Ester, the GTIAE and the commitment to decarbonize mobility
Ester has a degree in Industrial Technologies and Economic Analysis. She explains the interest of his case: a very clear orientation towards the labour market in the professional field of sustainable mobility.
He receives us by video call from Barcelona. It is here that she studies and works, combining her last stages of academic training and work.
The option for the master’s degree
Ester started the GTIAE in the class of 2019 and spent four years on it. She had no hesitation in continuing to study the master’s degree at the ETSEIB. Her innate interest in technology, electricity and sustainable mobility led her to this path. To date, the option of continuing to study a master’s degree at the ETSEIB once the GTIAE is finished is not for the majority despite its clear interest.
More specifically, Ester is studying a double master’s degree option: the Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering at the ETSEIB and the Master’s Degree in Energy Engineering. Clearly, she wants to specialize in renewable energies. The master’s degrees are combined at the ETSEIB and in 2.5 years both degrees can be obtained. The first of them allows you to have the professional attributions of industrial engineering. The second is more international in nature, with people from outside, in English and specifically energy centered. It also has a few more subjects and it takes a little longer to complete it.
Their option is developed entirely in Barcelona, and no international mobility is possible for study reasons. Thus, the curriculum is very condensed and making it compatible with other studies is not allowed. However, Ester says that she already enjoyed the opportunity to go on Erasmus during the degree and, therefore, for her it is all right.
Ester insists that the alternatives offered by the option for the master’s degrees at the ETSEIB are not well known and that they are very worthwhile. In fact, there is a great versatility. Go abroad to do the master’s degree Final Project. Do a professional internship in a company in a foreign country. Combine two master’s degrees at the same time. Doing a master’s degree with international mobility… There are many options.
The choice for the GTIAE
Before we ask her how it was that she opted for the GTIAE, Ester tells us that she is now doing an internship at the company Electra. She works as a project manager on electric mobility. In addition, she also did an internship at CITCEA-UPC, a research centre in energy, power systems, power electronics and electromobility (UPC).
Specifically, she chose the GTIAE because she is interested in technologies and, at the same time, she did not want to lose his business perspective. At high school, she had thought about doing Business Administration + Computer Science or a similar option. However, at the Saló de l’Ensenyament she discovered the GTIAE at the UPF stand and the degree’s goals. Thus, she saw that it was very important to her, mainly because it would allow her to understand how a company works.
The GTIAE experience and the immediate future
Ester values that it is a complicated career because many of the contents are difficult. Still, when you pick up the pace, the bachelor’s degree teaches you how to solve problems and stay alert. And there is a very friendly atmosphere, good teachers and classmates. And activities like the Enterprise Challenge are very good because they make it clear that you study to work, and that is very motivating. As the only unpleasant note, Ester states that the Covid-19 episode had a negative effect on the development of the degree. However, she would definitely choose it again.
She went to Gothenburg on Erasmus and has very good memories of it. Simply, it was a pleasure. She acknowledges that the academic level was not as high as in Barcelona and it was more relaxed than expected. In addition, she found very good people and an unbeatable atmosphere.
As an aspect of improvement, Ester raises a clear demand in relation to the GTIAE: the economic analysis subjects taught at UPF should be improved. In fact, they are the part of economics that has the most mathematics. Surely, it is because being within a degree in industrial technologies, more mathematical economics is seen as necessary. However, Ester says that perhaps it would be better to have a part more applied to the enterprise, not so academic, such as administration and finance.
And for the immediate future, Ester only plans to finish the two master’s degrees in January 2026, for now she has some subjects left. Professionally, she wants to stay where she now does his internship. Ester sees herself working at Electra for the next few years, at least: it is a job that she likes and that she sees meaningful.
The electrification of mobility
Ester manages a dozen projects for the implementation of the so-called ultra-fast charging electric stations. Electra is an operating company specialising in this service and expects significant expansion in Catalonia in the coming years. As a project manager, Ester receives a project to define from the very beginning and she specifies and develops the project implementation. Manage contracts, building licenses… all the project preparation until the work begins, that is, its physical implementation. And when the work is finished, they put it into service, opening it to the public. It is then that the electric vehicle can be charged.
Ester values that there is a combination of aspects in her work. Firstly, engineering-based technicians. Secondly, the relationship with suppliers that must be incorporated into the planning and management of budgets. This aspect is very important and is closely related to the training received at the GTIAE. Electra already deploys its services in nine countries and landed in Madrid a year ago. She is responsible for the deployment of Electra’s services in the Catalonia area, which will soon be a reality.
Additionally, offering electric charging services is an expanding market. Firstly, because of the inevitable trend towards the decarbonisation of mobility. Secondly, because the regulations already require the deployment of electric charging stations. Consequently, the technological challenge is to ensure that the experience of electric charging is as fast as in the case of traditional petrol stations. There are currently slow-charging, fast-charging and ultra-fast electric chargers, which take between 10 and 15 minutes to charge the batteries.
Girls in the GTIAE
We asked Ester her point of view on the fact that the GTIAE is the engineering degree with the highest percentages of girls. She thinks for a few moments and says that the really important thing is that from an early girls must enjoy a suportive environment. A family, school, friendship, extracurricular activities and, in general, social environment that provides confidence and security in themselves and in their goals.
It must be recognized that most girls still see themselves as less capable of obtaining a degree linked to engineering. And this is the result of vision and social pressure. However, as the GTIAE is not a study focused solely on engineering, surely for this reason girls see themselves more prepared. The GTIAE opens some doors. The proof is that there are many girls like Ester who choose to qualify professionally in technical aspects related to engineering with the master’s degree.
Ester hopes that the experience of the GTIAE will have a demonstrative effect in the long run. Therefore, it will be seen that girls are equally suitable for this type of study, and this will encourage more girls.
Finally, Ester highlights the option of doing research, although it is not a very common option among GTIAE graduates. It is an option that she considers because she was at the CITCEA. It is an important option for the future that also must be known.
Thank you very much, Ester, for your inspiring testimony.
We en courage you to finish the double degree of the master’s degree and… a lot of success in your career for electric mobility!
