The ‘Future Scientific’ conference, organized by Hidralia in collaboration with the City Council of San Fernando, seeks to promote scientific vocations in minors, modeling professional women from Airbus, Navantia and the University of Cádiz

On the occasion of the International Day of the Girl and the Woman in Science, Hidralia and the City Council of San Fernando, they celebrated the day ‘Scientific Futures. The Woman and the Girl in Science ’, to show female referents of the area of ​​the Bay of Cádiz in the careers of science, mathematics, computer science and engineering (known as STEM) to minors in the city.

The goal is to raise awareness among girls to begin to break the ‘glass ceiling’ that exists in these vocations, since studies show that differences in participation between both genders in these disciplines are presented at all levels of education. Upon reaching higher education, women represent only 35 percent of the students enrolled in the study of areas related to STEM.

The event was attended by more than 240 students from IES La Bahía and IES Sancti Petri, in addition to the San Ignacio Eco-school, Puente Zuazo School and Vicente Tofiño. These last three centers participate in the ‘AquaeSTEM’ Program that, in parallel, develops the Hidralia Foundation (Aquae Foundation), in San Fernando and whose objective is also to promote scientific vocations in minors, mainly girls.

This ambitious project of the Aquae Foundation has started this course and will be developed in 50 schools throughout Spain, reaching some 2,500 students and a total of 5,000 schoolchildren, adding children. In Andalusia, thanks to Hidralia and its Foundation, there are a total of seven schools that are part of the program, among which are three educational centers in San Fernando. In total, more than 340 Andalusian girls will be reached, from second to fourth grade, of which 107 are island students. The project seeks to arouse their interest in science through challenges related to sustainable development, and more specifically about the world of water, which they will have to solve using innovation and creativity as vehicles to inspire them.

This is a project that you want to expand in future courses, so if any school wishes to be part of it, or gather more information, you can call 913 621 096 or write to aquaeimpulsastem@fundacionaquae.org

AquaeSTEM is thus part of the educational and awareness commitment that Hidralia has been materializing in Andalusia for years, with different initiatives such as its Aqualogía program of environmental awareness, literary competitions, drawing competitions, corporate volunteer actions or participation in conferences and conferences, etc.

Development of the Future Scientific Conference

Both students participating in the AquaSTEM project and secondary school students from two islander institutes have been the protagonists of the “Futur @ s Científic @ s. The Woman and the Girl in science ”, which was held this morning at the San Fernando Congress Center. More than 240 schoolchildren have listened carefully to the experience of three professional women from Navantia, Airbus and the University of Cádiz and have actively participated in the conference.

The event has begun with the inauguration by the mayor of San Fernando, Patricia Cavada and the general director of Hidralia, Matilde Mancha. In her speech, the director of the management company of the integral water cycle and representative in Andalusia of the Aquae Foundation, showed the small goals of the AquaSTEM project through an explanatory and enjoyable video about the project, to land it in the development that said program is having in Andalusia, with images collected in some of the participating centers, including Vicente Tofiño de San Fernando.

Next, Irene Lapuente (specialized in communication and scientific dissemination and directed by La Mandarina de Newton) has made a small presentation called 'The idea Idea that you do not like Science', with which he has shown the children that science It is found in all aspects of life, even those that are more everyday.

Subsequently, the 'I choose Science' experiences workshop was held in which three STEM women from two important companies located in the area (Navantia and Airbus) and from the University of Cádiz, have told the audience attending the event who they are, why they chose their profession and what they do in their respective jobs, through experiments guided by Irene Lapuente herself and that were related to the work that each one develops in her profession.

So Navantia has attended Elisa Patron, Head of Production Engineering Programming and Operational Monitoring, by Airbus has participated María Azucena Ares-Gonzalo, responsible for a team that is responsible for the manufacturing process of the side drawer of the A350, of its maintenance and optimization, as well as the configuration of the aircraft. Finally, Clara Pereyra, Professor of Chemical Engineering, has been at the University of Cádiz.

After the end of the event, the students collected a small souvenir detail of the Day, which included a canteen that can replace the usual plastic bottles to bring water to the school or its excursions.

Matilde Mancha, has shown the importance of this type of initiatives, since at present “the demand for STEM professionals grows to a greater extent than that of professionals from other sectors - the growth for 2025 will be 8% compared to the expected 3% for the set of occupations- and, nevertheless, the number of men and women who opt for these training itineraries decreases every year. In Spain, only 13 out of every 1,000 people completed studies in these fields. Only 26% of them are women. ” Mancha has highlighted the commitment of Hidralia - a company that focuses on technology, innovation and focused on Sustainable Development - to reverse this situation, especially, “being STEM careers the driving force of innovation, inclusive growth and development Sustainable must give a boost for women of the future to have the same opportunities today. ”