Sara García Alonso, the first Spanish woman Reserve Astronaut of the European Space Agency (ESA), recommended this Monday to future engineers that they have the courage to innovate and infinite curiosity. The molecular biologist participated in 'WomIn', the meeting to awaken scientific vocations held at the Polytechnic University of Cartagena, and which is attended by more than half a thousand students.
Before this group of students, Sara García recalled her first years of studies: «My vocation began in a playful way, my parents motivated me to investigate, to see things through a microscope and to ask myself many questions. We have to apply technology to almost all sectors, so that society improves, so I ask you not to put limits on your curiosity.
The astronaut recommended that future female engineers have the courage to innovate and infinite curiosity
She concluded by saying that science is a passion and that she was selected among 23,000 candidates, through an 18-month process: «With exams of all kinds, astronauts dedicate themselves to research from space, so it is always too early to “give up, dare to pursue your dreams.”
The meeting included the testimonies of Beatriz Miguel, the first rector of a polytechnic university in Spain; Anabel Díaz, general director of Uber for Europe, the Middle East and Africa; Consuelo Lázaro, director of SAES Operations; Noelia Ortega, director of the Naval and Sea Technology Center and Cristina Abad, director of Navantia Sistemas.
Sara García, during the conference.
JM Rodríguez / AGM
Commitment to gender equality
The rector of the UPCT, Beatriz Miguel, highlighted the great promotion of female engineers, thanks to the institution's commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of women in this specialty. «Varying the trends in this field is a task that requires time and, above all, will, but it is bearing fruit. The data demonstrates this, since an average of 138 new female engineers leave the UPCT each year, according to the average of the last five years.”
In the cases of Telecommunications engineering, 25.4% of the total UPCT graduates last year were women and in Industrial Technologies 28.6%. Compared to the data extracted from the Engineering Observatory in Spain, according to which, the specialty in which they have the least staff is telecommunications, in which they only reach 12%, and Industrials on the average of all schools. , is at 19% respectively.
This innovative day started this Monday in the Isaac Peral Room of the CIM Building with the space completely full and eyes focused on the stars. It could not be any other way since two unstoppable forces met there: that of vocation and that of experience.
At the meeting, Anabel Díaz Calderón, CEO of UBER, explained that “engineers design the products of the future and women must participate and contribute to the solutions and sustainability of tomorrow.”
For her part, Consuelo Lázaro, director of SAES Operations, appealed to social responsibility and stated: “There is no need to wait for rules to be dictated to us to demand equality, in society and in the workplace.”
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