21st Century Women Technologists: Carla Álvarez

This time we introduce you to our colleague Carla. Born in a small village in Ribadumia (Pontevedra) called Leiro, Carla is currently completing her Master’s degree in Telecommunication Engineering in the Advanced Communications area at Gradiant. Sports dancing, reading some of her favorite books and hanging out with her friends are some of her hobbies in addition to technology.

What did you want to do when you were younger?

When I was a little girl I always said that I wanted to be an architect, although over the years I rejected this idea because I was more interested in other subjects, even though I always liked technical drawing.

Why did you choose technology for your future?

I really liked math and physics. I was most interested in these subjects not the theoretical part rather the idea of applying these tools to find solutions to real problems.

What are you currently working on?

I’m doing my master’s internship in Advanced Communications area specifically participating in Alivetor, a sensor integrated into a drone that allows detection of survivors under wreckage, which is very useful if a building collapses, for example.

What do you like most about your job?

What I like most about my job is having to resolve different problems every day, which in turn involves constantly learning new fields and concepts. Of course, I also like having the feeling of being involved in something necessary like a project that could save lives in this particular case.

Who is your female reference in the world of technology?

I cannot name a specific woman technologist because we have not yet been mentioned in the classrooms. As everyone knows, in many cases women had to sign their jobs with their husbands’ names so that they would not be rejected. Although there have been names of admirable women in science despite this repression, they are not mentioned in the books. I hope this will change soon.

How do you imagine your career in technology? What would you like to get at?

The most important thing for me is and will be in the future to enjoy my work day by day and to continue learning new skills to resolve problems. Based on that I am open to anything that the daily effort allows me to achieve.

What would you say to the technologists of the future?

I would say that it is an exciting world in which you will never get bored and where you will have the opportunity to learn a lot of things, even if it requires a considerable effort. You will learn to be self-taught but in this sector there is a lot of companionship and teamwork, so you will always feel that you have a lot of support around you.

I would also say to women not to feel excluded in this area, even if it sometimes feels complicated. As we should all know by now, women and men have the same rights and, of course, the same capabilities.