As a way to honor women around the world, we launch the #EELISAWomen Portrait Series – a monthly post publication that will offer a glimpse to the diversity of roles and backgrounds of those women who are inspiring and building EELISA. The series starts on March 8th with the portraits of Prof. Dr. Lütfiye Durak (ITÜ), Prof. Dr. Kathrin Möslein (FAU), Rossella Raso (SSSA) and Maria A. Huerta (UPM). Stories where achievements and entrepreneurship share the momentum with motherhood and child dreams.
Kathrin M. Möslein
Kathrin studied computer science and business management at Technische Universität München, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. She has held so many and diverse roles that we would need an entire page to name all of them, including her position as associate director of the Advanced Institute of Management Research (AIM) at the London Business School, and as president of the European Academy of Management (EURAM). She has been Vice President of FAU Since 2016 and has devoted her research efforts to strategic innovation, cooperation and management.
In her own words:
¨Engaging women in engineering requires role models – like Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu in the past. This is what EELISA will be able to provide. The EELISA international engineering degree will contribute to blur stereotypes and facilitate the access for women in engineering studies. If for example doing international studies and language related topics is seen by society as more typical for women, and doing engineering degrees is considered as being more typically male – what then is an international engineering degree? It is both – making it easier for women to join these kinds of degrees in the first place.
Her key ideas to define EELISA:
1. Innovation, 2. Engineering, 3. Enthusiasm
María A. Huerta
María holds an Industrial Engineer Degree along with two master degrees on Industrial Organization and Winery Management by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM). Her adventurous and entrepreneurial spirit –she is from La Mancha, Don Quixote´s land- has prompted her to run companies in very diverse fields such as film production and winemaking. She teaches on a variety of academic programs relating to Human Resources Management, Sustainability, Creativity and Team Working. Maria is a member of the Innovation and Technology for Development Centre (itdUPM) where she has lead the first UPM Micro-Master program dedicated to the Sustainable Developmen Goals. She is currently UPM´s Academic Coordinator for EELISA Alliance.
In her own words :
¨The presence of women in the classrooms of engineering schools and universities has been evident for many years now. However, there is a lack of recognition still. The walls of our institutions are full of men portraits such as Drs. Honoris Causa, business men and many other illustrious men who have contributed to specific fields. I hope that from EELISA, we work towards increasing the visibility of STEM women and their great achievements. Women like Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu and so many others¨.
Her key ideas to define EELISA:
1. Collaboration 2. Transformation 3.Sustainability
Rossella Rasso
Biomedical Engineer with over five years of experience in research project management. She graduated in 2010 and received a PhD in Automation, Robotics and Bioengineering in 2014 both at the University of Pisa, Italy. Rossella is 35-year old, married and mother of a little girl named Adele, who loves exercising balance and gravity by stacking whatever can be stacked and enjoys toys jumping out of the bathtub because of the Archimedes’ rule. Rossella is a member of the EELISA management team at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy.
In her own words:
¨I totally endorse the vision of EELISA for re-inventing a European “Renaissance” Engineer by broadening the traditional, technological background with non-engineering skills to better approach the challenges of modern Society. I will strive to bring my contribution as a female engineer, emphasizing the dimension of working mothers engaged in technical professions. Quoting the Latin sentence: “per aspera ad astra”, I hope that the strong belief in my career will be an engine for better contributing to EELISA diversity, representing women supporting societal innovations while balancing work and private life¨.
Her key ideas to define EELISA:
1. Paradigm change 2. Disruption 3. Resilience
Lutfiye Durak-Ata
She is a professor at Istanbul Technical University, and is currently serving as Vice Rector responsible for International Affiars. Before this appointment in 2020, she served as Director of the ITU Informatics Institute between 2018-2020. Prof. Durak-Ata received her BS, MS and PhD degrees all in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and her research interests include beyond-5G wireless communications and networks. She wanted to be a scientist as far as she can remember!
In her own words:
¨I envision EELISA as an inclusive and welcoming alliance by innovating via multidisciplinary research, pioneering societal transformation through science and technology as well as leading with diversities in STEM across and beyond Europe¨.
Her Key ideas to define EELISA:
1. Cooperation 2. Inspiration 3.Diversity
