CaixaBank and Microsoft presented their WONNOW awards last Monday, December 12, to the best scientific and technical university students in Spain. One of the nine winners was stoner Flàvia Ferrús Marimón, a double degree in Physics and Mathematics from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and a double master's student in Advanced Mathematics and Foundations of Data Science at the University of Barcelona.
Thanks to the award, Ferrús will have access to a paid scholarship to work for six months at CaixaBank and participate in the development of innovation projects linked to financial services. You will also benefit from a program of mentoring delivered by Microsoft.
With this initiative, CaixaBank and Microsoft intend to promote diversity and the presence of women in the field of technology and science from the beginning of their professional career and, with this, encourage other young women to study STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
In this edition, a total of 975 students from 57 universities throughout Spain have participated, which represents an increase of 34.8% compared to the previous year. In total, in the five editions held so far, more than 2.700 students have applied, which shows that the WONNOW Awards have become a consolidated and benchmark award in the university field.
The presentation ceremony was attended by Gonzalo Gortázar, CEO of CaixaBank, and Alberto Granados, President of Microsoft in Spain. For his part, Gortázar has recognized the work and effort of the participants and has valued their commitment and dedication.
"With the WONNOW Awards we promote diversity in an area with little female presence and great current and future opportunities", highlighted the director, adding: "With these awards, we want to continue contributing to the development of individuals and of society as a whole, driving diversity in the tech industry.” Gortázar has encouraged young women to bet on these professions and show that women are great scientists, mathematicians or engineers.
On the other hand, Alberto Granados has stated: "Digitalization is promoting the creation of specialized employment not only in the technology industry, but in all sectors, for which there is an urgent demand to train qualified talent and women cannot remain behind". The president of Microsoft in Spain is committed to reducing the gender gap in science and technology from the conviction that diversity favors innovation and growth.
The Pedreguer Town Hall has congratulated Flàvia and her family. Congratulations that have been extended to the educational centers where the student has passed, especially those of the municipality such as the Escola Infantil Municipal la Glorieta, the CEIP el Trinquet and the IES de Pedreguer, as well as the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where he studied the double degree. On the other hand, she Flàvia attended the first year of high school in a Wyoming institute, USA. Likewise, the Consistory has highlighted that milestones like this show that public education, and in Valencian, is of the highest quality and "can take us wherever we want".
