In its second version of these awards, one of the 10 finalists was an academic from the Faculty of Engineering and a researcher from the Technological Development Unit of the University of Chile, together with the CEO of the spin off UdeC, Sequre Quantum.

The Ada Byron Award is a distinction that the University of Deusto, Spain, grants since 2014 to recognize outstanding women in the areas of technology, science, engineering and mathematics – and that in our country – is delivered for the second time in alliance with the Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB), thus joining Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Uruguay and Mexico, where this recognition is also awarded. The aim of the award is to highlight those who have followed the path marked by Ada Byron, a British writer and mathematician who pioneered the participation of women in the area of programming.

Under these parameters, for this second version in Chile, 187 applications were received from women researchers from all over the country, where a stable scientific committee defined the 10 finalists, among them, 3 researchers linked to the Universidad de Concepción, the academic of the Faculty of Engineering of the UdeC and PhD in Computer Science, Mabel Vidal Miranda; the researcher and project engineer of the Technological Development Unit (UDT) of the Universidad de Concepción, Dr. Cecilia Fuentealba Becerra Becerra, and the researcher and project engineer of the Technological Development Unit (UDT) of the Universidad de Concepción, Dr. Cecilia Fuentealba Becerra, among others. Cecilia Fuentealba Becerra; and the CEO and one of the founders of the UdeC spin off Sequre Quantum, Paulina Assmann Segura.

The Vice Rector for Research and Development of the University of Concepción, Dr. Andrea Rodríguez Tastets, highlighted the national recognition given to UdeC researchers and alumnae. “The three finalists of the Ada Byron Award, from different perspectives and trajectories, contribute to the development of frontier science and technology and stand out among their peers for their great capacity for work, both from research, as in the case of professors Cecilia Fuentealba and Mabel Vidal, and from science-based entrepreneurship, as well as from scientific-technological entrepreneurship, in the case of Paulina Assmann”, said the Vice Rector for Research, adding that all of them also stand out ‘in areas where the participation of women has traditionally been limited, thus helping to break down gender gaps’.

Meanwhile, UNAB’s Vice Rector for Research and Doctoral Studies, Carolina Torrealba Ruiz-Tagle, called for continuing working to change the cultural paradigm about the role of women in our society – which for years was seen only to fulfill domestic and care work -, promoting talent and equality in different areas of society and knowledge. “We are committed not only to these 10 selected, to the people who have been awarded (…) but also to the 187 applicants and to all and many more. We need this to be a movement that really mobilizes towards this change of equal opportunities,” said the UNAB Vice Chancellor.

After the election of the finalists, a jury composed of representatives from academia, the business and institutional world, determined that the winner was the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and founder of the startup Fishextend, Loreto Valenzuela Roediger, who, like the finalists, received her recognition at an awards ceremony held at the Campus Casona de Las Condes of UNAB.

One of the members of the jury who attended the ceremony was the Undersecretary of Economy and Small Businesses, Javiera Petersen Muga, who referred to the importance of advancing in a profound cultural change that promotes women who have managed to break structural barriers and generate innovative solutions in the market. “We consider it fundamental that these capabilities, these talents, are present in the most relevant place for decision making in the economy, in the generation of wealth, in the generation of impact, of course, and in the company,” said the undersecretary.

The finalists with UdeC seal

At the ceremony of the Ada Byron Award to the Woman Technologist 2024, the trajectory of each of the finalists was highlighted. In the case of the academic from the Faculty of Engineering of the UdeC, Mabel Vidal, her work in bioinformatics and computation was considered, as well as her participation in projects of genomic analysis, computational biology and artificial intelligence applied to oncology and aquaculture. “For me it is an honor,” said the academic, who thanked ”the people who nominated me, I had several nominations and that also drives me and gives me energy to continue working with the various foundations where I promote -women- mainly programming, which is my area of research.” Regarding the outreach work she does with the “Ingeniosas” and “Niñas Pro” foundations, she commented that “the fact that girls see at an early age that when they get to university, they will find themselves with female professors and not only with male professors (…) when they get to university they meet again and generate this community and do their homework together and do not arrive alone in the classroom as I was often the only woman in the classroom”.

Dr. Cecilia Fuentealba, from UDT UdeC, was highlighted for her research on the valorization of agroforestry by-products to obtain bioproducts with low environmental impact, promoting the use of natural resources. The project engineer said she was surprised when she was informed that she was one of the 10 finalists, since “sometimes you don’t believe how much impact what you are doing can have”. Along the same lines, she reflected on the internal work that must be done to identify how much one wants to be visible, “because our gender is also a little bit silent. Sometimes it is easier to talk about our family and our children than about our achievements. So, we emphasize that the professional and the woman are united. And there is nothing wrong with wanting to unite these two worlds,” she said.

She also highlighted her time at UDT where, “I have never felt gender differentiation and I think it has been a driving force for the development of who we are. I am grateful for the freedom of space that UDT gives us in what we do,” she said.

The third finalist linked to UdeC, was the CEO and one of the founders of the spin off UdeC, Sequre Quantum, Dr. Paulina Assmann. At the ceremony, her professional career in the development of technological and scientific advances was highlighted, with participation in various projects, such as the creation of the first sentinel to measure SARS-CoV-2 and indigenous drugs in Biobío, in addition to heading the first quantum technology startup in Latin America.

The astrophysicist said she was surprised and grateful to be among the 10 finalists, sharing with such outstanding women in the scientific-technological world. “This indicates that Chile is doing well. Now hopefully this will continue to inspire more girls, more boys, to see that they can follow their dreams and that they can change and improve the world through science and technology,” commented Paulina Assmann, also valuing all the opportunities she has received since high school, ”by participating in the Physics Olympics, being able to do science work, being a scientist at school. And then having the opportunity to be able to follow one’s dreams and today in being leading the first quantum technologies company, which is not only giving me the opportunity to be able to bring this technology to improve the world standard of security, but also coming to inspire.”

Source: UdeC News