ISSUE
25 June
2022
WIE - UC NEWSLETTER IEEE Student Branch of the UC Women in Engineering Affinity Group
WHAT'S INSIDE:
Interview with Joana Pinto - P. 1
Biography of Lydia Villa-Komoroff - P. 3
Achievement of Celine Halioua - P.5
Curiosity - P.5
Recipes with WiE - P.6
ISSUE NO. 25 | JUNE 2022
IEE WiE Interviews - Joana Pinto Joana Pinto is the co-founder and CEO of Clynx, a company that focuses on developing digital health solutions to track progress and improve motivation in physiotherapy. Clynx began in 2018 after Pinto earned her master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering, and has since received much acclaim due to their approach of digitization and gamification in the realm of physiotherapy. In the meantime, she also conducts research regarding the topics of biosignal processing and emotion recognition at the Instituto de Telecomunicações. 1. Would you tell us about the “birth” of Clynx? How did it all begin? Our founding team met at Junitec, the Junior Enterprise of Instituto Superior Técnico (2017-2018). Being managed by students only, Junitec gathers members from all academic fields, and the main reason for which we became a team was the fact that we shared the mission of innovating and the ambition of bringing valuable digital solutions for real-world problems. Our backgrounds in biomedical, electrical and computer engineering made us relentlessly enthusiastic about solving real problems, especially in Healthcare, through our technological and entrepreneurial skills, and that is how we committed to Clynx’s mission: making Physiotherapy treatments a more enjoyable, digital and motivating experience. 2. When you first began University, was entrepreneurship something that interested you right away? When I entered University, I already understood I was passionate about identifying problems, designing solutions, building strategies - but not in a structured way. I did not know that those concepts were so closely connected with being an entrepreneur. So it was not longer after I got into the University that I was much more exposed to the startups ecosystem and realised that Entrepreneurship, Business strategy and Innovation were all concepts that described what I wanted to pursue.
3. Being responsible for a start-up is a very daunting task; how did you keep motivated? In hindsight, is there anything you would do differently? Throughout this journey me and my cofounder, Gonçalo Chambel, have learned and grown so much. If I was to co-launch Clynx again I would take in the lessons learned so far and do it slightly differently, not in the sense of doing different things but in the sense of doing them in a better, optimized way. Most importantly, even though it might sometimes be a daunting task, I am pushed by my own passion and personal mission, which is the best source of drive.
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4. What are the next steps for Clynx? We are present in the Portuguese market, working with large private clinics and public hospitals. In the last months we have had our first international Pilot actions in Italy and Germany. Currently I am in Vienna for one month, representing Clynx in an acceleration program, Vienna Startup Package, looking forward to finding a clinical partner in Austria to pilot together. The next steps include both some initial international expansion and fundraising. 5. For the aspiring entrepreneurs out there, what would you consider to be vital to succeeding in creating and maintaining a start-up? Firstly, build a great, talented, committed and diversified founding team - that is the basis for everything that could come afterwards. The founders should be driven by the same mission, but different in terms of their profiles, skills and strengths. Then, make sure you have a deep understanding of your company – not just your product or the problem you are addressing – really dive into how your target market works, collect insights from your stakeholders, define your business model and understand key growth variables. During the process, expand your network and try to meet and learn from the people around you, absorve the wisdom of other founders, mentors and stakeholders. Finally, plan a reasonable yet ambitious roadmap to grow your startup. 6. In relation to your role in the company, do you have a hand in the development process, or do you deal solely with running Clynx? I am mostly dedicated to the financial, llll
Abusiness and growth challenges of the company. Despite not being directly within the development processes, I am always involved in the product roadmap and its progress. 7. Would you mind telling us a bit more about your research at the Instituto de Telecomunicações? I did my Master’s thesis, in 2018-2019, at the Instituto de Telecomunicações’s Pattern and Image Analysis group in Lisbon. Then, I continued working there for a couple of years, relying on the great support and innovative attitude of Professors Ana Fred and Hugo Silva. I have conducted research in the fields of Biosignals Processing and Emotion Recognition (c.f. research gate), participating in research projects focused in emotion recognition, in the potential of mobile devices and IoT platforms in project-based teaching, in the analysis of several physiological signals in daily applications. 8. As the company grows, I imagine it’s necessary to continuously recalibrate your work/life balance. Are there any tips you might have for us? It is for sure that, since Clynx’s foundation, everyday is a mix of some accomplishment and some (a lot of) challenges. It is not always amazing nor always stressful. Some challenges are larger than the others, and might range from sales frustration, operations and team issues, to financial limitations. To deal with it, it has been really important to build a great team and, on a personal level, I have learned the importance of establishing some healthy routines. In my case good sleep, quality time with friends, meditation, some sport. These help cope with the daunting task of growing a startup. Finally, as I said before, I am passionate lll PAGE 2
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and feel I am following my personal mission, and I think that is key for anyone to find a good balance in the first place. Finally, as a bit of humor …. 9. If you could go anywhere in the world right now, free of charge and all expenses included, where would you go?
included would always be amazing, though the “time” factor is also key and sometimes limitative. At this moment in life I’d possibly do a roadtrip in the USA and Latin America. I would visit some of the most legendary places in these countries, be next to some of the most amazing natural wonders of the world, and of course find some time to rest and chill on a nice beach.
I love travelling and having expenses fjlkjk
Sarah Holm
Biography LYDIA VILLA-KOMAROFF Lydia Villa-Komaroff was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on 7 August 1947 and is a molecular and cellular biologist who has been an academic laboratory scientist, a university administrator, and a businesswoman. She was the third MexicanAmerican woman in the United States to receive a doctorate degree in the sciences and is a co-founding member of The Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). Her most notable discovery was in 1978 during her post-doctoral research, when she was part of a team that discovered how bacterial cells could be used to generate insulin. At the age of nine, Lydia Villa-Komaroff knew she wanted to be a scientist and was influenced by her uncle, a chemist, and by the love her grandmother had for nature and plants. After graduating high school in 1965, she entered the University of Washington in Seattle as a chemistry major. After being told that women did not belong in chemistry, she switched majors, settling on biology. In 1967, she moved to Washington D.C with her boyfriend Anthony Komaroff who she ended up marrying in 1970 and applied to grgrgr
SOURCE: KGI.EDU
Johns Hopkins undergraduate due to women time, settling grggrr
University to complete her degree but did not enter, not being accepted at the on their sister university PAGE 3
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Goucher College. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biology and moved to Boston to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). There, she completed graduate work in molecular biology. In 1973, she became a founding member of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native in Science (SACNAS). Lydia Villa-Komaroff completed her Ph.D. in cell biology in 1975 and went to Harvard University to conduct her postdoctoral research for three years, focusing on recombinant DNA technology. She moved for six months to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory when Cambridge banned experiments on recombinant DNA citing worries about public safety and the chance of unintentionally creating a new disease, but once the ban was lifted, she returned to Harvard and joined the insulin cloning team. In 1978, she became the first author of a landmark report showing that bacteria could be induced to make proinsulin. Later that year, she became a faculty member of the University of Massachusetts Medial School, where she was a professor for six years before being granted a tenure. Soon after, Villa-Komaroff decided to take her career to Harvard University, where she was reassured a lighter work load to allow more time for research.
In 1995, her research in insulin-related growth factors was featured on a television documentary called “DNA Detectives.” In 1996, Villa-Komaroff served as Vice President for Research at Northwestern University and professor of neurology at Northwestern University Medical School, both in Chicago, Illinois. In 2003, she was appointed Vice President for Research and Chief Operating officer of the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2005, she became chair on the board of a publically traded biotechnology company Transkaryotic Therapeutics, Inc. In 2011, she became a member of the governing board at the Massachusetts Life Science Center. Currently, she is the Chief Executive Officer and Director at Cytonome, Inc. Many of the awards that Dr. Villa-Komaroff have received include a Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award (1992), induction into the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Hall of Fame (1999), a National Hispanic Scientist of the Year Award from The Museum of Science and Industry (2008), an Honorary Degree from Regis College (2011), and an award for Women of Distinction from American Association of University Women (2013).
Sofia Diogo
F O L L O W
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ISSUE NO. 25 | JUNE 2022
Achievement CELINE HALIOUA
This month we wish to congratulate Celine Halioua for being selected as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 2022, in the category of Science. Halioua, an alumnus of the University of Texas, founded the company Loyal in 2019 with the goal to create the very first anti-aging drug for animals. Although no such drug exists for any species, for the veterinarian market, the ease of getting experimental drugs approved is much greater than for humans – and so, Loyal can progress at a much faster pace. In fact, the company’s first anti-aging drug is already set to enter clinical trials by next year, and over $38 million have already been raised in venture capital!
SOURCE: CELINEHH.COM
Sarah Holm
Curiosity of the month... In Silkwood, the iconic Meryl Steep gave life to Karen Silkwood, a worker at a plutonium processing plant who is purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured, and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing worker safety violations at the plant. But did you know she wasn’t the first? The movie Silkwood is actually a 1983 adaptation of the book Who Killed Karen Silkwood?, by Rolling Stone writer and activist Howard Kohn, which portrayed the life of Karen Silkwood. Silkwood was an American chemical technician and labor union activist who died in a car collision while investigating alleged wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant where she worked. After her death, in a state-law tort SOURCE: IMDB.COM action against Kerr-McGee brought by ljlkjljlkjkjkljfather, the jury awarded "actual damages" of $505,000 and "punitive damages" of Silkwood's $10 million to be paid to the Silkwood estate (her children), the largest amount in damages ever awarded for that kind of case at the time. The Silkwood estate eventually settled for $1.3 million. PAGE 5
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However, a Kerr-McGee official after watching the film stated it was “highly fictionalized Hollywood dramatization, scarcely connected to the facts" Intriguing… Don’t you think?
Mariana Almeida
Recipes with WiE: PINK LEMONADE With summer having arrived in full force, we thought it was time to break out a refreshing recipe that might cool you down! Pink lemonade is super easy to make, seeing as how it's basically lemonade... but with watermelon! The great thing about it, is that since the watermelon is so sweet, there's no need to add any sugar. Besides that, the pink effect is pretty appealing too. You can make this recipe with a regular blender or an emulsion blender, or even a food processor.
INGREDIENTS Watermelon
Water (about 1L)
2 Lemons
Sugar, if desired
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Cut up and remove seeds from watermelon. No measurement is given for the watermelon because I usually just eyeball it, so start with a little and then adjust as you go. 2. Blend watermelon until it's a nice smooth consistency. Juice your lemons, and add it all together in a recipient of your choosing. If too watery, add more lemon and blended watermelon. 3. Enjoy!
Sarah Holm PAGE 6
ISSUE NO. 25 | JUNE 2022
DOWN
ACROSS
1. Where Villa-Komaroff conducted her post-doctoral research
2. Last name of the actress with the starring role in Silkwood
3. Date of this year's summer solstice
4. Group which Lydia Villa-Komaroff co-founded
5. Drug related to Lydia Villa-Komaroff's discovery in 1978
7. One of the areas which Clynx deals with
6. Fruit used to turn this month's recipe pink 8. Last name of the woman featured in this month's achievement
10. Recipe featured this month 12. The company Joana Pinto co-founded
9. Form of media the movie Silkwood was adapted from 11. "Problem" which Celine Halioua hopes to solve
SOLUTIONS 1. HARVARD 2. STREEP 3. TWENTY 4. SACNAS 5. INSULIN 6. WATERMELON 7. PHYSIOTHERAPY 8. HALIOUA 9. BOOK 10. LEMONADE 11. AGING 12. CLYNX PAGE 7
Summer is Almost Here! See You Next Month!
ISSUE NO. 25 | JUNE 2022
