UPC Manresa celebrates International Girls in ICT Day by bringing technology closer to secondary school girls

The TechLab at UPC Manresa was once again filled with enthusiasm, curiosity and female talent on Friday, 24 April, to mark International Girls in ICT Day. The event, organised within the framework of the MERIT project, brought together 4th-year secondary school and 1st-year upper secondary students from INS Castellet with the aim of encouraging technological vocations and helping reduce the gender gap in the digital sector.

Throughout the morning, participants explored the world of technology through practical and inspiring activities. One of the highlights was the workshop “Plant Monitoring and Irrigation System via Instant Messaging”, led by Xènia Mata, Helena Cadevall, Llum Martí, Laia Ramírez and Marina Vilardaga, all members of the PUCRA Manresa association and current or former students of the Bachelor’s Degree in ICT Systems Engineering. During the activity, students discovered how the Internet of Things (IoT) works by creating a small system capable of measuring soil moisture and sending notifications to a mobile phone. Through this hands-on experience, they worked with concepts such as Python programming, sensors, Arduino and communication through Telegram bots.

The event continued with the talk “How Machines ‘Talk’: Discovering the World of Industrial IoT”, delivered by Marta Millán, telecommunications engineer and Business Development Manager at Asoindel, a company also involved in the MERIT project. During her presentation, she explained how machines generate data and communicate with each other in industrial environments, and how this data can be analysed to improve processes, products and decision-making. The session helped students understand how the concepts explored in the workshop are applied in real industrial contexts.

This initiative is also part of the Digital Europe MERIT project (Master of Science in Smart, Secure and Interconnected Systems), which promotes the development of advanced digital skills in areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and IoT, while strengthening the connection between education and the real needs of the technology sector.

Girls in ICT Day, promoted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) of the United Nations, is celebrated annually worldwide with the aim of inspiring young women to explore studies and careers in the field of information and communication technologies. 

With this event, UPC Manresa reaffirms its commitment to promoting equal opportunities in the technology field and to creating spaces where girls can discover, experiment and imagine their future in STEM.