As part of the activities by the International Women's Daythe Institute Tecnológico de Monterrey delivered the 18 medals of the Tec Woman Award 2024 to the most outstanding members of the community: students, graduates, teachers, collaborators and directors with high-impact projects in various areas.
In this 12th edition, which has as its motto 'Waking up changes everything', 17 individual statuettes were awarded and a prize was awarded to 20 high school studentswho make up the robotics team Pink Hawks 6606.
There were also two special recognitions, one for 'Trajectory' And the prize 'Pioneer Lumi Velázquez'. The latter in honor of the creator of the Tec Woman Award, who died in November 2023 and it is the first time that the ceremony has been held without her presence.
“All this was the dream of a great leader who was fortunate to see the fruit of what she sowed in 2013. Today we not only celebrate the career of these leaders, we also honor the memory and legacy of a great woman: Luz María Velázquez. Without his disruptive vision and his desire to live in a world where equity and equal opportunities are a palpable reality, this award would not be possible. I congratulate you for continuing to break paradigms,” said Felisa González, director of the Center for the Recognition of Human Dignity at the Tecnológico de Monterrey.
Who are the winners of the Mujer Tec 2024 award?
The winners of the 11 categories received the 'Muliere Ame Amet' award, which means “challenging woman” and is inspired by the sculpture fearless girl by Kristen Visbal. This award has been awarded for more than a decade to make visible and recognize the stories, trajectories and contributions of the institution's female talent, especially those with projects with a gender perspective.
“We feel deep pride in all of you. I celebrate the relevance of this recognition, which was born in the classrooms, today summons extraordinary women who build and imagine spaces so that our much-needed right to equality is fulfilled,” said Inés Sáenz Negrete, vice president of Inclusion, Social Impact and Sustainability. .
Within the special categories, the institution awarded the Tec Woman Award for Lifetime Achievement to María Belén Mendé Fernándezfounder of R'evolution Educational Group, which operates more than 400 centers in 145 countries and already has more than 150 thousand students and 280 thousand graduates. She is also president of Scaled University Network and vice president of Fundación Universidad Empresarial Siglo 21.
The 'Pioneer Lumi Velázquez' award went to Irma De La Torre Lozano, PhD in Chemical Engineering from INSA in Toulouse, France. In 2001 she became the first general director at the head of Tec de Monterrey, Querétaro Campus, a position she held until 2007. In addition, the academic has participated in strategic World Bank projects such as the design of the National Metrology Institute.
This is the complete list of winners of the 2024 Tec Woman Award by category
Tec Woman Award for Entrepreneurship
This is given to women creators of innovative companies, products or services that make people's lives easier or that represent an innovation in the management, organization or technology of their venture. This 2024, the Tec Woman Award highlighted the work of two entrepreneurs:
- Gabriela Angelina Bernal Ibáñez. Student at Tec de Monterrey, Toluca Campus. She is the founder and CEO of Gama Construction, a world-leading company in sustainable transition and innovation in construction, a sector where few women venture into entrepreneurship.
- Rocío Garza Gutiérrez. Professional graduate from Tec de Monterrey, Campus Monterrey. She is co-founder and director of “Dilo en señas”, a civil association that seeks to facilitate education and comprehensive inclusion for deaf people in Mexico.
#She4She
This category rewards women who launch initiatives so that other women have access to education or the development of skills that allow them to carry out paid activities and achieve formality in their jobs.
- Natalia Rodríguez Payan. Student at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (EMCS) at Tec de Monterrey. She is currently president of the student group Women Interested in Surgical Education (WISE).
- Pink Hawks 6606. The first Mexican team made up of women in the international FIRST Robotics Competition in the FRC category. The team of 20 young people, led by Ana Isabel Zamora, seeks to make science and technology more accessible to everyone.
- María Yolanda Burgos López. Current director of the Innovation and Development Engineering program at Tec de Monterrey. Under her direction he has revitalized programs such as Women Mentoring in STEM (WMS) and Sacbé STEM Servicio Social.
Citizenship with a Gender Perspective
- Dorely Medina Leal. Professional level student at Tec de Monterrey, Guadalajara Campus. Her work in aerospace medicine with “AstroCare” led her to be selected among 60 global young people by NASA's International Air and Space Program.
- Karina González Carrillo. She has led initiatives to support girls and adolescents with educational challenges, including social-emotional strategies and physical activities. These actions benefited more than 3 thousand students.
Tec Woman Award for Transformative Power
- Gabriela Gerón Piñón. In 2023 she received the international recognition 'Woman Leader 2023' by the Documentation Sciences Foundation and Women Leaders of America. Additionally, she is a member of the G100 Global Higher Education Advisory Council, a distinguished group of the 100 most influential women leaders in the world.
Sciences
- Marilena Antunes Ricardo. Professor at Tec de Monterrey, Campus Monterrey. In 2022 she published 17 scientific articles in journals indexed in Scopus Q1 / Q2 with high impact factor and, in 2023, 12 Q1 / Q2 articles are counted.
Environment
- Juana Isabel Méndez Garduño. PostDoc Researcher at the Institute of Advanced Materials for Sustainable Manufacturing at Tec de Monterrey. Her work has been published in prestigious magazines such as “Energy and Buildings” due to her innovative approach, using game techniques and energy simulations with an educational aspect.
- Fabiola Doracely Yépez Rincón. Professor at Tec de Monterrey. She plays a crucial role as a leader at EOTEC DevNet COP America, where she leads and coordinates training development activities focused on geospatial tools and Earth observation.
Tec Woman Award for Health and Wellbeing
- Rosalinda Adriana Ballesteros Valdés. She is director of the Institute of Well-being and Happiness Sciences at the Tecmilenio University. Her position as president-elect of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) and global representative for Latin America of the International Positive Education Network (IPEN) highlights her influence in the field of positive psychology worldwide.
Sports and Sports Management
- Arely Montserrat Pérez García. Professor at Tec de Monterrey, State of Mexico Campus. First woman to be part of the American football coaching staff Major and Youth League in Borregos CEM with the title of Assistant HC
- Laura Patricia Garza Rendón. Graduated from Tec de Monterrey, Campus Monterrey. During her career she has promoted aquatic training as a space for learning and rehabilitation with a social focus. As part of the Institute of Endocentric Psychology she carries out different studies and research on perception and experience.
Art and Cultural Management
- Xi Chen. Master's student at Tec de Monterrey, Santa Fe Campus. He published his art portfolio called That's How I Talk to Myselfwhich was put into circulation through the Chinese e-commerce platform Alibaba. Additionally, she was nominated as a guest artist on the Chinese Artist In America Network (CANN).
- Janeth Aguirre Elizondo. Graduated with a master's degree from Tec de Monterrey, Campus Monterrey. She has stood out in the production and management of film projects. His work Souvenir of a love and Love is a Möbius stripalong with the documentary Forgottenreflect his commitment to Nuevo León cinema.
The Tec Woman Award was born in 2013 as a commemoration of International Women's Day, with the purpose of recognizing talent and making visible the contributions promoted by students, graduates, teachers, collaborators and directors of the Tecnológico de Monterrey in favor of gender equality.
Mairem Del Rio Addicted to watching series and movies, doing (a little) exercise and changing my hair color. I am also a journalist, with more than 16 years of experience and dedicated 100% to digital media since 2011. I have been from reporter and community manager, to editor in various media and agencies. My areas of expertise are as diverse as they are contrasting: entertainment, travel, lifestyle, health, business and finance. Now I am focused on the entrepreneurial ecosystem, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, metaverses and the promising cannabis industry in Mexico.