I cannot remember a specific moment when I began to be interested in STEM. I suppose it’s a matter of character, but I was always curious and dreamy, and that naturally led me in school to prefer those disciplines where abstract thinking is more useful.
Your organization´s key sector and mission:
The University of Cantabria is a public institution of higher education which offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral studies. In addition to the basic mission of training, two other pillars of the activity of this organization are research and the transfer of knowledge to companies, socio-economic institutions and society in general.
Please tell us briefly about your role in the company/organization:
I am part of the teaching and research staff, so I participate in the teaching of various subjects in the area of electronics technology in engineering studies, as well as being part of several research projects related to the design and test of integrated analogue, mixed-signal and heterogeneous microelectronic circuits. In addition, I am a member of the management team of the School of Industrial Engineering and Telecommunications as Head of Studies for the bachelor’s degree in industrial technologies engineering, the master’s degree in industrial engineering and the Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering Research.
Your interest in STEM
When you are a female engineer, you learn to develop your career without relying on female role models, since they are few and little known. In school, the only female scientist talked about is Marie Curie, and in high school and university, your only references are your teachers. Once you start working, especially in the field of scientific research, your references are older colleagues who play the role of mentors and teachers, whom you meet at conferences, courses, or, in my case, in the office across the hall. Thanks Mar, by the way.
Age has taught me that nobody is perfect, which makes it difficult for me to have a role model that I find inspiring. However, it is true that I have been fortunate to meet great professionals and individuals in my environment, both men and women, whom I respect and who help me continue to want to improve myself.
Your studies
From an internal perspective, I am a shy and embarrassed person, which made it difficult for me to make friends and have study partners to rely on during my first year at uni. It was also extremely difficult for me to approach my teachers to ask questions. Something that I later realized as essential. In addition, I am nervous and very perfectionist, which sometimes affected my performance in assessment tests and deeply impacted me when the results were negative. Fortunately, I was aware of this and tried to develop strategies to overcome it, perhaps thanks to a maturity that was probably beyond someone so young. On the other hand, my class was the first under the new curriculum, so we had very little documentation to base our test preparations on, as we could not rely on exams, notes, or exercises from previous years. However, this was a positive lesson for us, as we learned to search for information independently, develop critical thinking and teamwork.
Firstly, being an engineer is not that traditional image we have of a person with a helmet and blueprints under their arm. An engineer takes existing scientific knowledge to develop technology, to create something new, or improve what we have, and put it at the service of society. If a scientist must be curious, the engineer is also dreamy and imaginative. It is not at all a boring job, nor does it involve getting greasy, or doing very physical work. Do not allow anyone to tell you that it is a male profession because you lack the character to lead teams, or that it is too difficult or demanding for your abilities. From experience, I have found that conflicts are better resolved by negotiating, and that we can be as curious, consistent, or creative as anyone. On the other hand, the electronics industry occupies the first place in the world among industrial sectors by volume of business and has largely allowed the technological transformation that we currently enjoy. It is present in all areas of engineering, to a greater or lesser extent, so you will never lack work, nor challenges. In electronics studies, as in the rest of engineering studies, fortune and success favors those who work and strive, not those who are smarter.
You at work
Within the University of Cantabria, there is an area of equality and social responsibility that provides the university community with a series of initiatives and programs. Among these, I would highlight those related to family reconciliation, such as the Concilia Plan, the Nursery School, and the regular organization of Children’s Campuses during holiday periods. These are the longest-running programs and facilitate the exercise of motherhood and fatherhood, contributing to promoting the co-responsibility of women and men.
As I have already mentioned, I am a very perfectionist person, which makes it difficult for me to name any professional achievement that I am particularly proud of. I believe there is still much for me to learn and teach, but if I had to choose, I am left with three achievements. In terms of research, probably the project I am most proud and grateful to have participated in is a collaboration with the Cardiology Department of the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital, opening the way to the research and development of ultra-low power active implantable devices based on MEMS sensors and wireless power transmission. The other two are much more general: I continue to enjoy learning and facing new challenges, despite the difficulties and the effort it will entail, and having students who remember me and stop to talk with me on the street to tell me that they are doing well and thank me.
My advice for women who want to pursue their work at the university is to be patient and persevering, as it often takes many years to achieve a certain level of job stability. Being a university lecturer encompasses multiple aspects that can be very satisfying both personally and professionally, but also very demanding, as you often must prioritize which aspect you need to pay more attention to at a particular moment in your career, without abandoning the other. You must enjoy research and try to complete your PhD within a good group that provides support. But you also should train yourself as a good teacher. We all know examples of teachers who knew a lot but were not able to convey it to their students.
On the other hand, research from a public institution allows you greater freedom, in terms of time, scope, and priority lines, than research within a company which is subject to the demands of its own circumstances. As a counterpoint, you often compete with these companies, directly or indirectly, and usually with fewer experience, economic, personal, and equipment resources. In this sense, having a good network of contacts from other research groups is extremely useful, so you will have to develop your social skills and dedicate time to attending conferences and meetings, as well as carrying out, at least, a research stay of several months, preferably abroad.
Your point of view
Throughout human history, technological development and progress have enabled at least a portion of the population to improve their living conditions. The fact that not all have benefited from such advancements is due to socioeconomic factors, rather than the inherently beneficial nature of the technology itself. When progress ensures that people, particularly women in vulnerable situations, have their basic needs met, they can shift their focus from mere survival to personal development, education, and the pursuit of their own interests. Moreover, technology provides them with tools to demonstrate their value to society beyond the confines of the domestic sphere. Managing these tools grants women access to knowledge and exposure to other cultures, enriching them personally and ultimately empowering them. It instills confidence by making them aware of their potential and convincing them that they face not a deficit of capabilities, but rather, if anything, a lack of opportunities.
My advice for women who want to work in microelectronics is similar to what I would give to anyone, man or woman, who had that interest, and that is to prepare to work in a very competitive and demanding sector, but with very high growth expectations. It is interesting, varied, and complex, so it is difficult to get bored. However, my personal experience has been developed in a research group and in a work environment at the national and international level where I have not suffered inequalities of opportunities compared to my male colleagues. I do not know if the situation in the private sector is different.
Honestly, I would like there to be no need to develop DEIS initiatives, at least in this sector, because we would have reached a situation where any woman who desires, and has the qualities for it, can achieve professional success in this technological field. I would wish that for this, she had role models that awakened her vocation and convinced her that she can achieve it, and that she also had equal opportunities for access and promotion.
To finish with
My values are effort, respect, resilience, equality, empathy, ethics, honesty, camaraderie, critical thinking with others and with myself, and hope.
From the perspective of my work as a teacher, I will have to make a significant study effort to adapt the methodology and content of my classes to new technological advances, for example, in terms of AI, and to make them more attractive to my students. As the person responsible for an engineering curriculum, my challenges will be: First, to identify those aspects of it that need to be updated, so as to better respond to the current and even future needs of the labor market, within a global framework, and to improve my negotiation skills to reach a consensus solution with the different actors involved in its implementation. And second, to promote innovative and creative actions to disseminate engineering studies to bring the profession closer to society, trying to eliminate preconceived ideas and misconceptions that hinder the attraction of talent, especially female talent. Finally, from the point of view of research, the challenges here are the usual ones, to obtain innovative solutions in a short period of time, since technological development in electronics technology is characterized by a demanding time-to-market and a high competitiveness.
I hope to continue in the same place, because I like what I do, but I would like to further develop certain aspects of mixed and heterogeneous circuit design that would allow me to collaborate with other groups on larger multidisciplinary projects.