The student of the double degree of Computer Engineering and Electronic Telecommunications Engineering at the UAB, Ainhoa Castaño, was recognized with the Talent Jove Award during the Nit de les telecommunications i la informatica, organized jointly by the Catalan Association of Telecommunications Engineering and Digital Technologies (Telecos.cat) and the Official College of Computer Engineering of Catalonia (COEINF).
The UAB student, Ainhoa Castaño, was awarded the Young Talent award at the 29th edition of the Night of Telecommunications and Informatics, which was held a few days ago at the Barcelona Auditorium with the attendance of hundreds of professionals from the sector. This event is an unmissable event for the entire ICT sector in the country.
This is a new category in this year's edition that aims to highlight the capacity of a person or group of people, under 35 years of age, who have stood out for their activity within the field of ICT engineering and who have had an impact.
For Castaño, “it is a great recognition of everything I am doing now, which gives me the possibility of giving visibility to women and autistic people in the technological world.” The jury highlighted Ainhoa Castaño's involvement and leadership in various academic and social initiatives.
Winner of the DonaTIC 2023 awards promoted by the Generalitat of Catalonia, she has held positions as junior manager of the Volunteering and Social Action Working Group of Teleco.cat and president of TecnoUAB. She organizes technological dissemination activities such as TecnoDays, and has coordinated the infrastructure of technological conferences such as MEMEnginy at the UAB School of Engineering. Her participation in round tables and her previous roles as former vice president of the School of Engineering Student Council and former Equality delegate have demonstrated a constant commitment to the student community and the promotion of equality.
This renowned double degree student explained in an interview published in this same section her pride in representing the autism spectrum within the university environment. “People are surprised that I am studying engineering while being autistic, when I could say that at least a fifth of the people I have met in my career are autistic; "They don't realize that autism is everywhere!" Castaño acknowledged.
Representation of women in technologies
The deficit of women in certain technological fields is a pending task to be resolved by our society. Therefore, every time a woman receives a distinction for her scientific or technological contribution, the community celebrates it doubly. Therefore, this university student hopes to be a representative of those women (increasingly numerous) involved in ICT. “I see more and more girls who are interested in this field and this makes me happy, since we are progressively more aware, as a society, that we need their vision, both in research and in the industry,” explains Ainhoa.
Regarding her double degree, Computer Engineering and Electronic Telecommunications Engineering at the UAB, the winner considers that it is a fascinating experience, since “they are two correlated careers and you end up acquiring a much broader vision of both. disciplines.” Although this student considers that there are many hours that she has to invest in studying, she is rewarded by her classmates, because she sees that “they share my passion for engineering,” she adds.
An event that brings together the entire ICT sector
The Night of telecommunications and computing is the pioneering and reference institutional event in the telecommunications and information technology sector held in Barcelona since 1995. It is organized jointly by the Catalan Association of Telecommunications Engineering and Digital Technologies (Telecos. cat) and the Official College of Computer Engineering of Catalonia (COINF) and is the meeting par excellence for professionals, companies, public administration, associations and institutions of the ICT sector in the country.
In addition to the Young Talent category, different prizes have been awarded in other categories. Thus, the Honor Prize has been awarded to Josep Casanovas, current leader of the high-performance computing research group of the Social Challenges Research of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), founder of the inLab FIB laboratory at the UPC; or the Salvà i Campillo Award for Outstanding Personality to Susana Prado, general director of INETUM Catalunya and head of the DonaTIC working group of the Technological Circle, among other awards.
