• February 11 2025. IMI researcher Begoña Vitoriano participated in a round table discussion on women's scientific careers at Nebrija University on February 11th. The event was preceded by the screening of the film "The Marguerite Theorem," whose pre-premiere in Madrid was attended by several IMI members in September 2024. The screening of the film and the subsequent debate were part of the activities organized by Nebrija University to commemorate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the UN establishing February 11th as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a date aimed at, according to Secretary-General António Guterres, "paving a path for the careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics that women and girls deserve and our world needs." 

• January 9 2025. A new European project with distinguished participation from IMI members begun on January 1, 2025. The project, titled HURRICANE: Holistic UGV-based Resilient and Real-time Intelligence for Crisis and Natural Emergency, has a duration of four years and is funded by the European Research Executive Agency. The lead researcher for the project at the Complutense University is IMI member Begoña Vitoriano.  The HURRICANE project aims to enhance disaster management and first responder (FR) safety through advanced robotics. It focuses on integrating UGVs and UAVs with real-time situational awareness, 5G-enabled communication, and data-driven optimization. Solutions will be tested in peri-urban, mountainous, and wildfire-prone areas, demonstrating improved efficiency (60% operation time reduction) and reduced FR risk. By 2028, HURRICANE aims to train 100 FRs across 15 EU countries, scaling to 10,000 by 2035, while strengthening the EU robotics industry.

Begoña Vitoriano Villanueva