OWM Welcomes New Associate, María Peñahora Cañeque Simón

María received her master’s degree in electrical engineering from Pontificia Comillas University ICAI, in Madrid, Spain in 2012. After three years working for the private sector, in 2016 she started working for the Spanish administration in the Ministry of Industry, as an Official Engineer, working in the Spanish Center of Metrology (CEM) as head of the department. Among her responsibilities, she oversaw the Laboratory of Automatic and Non-Automatic Weighing Instruments and Software Laboratory, issuing Conformity Certificates for instrument type and software programs or performing quality management system audits according to the Spanish and European metrological control regulation. She has participated in many international organizations in the field of metrology, such as in OIML and WELMEC for the development of good practice guides.

Now, thanks to the Fulbright Scholarship, she is a candidate for graduating in the Master of International Development Policy at Sanford School where she is acquiring a wide set of experiences in the policy analysis field, economics, accountability, international institutions for development, and other skills such as leadership, conflict management, team building, and teaching. This year of education in the United States and her previous experience at CEM have given her the opportunity to contact NIST to collaborate on the development of good practice guidelines for the metrological control of EVSE-Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment. Maria will be in the United States until August, when her Fulbright Scholarship comes to completion. Her NIST colleagues hope that their collaboration will continue beyond her formal associateship.

Her interests include public administration, international relationships for cooperation, scientific and legal metrology, environment, and energy. In her personal life, she is passionate about nature, hiking, handicrafts in general (painting, drawing, knitting, etc.), dancing, and travelling.