This year TRM King Felipe and Queen Letizia once again awarded the Iberdrola Scholarships to students and young researchers in the fields of renewable energies, environment and art & culture.
King Felipe declared that the young people “generate the best energy that we need to drive Spain forward: the energy that comes from knowledge and research, hard work and talent”. HRM’s words of praise were in addition to Ignacio Galán’s encouragement to “stay on the path of excellence” and our CEO’s conviction that they are “well-positioned to change the world; making it a more open, more sustainable and more responsible place”.
King Felipe also explained that HRM and the Queen had come back to award the Iberdrola scholarships and research grants because they wished to make their “ongoing commitment to education and young people” very clear, as they have the leading role of “a better future for all, for our country, for Spain and the countries where you will go”.
This commitment to training was reiterated by Ignacio Galán, who reminded those in attendance that Iberdrola believes in the future of the up and coming generations, education, professional development and the entrepreneurial spirit.
One of the students and researchers that received support from Iberdrola is Alicia Peral. This young holder of a Diploma in Painting Conservation and Restoration and a Degree in History of Art explained that it was a “dream come true” to have been able to complete an internship in the Restoration Area and Technical Department of the Prado Museum, more specifically in the painting restoration studio. Alicia emphasised that these grants are “a magnificent opportunity for young restoration professionals like myself, who are given the chance to learn at one of the most important institutions in the world”. This young expert in the world of art was able to follow the restoration of works such as Rogier van der Weyden’s Crucifixion at close range. “It was a privilege to be able to collaborate and help restore this wonderful work by such a renowned artist”.
For Bianca Vieira de Mello, who studied Industrial Engineering in Brazil, completing a postgraduate degree in the area of renewable energies was “just a dream” until she “found out about the Iberdrola scholarships and imagined what an opportunity it could be” to win one. “I think that if I hadn’t won the scholarship and more importantly, if I hadn’t come to Spain, it would have been very difficult for me to have acquired the knowledge I now have about the sustainable energy model because Spain is more advanced than Brazil in that respect and can teach us a lot about this, so I’m delighted to have been able to study abroad on this scholarship”.
Idoya Alcolea, who received a scholarship to pursue a Master’s in Energy and Environment for the year 2015-2016, is very pleased with this achievement, as “several years of effort and study have been rewarded with this great opportunity”. She emphasised that this will allow her to “take on a new academic challenge that will help me enter the job market in the sector in which I am most interested, renewable energies”.
José Andrés García, an ICAI engineering graduate and another clean energies enthusiast, explained that this scholarship from Iberdrola has allowed him to pursue studies in the area of renewable energies. “I have long understood that these energies pose major challenges to societies as regards availability and sustainable use and this is the specialised area on which I want to focus in my professional future”.
Finally, in the case of Candela de la Sota Sández, who studied Chemical Engineering at the University of Santiago de Compostela and a Master’s in Technology for Cooperation and Human Development at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, this research grant from Iberdrola in the area of Energy and Environment has enabled her to take part in a project carried out by the University of Dakar in Senegal, the Polytechnic University of Madrid and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). She explained that the goal of this initiative is to analyse how the use of more efficient cookers in impoverished countries can help mitigate climate change, while also helping to improve the living conditions of the most vulnerable.