21st Century Women in Technology: Ivana Ogando González 

The latest guest for our latest 21st Century Women in Technology series is Ivana Ogando González, a Telecommunications Technology engineer. Born in the Pontevedra town of Vilaboa, Ivana always liked mathematics and technical drawing growing up, so much so that between the ages of 7 and 17 she wanted to be an architect, until she discovered computer forensics at a summer science campus. She is currently working on her dissertation on spectral monitoring based on deep learning and signal processing techniques while working on the PROPHET project. He combines this in the Communications area of Gradiant with one of her other passions: becoming involved in associations. Ivana participates in the DAAT, the Foro Tecnolóxico de Emprego and Debate. 

 

What did you want to do when you were little?

When I was little, I said I wanted “a job where I could wear high-heels”. Later, at the age of 7, I decided I wanted to be an architect, I loved drawing house plans in notebooks, I found it relaxing (I’ve even kept some of them to this day). 

 

Why did you choose technology?

Since I was a child, I’ve always liked mathematics and technical drawing, so I studied the technological track for Bachillerato, although I hated everything related to programming.

When I was 17, at a Scientific Summer Campus, I discovered what computer forensics was, and from then on, I left architecture and started researching computer engineering and telecommunications engineering.

 

Where did you plan to study? Why?

In the second year of Baccalaureate I thought about doing computer engineering, the negative side was that it would have meant moving away, and I knew I wanted to stay close to home and my grandparents, as they were older. Another reason why I decided to do the degree in Vigo was because just when I was preparing for the university entrance exams, a new degree taught in English was launched, and as I love languages, so I thought it would a good idea improve my English and acquire vocabulary, with all the material in English.

 

What are you currently working on?

I’m working in the Advanced Communications area of Gradiant. My summer internship consisted of detecting and classifying radio frequency signals for Spectrum Awareness. I am now in the PROPHET project, doing my TFG. What I am proposing will help create a tool based on Deep Learning and signal processing techniques that will monitor anomalies and threats associated with non-legitimate use of the radio spectrum. For example, this tool can be used to protect public or private cellular networks from attack, or to ensure that no unauthorised devices are present in a restricted area. 

 

What do you like most about your work?

It might sound like a cliché, but what I like most about my job is to put into practice what I’ve learned during my degree, and above all, to learn how to “find your own way”, to see what a real project is like from the inside. I know that I have only just started, and that I still have a lot to learn.

 

Who is your female role model or reference in the world of technology?

All my role models in life are people close to me whom I admire. My female role model in the technology sector has always been Leticia Antepazo, daughter of some friends of my mother. She studied Chemical Engineering at USC and currently works as Site & Operations Manager at Avient Corporation in Italy. Since I was a little girl, I have felt such admiration for her that I wanted my sister to be named after her. 

 

What is your reading of the situation regarding women in the technological field?

I think that, in general, we want no distinction to be made between men and women, we want to be treated as the people and professionals that we are, to have the same opportunities. I hope that one day this equality will be achieved.

 

What would you say to the tech workers of the future?

Studying engineering can be more or less difficult, but it should be seen as an investment in the future: it lays the foundations for future learning almost on almost a daily basis, since the evolution of society is linked to technological advances, where we all do our bit.