Barbarita Lara facts for kids

Barbarita Lara Martínez was born in Santiago, Chile, on January 27, 1986. She is a talented Chilean engineer. Barbarita is the CEO and co-founder of EMERCOM. This company creates new ways for people to communicate. She also leads the Emergency Information System project. This amazing system helps people send messages during natural disasters. It works even when there is no internet or phone signal.

Barbarita's Early Life and Education

Barbarita Lara studied computer engineering. She went to the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María in Chile. She learned how to use computers to solve real-world problems.

How Her Big Idea Started

Barbarita designed a special mobile phone app. This app helps people send and receive signals on their smartphones. It is designed for places hit by a disaster. The app gives useful information, like where to find help. It uses a clever high-frequency sound system. This system turns audio into information that can travel over radio waves. It connects old radio technology with new digital phones.

Her idea came after a huge earthquake in 2010. This earthquake measured 8.8 on the Richter scale and hit Chile very hard. After the disaster, Barbarita wanted to help. She saw that people could not communicate. Most internet and phone networks stopped working. A tsunami followed the earthquake, causing many deaths and missing people along the Chilean coast. There was no warning system to alert people from organizations like ONEMI.

Inspiration and Developing the System

Barbarita's father worked in cryptography for the Chilean Navy. He inspired her from a young age. Chile often has earthquakes because it is in the Andean mountains. In 2015, Barbarita was a computer engineering student. She created the Emergency Information System (SiE). She received a patent for her invention in 2017. A patent protects her unique idea.

She received financial help from several groups. These included CORFO (Production Development Corporation) and the International Institute for Innovation. The Royal Academy of Engineering also supported her. This help allowed her to present her mobile app. The app sends alerts in emergencies without needing internet or mobile networks.

In 2019, she received more funds. This allowed her to travel to Portugal for the WSA ceremony. She went with María Soledad Quintana, her finance manager. They wanted to encourage more women to participate in the event.

Barbarita's Achievements and Awards

Barbarita Lara has received many important awards. These awards recognize her innovative work.

• She was named an "Important technological Entrepreneur" in the V region by Girls in Tech Chile.
• She won the "Software Fair XXIII" Award for Innovation in 2016.
• She was a winner of the "MIT Technology Review: Innovators under 35 LATAM" Award. This award is given by a very old technology magazine.
• She was recognized as a Young Leader in 2017.
• She was a finalist for the "Chilean of the Year" Award in 2018. She won in the "Chilean Innovator" category.
• She was a finalist for the World Summit Award Global Congress in 2018. This award celebrates the best digital content and innovation.

See also

In Spanish: Barbarita Lara para niños