The 3rd Women and Aeronautics – Women Innovating took place this past 19 May 2016 at the Innsite space at ALTRAN, in Madrid, which was organised by the specialised aeronautic magazine FlyNews and the Aeropress Communications Group.
The event, presented by Luis Javier Codón, the Managing Director of ALTRAN ASD Spain, was attended by top executives and managers of companies and organisations in the aerospace sector, such as Airbus Group, Altran, CENTUM, CESA, COIT, the Air Force and RAI.
In this edition, the main objective was to analyse the role of women in the aerospace and air travel industries, as well as the meaning of innovation in the 21st Century and the role played by women in this field.
The conference debated the scarce presence of women in positions of responsibility in the innovation and technical departments. Only 15.92% of R&D departments are led by a woman and only 11.38% have a woman as technical director.
Cristina Valera, an engineer from the development department at CESA, gave her own opinion on the role of women in the aerospace industry, together with other professionals such as María Angeles Martí, Head of Quality Operations at Airbus DS, Marisa Lucas-Ugena, Head of A350 XWB Marketing Customer Affairs, Business Development Director of CENTUM and representative of CENTUM as Chairwoman of the Association in the TEDAE Board of Directors, María de la Malla, Rocío San Román Alonso, telecommunications engineer, member of the Defence and Security Group of the Official Telecommunications Engineer Association (COIT), Eva Cesteros, Director of Operations at Altran ASD, and Rocío González, Captain of the Air Force and F-18 pilot in the 12th Wing at the Ardoz Air Base.
Cristina Valera explained that one of the causes explaining women’s lower level of access to technological careers that open the doors to positions of responsibility is education: “Children should not be limited, we should encourage their interests without being prejudiced about them being interested in stereotypically male or female activities. We should encourage their vocation from a very early age.
After the different contributions, the main conclusion reached by the professionals in this event was that, as they themselves prove, professional capacity is independent of gender, and so companies are asked to favour diversity and, especially, equal opportunities.
New this year was the 1st edition of the “Women and Aeronautics Award to the best professional career”, which was created, just as the conference was, to provide more visibility to the women who carry out their professional careers daily in such a male-dominated sector, albeit one which is also slowly incorporating more women. The winner of this first edition was Teresa Busto, Director of the Airbus composite materials plant in Illescas.
The closing ceremony for the conference was led by Isabel Maestre, director of the State Agency for Air Security (AESA), who explained that the agency itself is a sign of innovation, and agreed with the speakers that “bringing together both men and women builds a more plural society”.
