , J. Pont-Tuset, P. Arbeláez
    Ego4D challenges @ CVPR, 2022 Project code / paper
  • Smart pooling: AI-powered COVID-19 informative group testing.
    M. Escobar, G. Jeanneret , L. Bravo-Sánchez , A. Castillo, C. Gómez , D. Valderrama, M. F. Roa, J. Martínez, J. Madrid-Wolff , M. Cepeda, M. Guevara-Suarez , O. L. Sarmiento , A. L. Medaglia , M. Forero-Shelton , M. Velasco, J. M. Pedraza-Leal, S. Restrepo, P. Arbeláez
    Scientific Reports, 2022 Project page / paper
  • SAMA: Spatially-Aware Multimodal Network with Attention For Early Lung Cancer Diagnosis.
    M. Roa, L. Daza, M. Escobar, A. Castillo, P. Arbeláez
    MLCDS @ MICCAI, 2021 paper
  • Generalized Real-World Super-Resolution through Adversarial Robustness.
    A. Castillo*, M. Escobar*, A. Romero, R. Timofte, L. Van Gool, P. Arbeláez
    AIM @ ICCVW, 2021. Project page / paper
  • SIMBA: Specific Identity Markers for Bone Age Assessment.
    C. González*, M. Escobar*, L. Daza, F. Torres, G. Triana, P. Arbeláez
    MICCAI, 2020 Project page / paper
  • LUCAS: LUng CAncer Screening with Multimodal Biomarkers.
    L. Daza, A. Castillo, M. Escobar, P. Arbeláez
    MLCDS @ MICCAI, 2020. Project page / paper
  • UltraGAN: Ultrasound Enhancement Through Adversarial Generation.
    M. Escobar*, A. Castillo*, A. Romero, P. Arbeláez
    SASHIMI @ MICCAI, 2020. Project page / paper
  • Hand Pose Estimation for Pediatric Bone Age Assessment.
    M. Escobar*, C. González*, F. Torres, L. Daza, G. Triana, P. Arbeláez
    MICCAI, 2019 (ORAL PRESENTATION) Project page / paper
  • An empirical study on Global Bone Age Assessment.
    F Torres, C. González, M. Escobar, L. Daza, G. Triana, P. Arbeláez
    SIPAIM, 2019. Project page / paper

Awards

  • 2nd place in Visual Queries 3D Localization (2023).
    Ego4D challenges @ CVPR
  • 2nd place in PNR Temporal Localization (2022).
    Ego4D challenges @ CVPR
  • 3rd place in Object State Change Classification (2022).
    Ego4D challenges @ CVPR
  • Best GPA among 45 graduating Biomedical Engineering Students (2019).
    Universidad de Los Andes
  • Member of the Colombian Young Talent Program (2019).
    Colfuturo
  • First place in the graduate national exams for Biomedical Engineering. Seventh place nationwide (2018).
    Ministerio de Educación, Colombia
  • Coulter College Design Scholar (2018).
    Biomedical Engineering Society, Medtronic

Work Experience

Research Intern

May 2024 - September 2024

Google

Implemented machine learning models for pose estimation in Project Starline, a novel telepresence system. Optimized pose estimation algorithms using JAX and FLAX on Google’s infrastructure for scalable deployment and evaluation. Designed and conducted performance evaluations, driving improvements in accuracy and system robustness. Collaborated with multidisciplinary teams and presented findings to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Researcher

July 2018 - December 2024

Center for Research and Formation in Artificial Intelligence

Researcher of the Biomedical Computer Vision (BCV) group at Uniandes, led by prof. Pablo Arbeláez. We work not only on medical images but also on current topics in computer vision such as Natural Language Processing, Generative Adversarial Networks and Video. During my time in BCV I have learned to work on multidisciplinary teams, conduct research projects and prepare paper submissions for international conferences.

Teaching Assistant

Jan 2019 - June 2019

Uniandes - Analysis and Processing of Biomedical Images

Laboratory instructor. I was in charge of designing laboratory activities regarding the use of basic computer vision tools for biomedical problems. I also had to assist and evaluate students in their final projects.

Undergrad teaching assistant

Aug 2016 - May 2018

Uniandes

In charge of designing interactive material for lectures, creating and grading midterms, modifying lab guides, assisting students during lab sessions and grading homeworks.

  • Quantitative Physiology I & II (Jan 2018 - May 2018).
  • Quantitative Physiology II (Aug 2017 - Dec 2017).
  • Probability and Statistics I (Aug 2017 - Dec 2017).
  • Algorithmic and Object-Oriented Programming I (Aug 2016 - Dec 2016).

Education

PhD. in Engineering

Jan 2021 - Dec 2024

Universidad de los Andes

Main focus in Computer Vision.
Authored papers in top-tier computer vision conferences.
Thesis: 3D Human Pose Estimation from Egocentric Inputs.

M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering

Jan 2019 - Dec 2020

Universidad de los Andes

Main focus in Computer Vision.
Published 5 papers in peer-reviewed conferences of medical imaging.
Thesis: Generative Adversarial Networks for Robust Medical Image Analysis.

B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering

Aug 2015 - Dec 2019

Universidad de los Andes

Graduated top of the class with the best GPA among 45 students. Minor studies in German Language and culture.

Contact

I'd Love To Connect With You.

Email Me At

mc.escobar11@uniandes.edu.co

Connect with me

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