ISSUE NO. 16 | SEPTEMBER 2021
WiE - UC Newsletter IEEE Student Branch of the UC - Women in Engineering Affinity Group
ISSUE NO. 16| SEPTEMBER 2021
IEEE WiE interviews Nádia Miranda Nádia Miranda is the Infrastructure and Operations Lead and Corporate Delivery Lead at Worten, with more than 20 years of experience in management and coordination teams (software development and projects implementations), decision-making and process development, and monitoring national and international projects. She holds a PhD in Computer Engineering from the Pontificia University of Salamanca, Madrid, in the area of Knowledge Management, as well as a Master's Degree in Business Planning and Strategy, and an Executive Post Graduation in Digital Marketing Management at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa. She also wrote the book, “Women in Tech e Não Só”! 1. To start off this interview, would you tell us what made you decide to join your field? Hello, from an early age I've always liked topics related to technology and engineering. I have believed since I was a little girl that a woman can do everything a man does with more elegance and sweetness. So the professions mostly dominated by the male sector have always fascinated me. 2. What drew you to the area of computer science after being involved in management? The area of information technology or computer science came up in my life as a second option. I always thought I would go to civil engineering, but after informing me about the course of management computer science, I began to find it very interesting and it was my choice when I got into college. To me, computer science is innovation. 3. With a position such as yours, how do you manage the work/life balance, especially while raising children? Having a balance between my personal and professional life has always been one of my great challenges, because I have always wished to have a successful professional career, but not neglect my family.
My family and friends were always my priority. The secret of this balance is described in my book Women in Tech and not only! 4. When you first began your career, what were your expectations for the future? I always wanted to grow in this sector (computer science), I got my PhD and .
ISSUE NO. 16 | SEPTEMBER 2021
many certifications and never stopped working, I've always been able to combine studies with work because I've always wanted to lead in the computer sector. 5. As a woman in a prominent leadership position, have you ever felt any resistance from your colleagues due to your gender? Leading "in a world of men", or mostly male is challenging, we have to prove more and show that we can do better to stand out! 6.What made you decide to write your book, “Women in Tech e Não Só”? I am a mentor of Portuguese women in tech, and my book is about motivated all women. The mentoring program I made, my friends and family are motivated me in the middle of the pandemic to write a book. It was already a dream I had, I always wanted to write something to be able to motivate and help all women. 7.Would you walk us through what that experience was like, from writing, to publishing, to finally seeing it being sold? It was very gratifying and enthusiastic. I decided to write this book in the middle of a pandemic. I believe writing was beneficial to me too. When we write, we're putting on paper or in a computer what we feel. It was to realize a dream, that I had for some time and then went to see a dream come true! When we really want something and believe, just do it and not give up, believe!
F O L L O W
O U R
S O C I A L
M E D I A
T O
S T A Y
8.What advice would you give to your younger self, if you could speak to her for five minutes? When we really want something, we must believe and never give up until we realize our dreams! Design and build your plans and goals daily and don't stop until you reach them! It's up to you the life you're going to have. Follow your dreams and listen to your heart! Our heart is always the best guide! 9. At the moment, do you have any goals you would like to achieve in your career? Maybe plans to write another book? I always have dreams and desires that's what makes me move forward! I'm a woman of challenges! About the books... Now I'm never going to stop writing again! Soon I will publish a new book, it is to children, the name is kid’s tech. To give courage to children don’t give up. Now I'm already writing the third book! Finally, as a bit of humor... 10. Are you a cat person or a dog person, and why? I love animals, but I like most cats, I'm a free person, I am sweet but also a wild woman! That's what cats are, and why I love them! .
Sarah Holm
T U N E D
T O
O U R
E V E N T S
A N D
P O S T S !
ISSUE NO. 16 | SEPTEMBER 2021
Biography ELIZABETH BLACKBURN Born in the small city of Hobart, 3 years after the end of the second world war, Elizabeth Blackburn had a family that valued all kinds of science. Both her parents were physicians, and her grandfather and great grandfather on her mother’s side had been geologists. She grew up in Tasmania, surrounded by plants and all kinds of animals, something that sparked her passion for biology early in life. It is no surprise that she decided to attend the University of Melbourne, choosing Biochemistry as her major. She graduated with honours, gaining an interest for laboratory research during her bachelor’s. So when she was invited to become a master’s student in Frank Hird’s laboratory, she readily accepted. There, she studied the metabolism of glutamine in the rat liver, in an environment that fostered the scientific growth of its students. Her undergraduate thesis research advisors had encouraged her to pursue a Ph.D. at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, and she was accepted into the program after finishing her Master’s. The atmosphere of the LBM, one of the world’s centres of molecular biology, immersed her completely in her work. Her Ph.D. thesis research was about sequencing regions of the bacteriophage phiX 174, which made her interest in the science of gene sequencing bloom. After finishing her program, she joined Joe Gall’s lab at Yale. Dr. Blackburn immediately began to research the structure and replication of the chromosomes of a protozoan called Tetrahymena. She sequenced it’s DNA, discovering that its telomeres (the ends .
SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA.ORG
of chromosomes) were composed short, repeating segments of DNA.
of
After finishing her postdoctoral training in Joe Gall’s lab, Dr. Elizabeth moved with her husband to San Francisco, California. She became an assistant professor of molecular biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and continued her investigations of the telomeres of Tetrahymena. Her interest in the function and maintenance of telomeres only increased during the years. In 1980, she met Jack Szostak, and began a collaborative effort to understand telomere function. In 1984, Dr. Blackburn and Carol Greider, who was a graduate student in Elizabeth’s laboratory at the time, discovered telomerase. Telomeres shorten following cell division and are the primary determinants of cell life span, so the discovery of telomerase was very exciting. Their studies revealed .
ISSUE NO. 16 | SEPTEMBER 2021
that telomerase plays a fundamental role in maintaining chromosomes, as it can add DNA to telomeres, essentially increasing cell life span. Elizabeth remained at Berkeley until 1990, when she became a professor in the department of biochemistry and biophysics and in the department of microbiology and immunology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). In 1993, she earned the title of chair of the department of microbiology and immunology at UCSF. Blackburn's later research involved further investigation of the genetic composition and cellular functions of telomeres and telomerase, as well as studies on the interactions of these cellular components and their roles in cancer and aging. Throughout .
her
career,
Dr.
Blackburn published several scientific papers and received a variety of honorary degrees and awards, with the most notable one being the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009 (shared with Greider and Szostak). But a list of awards cannot fully convey the importance of her research to the scientific world, and the impact it can have in the future. She can be considered a living legend in the world of DNA sequencing and telomere research, as her studies propelled both fields forward in unprecedented ways. As women in STEM, she is a source of inspiration and strength, and her story can bring out the best in all of us.
Elizabeth
Leticia Simon
Achievement ANA LUÍSA GONÇALVES
In this month's achievement we bring one of the four winners of the Medal of Honor L'Oreal Portugal for Women in Science. In the same category of the 2021 June edition of the WiE-UC Newsletter, we showed you the work of Margarida Abrantes that led her to win this award. This month, we present Ana Luísa Gonçalves.
SOURCE: JN.PT
Current researcher at the Laboratório de Engenharia de Processos, Ambiente, Biotecnologia e Energia (LEPABE), of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, Ana Gonçalves was awarded for her study in microalgae, which aims to assess its potential in the treatment of industrial effluents. Her study aims to understand if microalgae can assimilate nitrogen and phosphorus that remain in industrial effluents even after being treated, and how their biomass can be valued in new applications, such as achieving a more sustainable economy, with less environmental impacts.
Margarida Gomes
ISSUE NO. 16 | SEPTEMBER 2021
WiE Recommend... Hi! I'm Leticia Lessa, a 4th year biomedical engineering student! I'm really into paleontology, so I'm glad that I can share my favorite paleopodcast with you! I also love reading, and if you're into biology, you're going to love my recommendaytion! I'm also into horror movies, and Jordan Peele quickly became my favorite horror movie director/writer in the last few years. Definitely watch Get Out before you check out his newest movie, Candyman!
B y WiE
podcast
film book
SPOTIFY.COM
NETFLIX.COM
ALMEDINA.NET
Hey! My name is Heloisa Barbosa. I´m currently working on my master thesis in Biomedical Engineering, specializing in Biomedical Instrumentation. I love animals, radical sports, travelling and, since I love watching series, movies and reading books too, here are my recommendations!
book film
series
FNAC.PT
AMAZON.COM NETFLIX.COM
ISSUE NO. 16 | SEPTEMBER 2021
Curiosity of the month... Recently, Wally Funk became the oldest person to go to space. At eighty-two (82) years old, Funk joined Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and other crew members aboard a rocket and capsule developed by Blue Origin. By the age of twenty-two (22), she already had a résumé of lifetime achievements. She earned top aviation ratings in college and not only was a professional certified pilot but also became the first female civilian flight instructor at a United States military base. Funk’s dreams of flying into space were never accomplished purely because of her gender. Until 60 years later, when her story got Bezos's attention. According to him “no one has waited longer”, the reason why he invited Wally, for free, in one of the most recent tourism space travels. SOURCE: TEXASMONTHLY.COM
Funk’s persistence and determination while fighting against gender inequalities marks a great example to many other women, facing different types of discrimination.
Paloma Solis
9.
EVIF
4. 8.
DNILASOR ALALAM
SOLUTIONS 1. 5. 6.
2.
7.
3.
YAWRON GRUOBMEXUL OGAG ZEHG SLRIGKEEG SCITAMEHTAM
ACROSS 3. Female astrophysicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 (last name) 5. First female portuguese professor of engineering (last name) 6. Country with the lowest wage inequality in the European Union, according to 2019 Eurostat DOWN data 1. The “M” in STEM 2. First portuguese community created to promote 7. Handball team fined for wearing shorts and bring together women in the technological area instead of the usual bikini in the European championship (country of origin) through regular meetings (first two words) 4. Pakistani activist who was victim of an attack for 8. Female British chemist who contributed to the discovered of the DNA’s structure (first defending girls’ right to go to school; youngest name) recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (first name) 9. Number of active projects in WiE
ISSUE NO. 16 | SEPTEMBER 2021
WiE - UC Newsletter IEEE Student Branch of the UC - Women in Engineering Affinity Group
See You Next Month!