Welcome
This interdisciplinary conference on geometric mechanics and related fields to commemorate the 70th birthday of Manuel de León.
Manuel de León is one of the most important researchers in this area. It is worth highlighting his contributions on a wide range of topics such as symplectic geometry, Poisson and contact manifolds, nonholonomic mechanics, Cosserat media, geometric integrators, optimal control theory, among many others. Another facet that makes Manuel de León well-known is his intense dedication to the dissemination of mathematics and his role in mathematical organizations both at the international and national levels, including the International Mathematical Union (IMU), the Real Sociedad Matemática Española (RSME) and Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. He has been founder and Director of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (ICMAT) which has been selected as one of the Centres of Excellence in Spain (Severo Ochoa Programme).
One could keep on going by emphasizing his work on the learning and popularization of mathematics, edition and direction of scientific journals, and many other facets. The sum of all these contributions makes Manuel de León deserve this tribute.