It was like any other summer day at the beach. The family was having lunch in their apartment, in a dining room overlooking the terrace. They began to talk about the universe, and as the minutes passed, about the existence of aliens and UFOs that could be living among us.
Catalina was only ten years old and does not remember the details of that conversation. But what she has never forgotten is how, suddenly, she felt a noise coming from the terrace… Everyone got up from their seats, and terror filled Catalina’s face when she saw a yellow being, with something that looked like a giant gun… They were being invaded by aliens!
A scene worthy of a futuristic movie that found a domestic explanation: they were about to paint the beach building, but first they needed to clean it with pressurized water. Thus, the terrifying alien turned out to be a person dressed in a yellow water suit, and the gun, a giant hose.
It has been several years since Catalina Margulis had such a close encounter with space as that summer afternoon, but when she saw an opening for a Corporate Secretary with us she didn’t think twice: “I found the mission and the work of ALMA so fascinating, and on the other hand, I thought this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I decided to apply”.
This woman, a lawyer from Santiago, has had a long professional career before coming to our observatory. For eight years she worked at the Central Bank of Chile, interacting with people and areas of engineering and technology. During that time she also lived in the United States to work at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
This experience was key because she had to advise and negotiate with the boards of directors of public entities of different countries in the definition of policies and legal matters, so she had to work and interact with local authorities of various nations. Thanks to this, she was able to develop very useful skills in the role she now assumes: “I am sure that I can contribute to ALMA from this international experience”, says Catalina.
But it’s not all work for Catalina. Besides being passionate about reading, collecting magnets from different countries, and sharing with her family and friends, she has other projects in mind, such as taking up Bikram Yoga: a practice that is done at 42 degrees Celsius!
“I want you to know that I am very happy to join the ALMA project and that I want to get to know you all during my first months in order to generate spaces of mutual trust”.
The space is all yours. Welcome, Catalina!
¡Bienvenida, Catalina! Vamos a tener muchas reuniones de Board en el futuro en las que negociar muchas cosas, ¡así que nos vendrá bien tu experiencia!
Bienvenida Catalina!!