Women’s History Month 2023 and International Women’s Day

Ing. Valeria Vásquez Tejo

 

In charge of Geodetic Infrastructure and Professor of the Satellite Geodesy Laboratory of the University of Santiago de Chile, Chile (@USACH)
Santiago, Chile

 

“It motivates me to know that geodesy studies something that never stops changing or moving. It invites you to continue acquiring knowledge constantly and also its benefits have a very tangible impact on society.”

 

“I began my work at USC’s Center for Geodetic Analysis and Processing before earning my engineering degree. Once I graduated, I became an official part of the work team, in charge of the geodetic infrastructure, which in Chile is a big issue due to the geodynamics that the country manifests. The need to densify our national network led me to make collaboration agreements with two state universities, one in the north and the other in the south of the country, which clearly does not fully solve the problem, but allowed more instances of collaboration to be generated than are currently in development. Currently I am also working as an academic at the University of Santiago de Chile, in the practical area of satellite geodesy, which curiously was the same area that aroused my interest in the subject.”

Dr. Patrizia Tavella

 

Director of Time Department at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (@BipmMedia)
Sèvres , France

 

“As a theoretical physicist, I am fascinated by theoretical concepts and mathematical descriptions, in particular in my involvement on time and frequency metrology and on the development of the European GNSS Galileo.  My work also gives me the opportunity to develop mathematical models that estimate, predict, and validate the high accuracy measurements that geodesy and physicist colleagues are carrying out, giving me not only the pleasure of an elegant mathematical theory, but also the exciting, amazing, and challenging task to ensure an high accuracy match between the models and the measurements. This is the greatest and most breathtaking reward of this job.”

Patrizia TAVELLA earned a master’s degree in Physics and PhD in Metrology, and is now the Director of the Time Department of the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM). She is responsible for the computation of the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) based on about 450 atomic clocks worldwide distributed and compared mostly by GNSS time transfer techniques as the Common View, PPP, and IPPP. She is also the executive secretary of the Consultative Committee on Time and Frequency, dealing with the definition and realization of the second, and the establishment and diffusion of reference time scales. She has previously worked for 30 years at the Italian Metrology Institute (INRIM), where she was deeply involved in the development of the European Navigation System Galileo, responsible for several European projects dealing with the Galileo timing system from the design through to the first experimental phases. Finally, she is also an integral member of the IGS Governing Board, where she serves as the IGS liaison with the BIPM.