Computer Vision News - February 2022

21 Marianna Meo What’s your final message for the community? It’s about your “Women in Computer Vision ” interviews. I think that many women paved the way before me. But it’s still important to send themessage.Women should probably believe a little bit more in themselves, in what they can achieve. Try to strive for higher roles. I see that there are still a lot of postdocs and PhD students who do not try to go farther. It’s a pity because it’s important. Everybody can bring a big value to science, including women. There is no reasonwhy it should be different. Always try to change. It’s important to catch the opportunities. We can improve, and we can do something better.  So go women! And go Italy! Absolutely! Forza Napoli! [ both laugh ] Tell us about the vibes at Philips. Do you think they also have special vibes? I think so, although it has been a great challenge for everyone, and also for me starting at a new company. I started my new role in the middle of the lockdown in the Netherlands. It has been very challenging to meet people because there was no physical office. Also, just to get the workstation to run my studies... That was also a strength at the same time because I learned to work in a new environment with a wide network of people geographically distanced. I found that amazing. Philips was ready for that, much earlier than COVID. I also learned to work with this vibe. I’m pretty lucky also because I have a very international team, in the sense that I’m based in the Netherlands, but my team is in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We work with EPD research in Israel. It’s great! There is a lot of cultural cross interaction. Everybody brings a different competency and culture. I hope to enjoy it even more after COVID lockdowns. We just ended a lockdown here. What is the first thing that you will do after COVID? I don’t know! Even despite COVID, I try to travel a little bit. I like traveling. I would really like to go back to conferences onsite. I went once in September, and it was great because I finally managed to see a lot of people. I was a bit scared though! After two years, talking in front of a lot of people was a bit weird. After the first ten seconds, it was fine! Through all these opportunities, I built my knowledge. More than 100 inspiring stories of Women in Science here!