Glòria Macià Muñoz, a graduate in Biomedical Engineering by the Polytechnic School at Pompeu Fabra University, has won a Toptal STEM Scholarship for Women, which has been awarded since 2015 by the Toptal network to women to talented women computer scientists, software engineers and developers. In addition, with her classmate Joan Puig, she co-founded MedMake, a business initiative involved in 3D printing courses for healthcare professionals.

 –What do you most especially recall about your time spent at University?

 At UPF I had great teachers and classmates. I was also involved in initiatives with a great future, like the Hacklab. In addition, UPF has given me the best friends I could ever have wished for. I was really lucky to meet a group of girls who are not just brilliant engineers but also brilliant people. Thanks to professionals like them and as classmates on the degree, I am convinced that the future of the field is in very good hands.

 –When did you decide to do an engineering degree related to biomedicine and what motivated you to do so?

 I remember really having my doubts during the last year at high school. Choosing my degree course and university was not at all easy for me. In the end I realized, however, that it is very important to me that the hours of hard work should have an impact on society. The job of an engineer is, ultimately, to solve problems and provide solutions, and this has always been particularly necessary in the field of health. Biomedical engineering makes me feel useful and therefore happy.

 –In summer, you participated in different scientific activities in Scotland, Germany, etc.; what would you highlight and what did your stays mean to you?

 When I was at high school I had the great opportunity of being selected for the Catalunya – La Pedrera Foundation “Youth and Science” programme. It helped me discover the world of international summer stays that I have continued with of my own accord. I believe that on a personal level they are a great experience and they have taught me far more than science.

 –How do you think technology should seek solutions to the challenges facing the world?

I don’t think I can quite manage to answer this question. Personally I think that in the field of biomedical engineering there are two major trends. The first is towards innovation: developing new technologies to solve problems that to date have not had a solution. The second is towards accessibility: choosing existing solutions and simplifying them, making them more economical so that they can be within reach of all. Last summer, my degree classmate Joan Puig and I participated at the UPF Junior Campus in a worldwide project to design a prosthesis with 3D printing (Hand Challenge) for people at risk or the underprivileged. It was one of my best experiences in recent years and I want to continue giving all the support I possibly can.

 –With the help that the Toptal STEM Scholarship for Women granted you, what training programme are you following and until when?

The programme consists of two parts. In the first place, an amount of money that I have used to buy myself a 3D printer and be able to collaborate even more actively in the prosthesis design project. Secondly, the scholarship also consists of a one-year customized training programme that I’m taking advantage of to improve my knowledge of programming with python. Right now, I’m working on a medical signals processing project that could save pneumology services a lot of work. It is complicated, but I have a great team and we are doing everything possible to take it forward.

–Has the Toptal network programme opened new professional or personal prospects to you? What plans do you have for the future?

 This recognition and my master’s degree studies at the ETH in Zurich (Switzerland) have made me realize that, in the near future, I want a job that allows me to use not only my technical skills, but also those I have picked up throughout life in other fields, thus combining my interests. My fellow student Joan Puig and I have a business initiative called MedMake involved in 3D printing courses for healthcare professionals. The February we will be working with physicians from Althaia (University Healthcare Network of Manresa) to teach them how to turn a medical image of the patient into a 3D model that they can then print. It is an innovative project that combines engineering, business, and communication and, therefore, makes us so excited. We hope to bring it to other hospitals at a later date.

  –And what do you like to do when you are not working or studying?

I love art, especially the painting and architecture; that’s why, even today, Barcelona is still my favourite city. I also love stories: reading, writing, seeing them on stage, or acting them out myself. Without art, the theatre and writing I would not be me.