18 December 2024
Bilbao Campus
On December 18, the University of Deusto held the award ceremony for the Ada Byron Awards for Women Technologists 2024, which this year, in its eleventh edition, went to the researchers Patricia Horcajada Cortes, senior award, and Alba González Álvarez, young award. According to the rector, Juan José Etxeberria, these awards recognize “the effort and dedication to make female talent visible”, and at the same time “aim to be a stimulus for the generations that come after them”. Hence his congratulations to the winners for “being a mirror in which many women will look at themselves: perhaps girls who have not yet decided what to study or perhaps already excited students because they see that they can have a promising future and, in turn, will be recognized”. Speech.
Patricia Horcajada is head of the Advanced Porous Materials Unit at IMDEA Energía and a leading scientist in the area of Materials Science. Her highly multidisciplinary activity focuses on the design and synthesis of new porous materials for application in strategic fields. She has pioneered the application of MOF-type structures in drug delivery, oral detoxification and agriculture. With a wide network of collaborations, she has developed more than 70 new MOF structures and is an internationally recognized researcher.
A long curriculum behind which there is “a lot of effort and perseverance” and which, according to the senior Ada Byron Award winner, is based on the self-confidence she has gained in her career and which has enabled her to have “freedom to create”, “courage to propose new ideas and not to be afraid of failure” and “responsibility”. As she expressed: “Believing is power” and “if I have been able to do it, everyone can”.
There are no shortcuts
Her career is also the result of hard work - there are no shortcuts - although, as she says, “when the work has a purpose, it makes sense because it improves the quality of life of many people”. And it is that commitment and passion to help that motivates her every day and is her “engine”. Also important is “self-esteem”, which for her is the best way of not setting limits and fighting one's fears. And finally, strong values that help her to find her center when she gets lost.
This year's edition of the Ada Byron Award has registered the highest number of nominations in its history, reaching 178, with a varied geographical origin and backgrounds such as Computer Science, Chemistry, Aeronautics, among others. And all of them have a very brilliant professional trajectory that every year makes the jury's job more difficult. In the specific case of this year, the jury has highlighted the great commitment of the winning women scientists in their respective areas, contributing significantly to innovation and technological progress.
Prize-giving ceremony
At the awards ceremony, in addition to the winners and the rector, also participated the dean of the Faculty of Engineering and president of the jury, Asier Perallos, who thanked Andoni Eguíluz and Cristina Giménez for being the “soul” and “heart” of an initiative that was created eleven years ago and that has become a national benchmark for the “celebration of female talent” as defined by the director of Innovation Danobatgroup, Nerea Aranguren.
The event was also attended by the director of Emakunde - Basque Institute for Women, Miren Elgarresta Larrabide; and the deputy for Employment, Social Inclusion and Equality of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, Teresa Laespada, who recalled the long road to equality that women took 300 years ago and that “is still going to be long”. The event was closed by the Deputy Minister of Technology, Innovation and Digital Transformation of the Department of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability of the Basque Government, Jaione Ganzarain Epelde.
