Ana Ripoll awarded the 12×12 Dona TIC 2017 Prize

14/12/2017

Ana Ripoll, professor in computer architecture and former rector of the UAB, was recently awarded the 12×12 Dona TIC Prize 2017 in the category of "academic-researcher". The prize was awarded at the 12x12 Congress, which is organised every December as a meeting point of ICT professionals in Catalonia.

The 12×12 Dona TIC Prize is awarded in recognition of the fundamental role women play in the professional, business and academic world of information and communication technologies (ITC). According to the European Commission, only 30% of the almost seven million people working in the ITC sector are women. They are insufficiently represented at all levels and particularly in the decision-making spheres. In addition, one of the main problems lies in young girls not wanting to become engineers, something which needs to be reversed by motivating these girls to enrol in scientific and technical careers.

First Woman Rector of the UAB

Ana Ripoll was Vice Rector for Academic Staff during the second mandate of Rector Lluís Ferrer (2005-2008) and the first woman rector of the UAB (2009-2012). She graduated in Physical Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid in 1975 and earned her PhD from the UAB in 1980. She held a research grant at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and was lecturer at the Department of Computers and Automatics at the Complutense University of Madrid from 1976 to 1978. She became a member of the UAB's Department of Computer Science in 1978, where she worked as lecturer until 1992, when she became chair professor in Computer Architecture and Technologies.

Dr Ripoll has worked in several different lines of research related to computer architecture and parallel processing. She also active worked on forming the research groups in Static Programme Allocation, Dynamic Load Balance, Parallel Programme and Performance Prediction Models and, more recently, in Distributed Video-on-Demand Systems. She has published over 100 papers in specialised journals and renowned international conferences, and has directed eight PhD theses. She also participated in several national and international, publicly funded research projects, as well as working as expert and appraiser for several public institutions. She was appraiser to the projects of the National Plan (ANEP), participated in European Cooperation Projects and is currently President of the Bioinformatics Barcelona Association (BIB).

In 2016, she was awarded the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise, and this past November she received a distinction from the Association of Computer Engineers of Catalonia for her work promoting projects which combine the health and bioinformatics sectors.