WiE-UC September October

ISSUE

17

October 2021

WIE - UC NEWSLETTER IEEE Student Branch of the UC Women in Engineering Affinity Group

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Interview with Inês Raposo - P. 1

Biography of Rita Levi-Montalcini - P. 3

Achievement of Carolyn Bertozzi - P.4

WiE Recommend - P.5

Curiosity - P.6

ISSUE NO. 17 | OCTOBER 2021

IEE WiE Interviews - Inês Raposo With a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry (NOVA FCT) and a master’s degree in Biochemistry for Health (NOVA ITQB), Inês decided to change careers and dive into the consulting world. To further deepen her knowledge on such a broad and ever-changing area of expertise, she challenged herself to complete a postgraduate programme in Knowledge Information and Business Intelligence (NOVA IMS). She currently works at Celfocus within an international telecom BI transformation project.

1. Were you always drawn to the business world, or did you ever consider a career in academia?

Before taking this leap of faith and completely changing the focus of my career, my goal was to have a career in academia. I really enjoyed being in a laboratory environment, but it is not a very sustainable option in our country nowadays, given the lack of support our government issues to these areas.

2. Would you tell us a little bit more about your MSc degree and, if possible, share some advice for other students?

In my understanding, the purpose of completing a MSc degree is for one to either deeply understand a chosen subject or to broaden/complement their expertise on an already established field.

Nonetheless, I still feel that most of the offered programmes are very much in line with the preceding bachelor’s degrees, where if one decides to complete both, many courses will mostly, if not totally, have overlapping curriculums. I would tell other students to reflect on their need of a MSc degree given their career goals. Perhaps a bachelor’s in management would benefit from a master’s in finance management if the aim of the student is to pursue a corporate job in finance. Another option is to take a “gap year” in your studies and to get a job in your area of interest.

Maybe you’ll find out it’s not your dream job after all, and that’s alright! There is always time to change. .

3. How would you describe your job as a consultant to someone who is unfamiliar with the term?

A BI consultant aims to move data into databases to centralise it for the client and to ultimately turn it into valuable information, giving the client the power to take knowledge-based decisions.

For someone that knows nothing about this, I simply tell them I “work with computers”.

4. What is something that you consider fundamental to having a good work-life balance?

Establishing your work schedule and not deviating much from it is crucial. It is even more important now that most people are working from home, as you can quickly start working overtime and neglect your life balance. If there is no important delivery and your work will be

PAGE 1

ISSUE NO. 17 | OCTOBER 2021

done within the established timeframe, don’t stay past your hour. There will always be more work to return to, enjoy some “me” time.

5. As a woman, has there ever been a moment where you felt separate from your male co-workers, in terms of the struggles you face?

Unfortunately, some people still view men as more capable of doing certain jobs than women. I had an occasion where I was the only one working on a project, as my male co-worker was on leave, and the client was very concerned I wouldn’t know what needed to be done.

Just show them they are wrong for underestimating you and what you can do.

6. What was the best advice you were given, and how has it helped you?

To always ensure the quality of your work and that you can defend the logic behind it to the client who asked for it, even if they later find out it was not really what they wanted (it happens more often than we would like). .

So… get requests written on an email and keep an organised inbox!

7. What are some goals you would like to achieve for your career?

I would like to be more knowledgeable on the area, maybe learn a different programming language… but most important of all, to sharpen my people skills. When working in consulting, soft skills are just as important as hard skills, and I still have a long way to go. As they say, “you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”.

Finally, as a bit of humor ….

8. If you had to work, but didn’t need the money, what would you do?

I would be an “influencer”. Getting paid to travel the world, sponsor brands, and receive free samples? Sign me up!

Just kidding... Maybe I would try to work in a restaurant, I love cooking and would enjoy improving my food, a full stomach makes everyone happy!

Sarah Holm

F O L L O W

S T A Y

O U R

T U N E D

A N D

S O C I A L

T O

O U R

M E D I A

T O

E V E N T S

P O S T S !

PAGE 2

ISSUE NO. 17 | OCTOBER 2021

Biography RITA LEVI-MONTALCINI Rita Levi-Montalcini was born in Turin alongside her twin sister, Paola, on April 22, 1909. She was the daughter of a wealthy Italian Jewish family, and the youngest of four children. Her father, Adamo Levi, was an electrical engineer and gifted mathematician, and her mother, Adele Montalcini, a talented painter.

Despite loving his daughters deeply, Adamo Levi prescribed to the typical mindset that women should not pursue a higher education, or even a professional career, for fear of interfering with their duties as wives and mothers. Therefore, he discouraged Rita, Paola, and their other sister, Anna, from engaging in studies which could lead to a professional career, and from enrolling in University.

At twenty years old, Levi-Montalcini made the decision to enroll in a medical school in Turin, as she had realized she could not continue within the mold her father had defined for her. He, however, approved of her decision, and thus after eight months of completing her gaps in Latin, Greek, and mathematics, Levi-Montalcini graduated high school and enrolled in university.

As a testament to how vast the gap between male and female students was at this time, Levi-Montalcini’s entire student group had only six women, as opposed to the 294 male students. Nevertheless, she excelled in her studies and graduated in 1936 with a summa cum laude degree in Medicine and Surgery, and also enrolled in a three-year specialization in neurology and psychiatry.

However, 1936 was also the year in which Mussolini issued the “Manifesto per la Difesa della Razza”, which was soon followed by the promulgation of laws barring academic and professional careers to non-Aryan Italian citizens. After a short period spent in .

SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Brussels as a guest of a neurological institute, she returned to Turin on the verge of the invasion of Belgium by the German army, Spring 1940, to join her family.

In such a precarious situation, LeviMontalcini was faced with two options. She and her family could either emigrate to the United States, or pursue some activity which would require neither support nor connection to the Aryan world. They chose the second alternative, which led LeviMontalcini to setting up a small research unit in her bedroom. Shortly after, she was joined by her University professor, Giuseppe Levi, who became her first and only assistant. Levi-Montalcini held a deep respect for Giuseppe Levi, feeling indebted to him for a superb training in biological science.

In 1941, Levi-Montalcini was forced to abandon Turin due to the heavy bombing by Anglo-American forces. She moved to a country cottage in Piemonte and resumed .

PAGE 3

ISSUE NO. 17 | OCTOBER 2021

her investigation, rebuilding her small home laboratory. In 1943, she was forced to flee once more when the German army invaded Italy, and settled in Florence, where she lived underground until the end of the war.

neurobiology and, in the same way the groundwork for advanced clinical therapy using growth factors for the treatment of complications of neurodegenerative diseases.

In August of 1944, Levi-Montalcini was hired as a medical doctor at the Anglo-American Headquarters after the German invaders retreated. She helped countless war refugees who were brought to Florence by the hundreds from the North.

Levi-Montalcini was the first Nobel laureate to turn 100 years old, and the fourth woman to ever receive a Nobel prize.

Up until her death in 2012, she was also the oldest person to bear the Nobel medal.

When the war ended, in May 1945, LeviMontalcini returned to Turin with her family, where she resumed her academic positions at the University.

In 1986, Levi-Montalcini was awarded the Nobel Prize of Medicine or Physiology alongside biochemist Stanley Cohen, for their discovery of nerve growth factors (NGF). The discovery of NGF represents an academic achievement essential for modern .

She will remain ever-present in history not only due to her extraordinary contributions to science and medicine, but also because of her perseverance and determination despite the many hardships she experienced. Levi-Montalcini is an example of what women can achieve, no matter the circumstances.

Sarah Holm

Achievement CAROLYN BERTOZZI

In this month’s achievement we present to you Carolyn Bertozzi, the winner of the 2020 Chemistry for the Future Solvay Prize. Carolyn is a chemist and the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University. She is the former Director of the Molecular Foundry, a nanoscience research center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She is being presented with this award for her invention of “biorthogonal chemistry”, the name she coined for chemical reactions that can take place within living cells and organisms.

SOURCE: L.A. CICERO

These reactions can be used to label specific molecules in cells for imaging, drug target identification and the creation of next-generation biotherapeutics. Bertozzi’s research focused on applying biorthogonal chemistry to study the glycocalyx. These sugars can function as molecular social cues to help cells recognize and communicate with each other.

isabela chedid PAGE 4

ISSUE NO. 17 | OCTOBER 2021

WiE Recommend...

Hii! My name is Isabela Chedid and I’m a second year Biomedical Engineering student at University of Coimbra. A random fact about me is that I love reading thrillers and horror books but I can’t watch any movies of the genre. I also love Disney movies. Here are my recommendations!

B y WiE

series film book

IMDB.COM

WIKIPEDIA.ORG

AMAZON.COM

Hey! I’m Mariana Fernandes, a 3rd year biomedical engineering student.

I am a member of the IEEE student branch in UC. I’m not only a sudoku and puzzle addict but I also love travelling, photography and radical sports. I also have an endless interest in series, movies, talk shows, podcasts, music and books. Here are my recommendations!

book film

series

RELOGIODAGUA.PT

IMDB.COM

IMDB.COM

PAGE 5

ISSUE NO. 17 | OCTOBER 2021

Curiosity of the month...

We all know Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah Fowler, the neurobiologist from the series “The Big Bang Theory” . In the show, Amy works at Harvard University and is one of the smartest characters among the cast. Similarly to her character, Mayim also has a PhD in neuroscience, something that a lot of people don’t know. In 2007, she completed her studies focusing on obsessive-compulsive disorder in adolescents with praderwilli syndrome. Mayim got her first acting job in 1988 when she was only 12 years old, and later in life she continued her career both as a neuroscientist and an actress. Bialik was also nominated four times for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and even won the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2015 and 2017.

SOURCE: TODAY.COM

Rita Manco

SOLUTIONS 1.FOUR 2.NADIA 3.THE SUFRAGETTES 4.GONÇALVES 5.CAROLINE 6.AMELIA 7.MAY 8.WALLY

DOWN 1. Number of women who received a Nobel Prize in Physics between 1903 and 2020 2. The Infrastructure and Operations Lead and Corporate Delivery at Worten (first name) 4. Winner of the Medal of Honor L’Oreal Portugal for Women in Science honored in September 2021 Newsletter (last name) 5. Marine biologist essential in the global environmental movement, writer of the book "Silent Spring" (last name) 7. Month when the first WiE Newsletter was published

ACROSS 3. Movie recommended in EmpoWiErment Club about women that went beyond their limits to fight for equality and the right to vote 5. Writer of the book "Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in A World Designed For Men" (first name) 6. First woman to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean (first name) 8. A Woman that after years of persistence, was able to became the oldest person to go to space (first name)

PAGE 6

h s y i o w u e a W

!

ISSUE NO. 17 | OCTOBER 2021