Nokia’s Ada Lovelace Honoree 2022 highlights diversity and inclusivity in tech
- Dr. Ester Gonzalez-Sosa is Nokia’s Ada Lovelace Honoree for 2022.
- Her current research focuses on creating realistic mixed-reality avatars that are free from bias, based on diversity and inclusion research
13 October 2022
Espoo, Finland – Nokia has today named Dr. Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, a member of the eXtended Reality Lab at Nokia’s Cloud & Network Services division in Madrid, as its 2022 Nokia Ada Lovelace Honoree. The global tech company has presented it annually since 2019 to a woman scientist at Nokia who provides a significant contribution to her area of research and development, pioneers new thoughts and ideas and is respected for their inspiring contributions in the STEM areas (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
Dr. Ester Gonzalez-Sosa currently works on creating video-based self-avatars that work in real time and in uncontrolled conditions, based on diversity and inclusion research. The team’s goal is to develop algorithms that are free from bias, ensuring the future metaverse is accessible to all by including data from people with different diversity backgrounds throughout the design process.
Dr. Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Machine Learning Research Engineer at Nokia Cloud & Network Services, said: “I love seeing how innovations like AI and mixed reality (XR) can have a positive impact on our society. For example, many patients on hospital therapy programs are not always able to access psychological treatments that require travel. With the assistance of immersive communication systems that we have developed in the eXtended Reality Group, they are able to benefit from the therapy in real time, even if they are confined or unable to commute.”
During the past 10 years, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa has conducted a phenomenal amount of work within her chosen field, gaining an M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and a PhD from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Dr. Gonzalez-Sosa’s doctoral thesis entitled “Face and Body Biometrics in the Wild: Advances in the Visible Spectrum and Beyond” was conducted within the university’s Biometrics and Data Pattern Analytics (BiDA-Lab). Along her PhD journey she carried out several research internships at world-leading groups in biometric recognition, such as TNO, EURECOM, and Rutgers University.
Improved diversity in STEM is needed, according to Gonzalez-Sosa: “I dream that STEM will have greater visibility across all backgrounds, and that it is promoted in a well-rounded, interesting and interactive way. There are so many careers in STEM that could be better explained and explored – and a considerable amount of talent that could be used.”
The Nokia Ada Lovelace Honoree nomination is done in appreciation of Augusta Ada Lovelace (1815-1852), a pioneering British mathematician who is widely recognized as the world’s first computer programmer. Ada Lovelace Day is celebrated globally on the second Tuesday of October to recognize the achievements of women in STEM.
At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together. Find out more about Nokia’s goals and activities in our Inclusion & Diversity page.
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