June 23 "Day of the woman engineer": Judit is one of the few women studying the industrial and automatic electronic engineering degree at the URV

Technical studies are still mostly represented by men. In a context in which we are making great strides in achieving gender equity and in which women are making their way into professions that have traditionally been men's, it is clear that there is still a long way to go. way to go and that a minority of women are represented there.

Judit explains this on the occasion of International Women's Day, which is celebrated on June 23 to commemorate and vindicate the role of women in a sector in which they are still under-represented. In fact, the data speaks for itself: only 29% of engineering students are women, according to the Caixa d'Enginyers Foundation.

Judit is one of the few women studying the degree in industrial and automatic electronic engineering at the URV, and she remembers that she chose the degree right after the selectivity. During high school he had already chosen related subjects, such as technology or physics, but he had never considered what to study. Thus, although there are still few women who opt for technical studies, they are gradually entering one of the most employable sectors.

At the College of Industrial Technical Engineers, we have a total of 1,233 members, of whom only 96 are women. Maria Dolors Díaz Fortuny was the first member of the College of Industrial Technical Engineers of Tarragona. She went to school in 1970 and since then, other women have been going to school: Valeria Camila Montoya Cortés was the last one, last March.

Most college women come from the chemical sector, and less from electrical, mechanical, and electronic engineering, respectively. By age, most are active and, a total of 61, are between 40 and 49 years old, while from 20 to 39, we have 17 members. That is why we believe it is time to encourage the youngest engineers to join the College, an organization that can help them develop their careers and give them a boost.

We wanted to talk to Judith because she is an example of the future of our profession and will help to bridge the gender gap. In fact, she admits that there is an obvious lack of references in her field: young women have no one to identify with: "Maybe you have a teacher who is an engineer, or you see them at open days, but 'Engineering is not for the public', as is the case with other professions, and it is difficult to find someone to look up to.

While women’s talent in this sector is undisputed, it has often been hidden. We have examples of women who have made history in their field and who have often been made invisible. Isabel Trabal was the first Catalan industrial engineer (1949) to be the only one of her profession; the Brooklyn Bridge works were directed and supervised by engineer Emily Warren Roebling; and, in Spain, Pilar Careaga Basabe was the first female engineer to graduate and the first to drive a railway. But we can find more examples: Helen Augusta Blanchard developed up to 28 patents, many related to the sewing machine. Mary Anderson invented the windshield wiper. And many more women who have advanced our profession!

Judit is a member of the URVoltage Racing team, which participates in MotoSutdent, a university and international competition held every two years in Alcañiz (Aragon) and in which the prototype of a motorcycle must be presented. electric that meets the technical and safety requirements to be able to run.

The team is made up of about twenty students from different engineering degrees: mechanical, electrical, electronic, communication and also management. Judit explains that it is an opportunity to work as a team and to put into practice a lot of knowledge acquired in the different subjects. Participation is voluntary (there is no credit count) and students invest free time (afternoons and weekends, each with their assigned work, in which case Judit has been linked to the electronic part and the part end of assembly, after the other phases such as the initial design or the selection of materials have been passed.

Judit has participated in the last two editions, on a voluntary basis, and is one of the only women to have done so, but she values the experience positively. In fact, this type of initiative can improve the techniques of new systems that allow the automotive market to evolve: "normalize" electrical conduction at a competitive level and show that more and more autonomy can be achieved. He wants to finish his studies and enter the world of work, where he believes that he can contribute a lot of the acquired knowledge, but also give him another perspective. He likes the world of the car industry, which is not always obvious, but has an important part of electronics: "We can not get stuck in gasoline, which is not the best option, but we must also investigate in batteries ”and how to contribute to the preservation of the environment.