Shandra Sainz, researcher at Ceit: "Surely you can imagine a researcher in a lab coat and at the computer, but in a research career, work is a team effort".

Last Tuesday, January 18, the program of the VII edition of Emakumeak Zientzian. Since then, a total of 50 activities have taken place thanks to the union of 22 technology and research centers of Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia. This initiative, which since its beginnings has counted on the collaboration of Tecnun y CeitThe initiative, which has been carried out throughout the month of February on the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, has been developed on the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The goal, to make it visible that science is a girl's thing.

The program was rounded off at the School of Engineering with a practical workshop in which students in the 4th year of ESO and 1st year of ESO had to do the work of an engineer simulating the construction of a car. high school diploma The workshop, which was led by the school's director, was attended by about fifteen students, who were given the task of simulating the construction of a car. About fifteen students attended the practice, which was led by the professor of Tecnun, Mikel Arcelusand student of the Master in Industrial Engineering, Jonan Morales.

Shandra Sainz, researcher at Ceit, who is responsible for the line of Additive Manufacturing line at the center, kicked off the workshop by talking about her work and appealing to the vocation that every researcher must have, because, in Sainz's words, a researcher's head never rests, it is something very vocational and requires a great deal of restlessness. "Surely you can imagine a researcher in a lab coat and at the computer, but in a research career, learning is continuous, it is teamwork and people with different profiles are needed," she said.

Arcelus started the workshop with the testimony of the researcher from Ceit and explained the difference between a scientist and a technologist: "A scientist is a very curious person who wants to know why things happen and a technologist applies that science. In the workshop you are going to work as engineers creating and developing the solution that the client needs, in this case, what Jonan asks for," she said.

Divided into groups and under the watchful eye of a family member who wanted to join them, the students built a car with Lego pieces. Through the game, they learned about the processes of development of a product and the role of an engineer in each of the production phases. To do this, they reviewed all the areas of engineering work, from the design of prototypes, the manufacture of parts, assembly or distribution.

The event culminated with a visit to the automotive workshop of Tecnun and a presentation of the electric vehicle manufactured, each year, by engineering students. It is worth mentioning the participation of Camila Vesga, post-doc at Tecnun, in the event graduate "Women Scientists of Yesterday and Today", which took place at the beginning of the month at the conference room club of the Victoria Eugenia Theater in San Sebastian.