The renewable energy student who achieved the dream of maintaining a wind farm

Last December, after a selection process in which he impressed from the first interview, he landed in a leading company in the field of Uruguay. Martina Sol Colombo Berti was born in Montevideo and was a student – ​​she was very close to finishing – of the renewable energy engineering degree at the UTEC in Durazno.

After training on safety standards, he went to work at the Palomas Wind Farm, in the department of Salto. Located at kilometer 526 of Route 3, this park – owned by Nicefield SA with which UTE signed a 20-year lease agreement – ​​provides UTE with 70 megawatts thanks to 35 wind turbines. Martina and two colleagues, one of them from Latvia, took care of its maintenance.

That hot day in early January they were working on the penultimate wind turbine of a round that was tasked with measuring conductivity, in which a robot is used, precisely, with Latvian technology. Martina asked to go to the bathroom, which is in the substation, and when leaving the park and taking a local road, she overturned with the truck. And so, suddenly, the life of someone who had everything to conquer the world was cut short.

Sad and unfair. The daughter of a sheet metal worker and a housewife, as her own mother described her, she was a girl “who only gave pride” in school, high school and university, although she proved to be “intense and with character.” Andrea Colombo, when talking about her daughter, Martina, does so from satisfaction, and with logical pain for this tragedy. She had “a lot of love” and was “very empathic” with everyone, with her family, friends and her acquaintances.

Girlfriends

Martina had many friends, but her closest friends, those with whom she shared everything, dedicated an audio to her memory: “Martina was brave, passionate, and determined, she fought for her dreams and for what she wanted, she inspired and enlightened everyone those around her, was an example of strength, despite many adversities that she had to face throughout her life, she always pursued her dreams, without hesitation.At the age of 19, she went alone to Durazno, moving away from everything she knew to pursue one of those dreams. But behind that strong and brave personality there was a sweet, empathetic friend and companion. She knew how to advise with fair and true words, but always with love and respect. She was funny and fun, she always made you smile She had a great sense of humor. Marti was very consistent, she always acted based on what she believed, she was faithful to her principles and to those she loved, that’s why we remain faithful to her and although she is no longer here, she will always be our inspiration. pre”.

In the course of her life, Martina experienced economic and family shocks; there were emigration attempts, until her family decided to stay in Uruguay. From there, she sought to link herself to everything renewable, what she “loved”. “She was committed to the world that is coming,” stressed Andrea, her mother.

For Andrea, Martina somehow emigrated to Durazno, where she lived for four years. “The sacrifice to get to where she got to was made by her. Constant with the study, with her responsibilities; Not one day in her life did I have to tell her to study,” she said. “Like any mother, I cannot be objective. I want to express that Martina’s little path, or a lot, was that she left a legacy, it was not a common passage, because she decreed it that way. I deconstructed myself with her, I grew up with her; I possibly contributed to her, but she more to me”.

He stressed that Martina focused on her goals, “but it was not easy for her”, there were several sacrifices to overcome. Like her financial problems, which led her to live in three different places in Durazno. In addition, when she entered the UTEC in 2017, her parents separated and her father became ill: she had to undergo dialysis, had a transplant, had a heart operation, until he died in May of last year.

With her boyfriend, Santiago Machado.

“There must be thousands of student sacrifices, but today is about her, so I am talking about it because she really did not have it easy. And when the achievements were really going to begin, what happened happened, which was nothing more than an accident at work,” says Andrea.

“Here on the lap there is a cartridge belt of hers, with a phrase: ‘think that being different is thinking’. And that’s what she did, he was a thinking being. I have a wonderful family and Martina will be in our lives forever. She has to have a certain dimension to what she did because she was not minor. She always had the feeling that she had an artist at home, breaking stereotypes. She was committed to the world to come, to feminism, to vegetarianism, to politics, to inequalities”.

Partner

Lucas, her 27-year-old brother, also highlights Martina’s charitable facet, who was close for the simple fact of accompanying the other and being together. “We shared many things, but she was able to do it more to be together than if she really wanted to do it. We would go to see Peñarol or he would help me with the car; I didn’t do it for her pleasure but to share something with me,” he says.

When Martina left for Durazno to study at UTEC, they had a closer relationship because of missing her and receiving her with honors every time she returned to the Prado house. “I remember that she liked that I would go to Plaza Cuba to look for her, and wait for her with pizza,” she says.

The cousins

Maia, her cousin, spoke on behalf of all the cousins ​​and mentioned words in agreement with the others about Martina, whom they loved and admired. “People who knew Martina know that she is not a person that can be described in words because she was many things,” she said. And she added: “Martina is the pure meaning of family, that she illuminated everyone’s life, with her joy, humor, dances, even in difficult times she gave support without asking for it. A huge heart and an example to follow as a woman, person, student, a fighter who achieved everything she set out to do. Her perseverance, strength and courage were tireless, an example that she goes far beyond adversity; a rebellious soul but with the most childish look and the most tender smile. An excellent life partner to whom you could trust everything, she was never going to judge you, she always had the right word. We will never forget her, how happy we were by her side, we will take her very close to her heart. She was an excellent person and she is my example to follow. As she said, this job was her first step before going to Dubai. Because she said that she was going to go to Dubai, and then she was going to take us all. A pride for us”.

an exceptional being

Santiago Machado met Martina at UTEC. They were classmates and they got engaged. In each sentence he makes clear the admiration he felt for her. When a job opportunity arose, they both applied. She stayed. “I threw myself for throwing myself. It was obvious that Martina was much more prepared”.

“In 2018 we went (with the class) to Palomas Park. When we were there we came across a maintenance group, they were all Spanish, five in total and only one woman. That was when Martina said that she would like to dedicate herself to that, to work in maintenance, because there was no one else here who would do it,” says Santiago.

She remembers that when she went to work “she was very happy, she told me what she was doing and sent me photos of what she was doing. She loved it”. “Before starting to work, she had to buy shoes and gloves, and we traveled through half of Montevideo because there were no sizes for her. As women do not enter the field. The pants she bought were huge on her; It was designed for men.”

She also highlights that as a bride “she was exceptional”. “He accompanied me in everything. Most of the things with her were cute.” She didn’t get to visit her in Salto: they didn’t have time for that.

“Not to mention that she was a pioneer. She is going to remain in the history of Uruguay because she was great, very great, what she did”. Andrea Colombo, mother of Martina.

Footprint at UTEC

Priscilla Silveira is Brazilian and teaches wind energy at UTEC in Durazno. She met Martina in 2019 and the appreciation arose immediately. “She was an extremely dedicated girl and she knew what she wanted. She had a very strong personality, she was highly disputed by the UTEC professors; many wanted her to work on her projects, and I was lucky that she chose me”.

According to Priscilla, the wind blade operation maintenance course turned out to be a “passion” for both Martina and this teacher. In 2020, the student began her thesis work, in which she and her other classmates raised a “very complex” topic.

“I told them that to work on this issue they would have to have a lot of dedication. She told me that was not an impediment. Nothing was impossible for her. We had a lot of trouble finishing due to the pandemic and the complexity of the issue, and also when they were about to defend the work, Martina lost her father. And we had to postpone the defense. It was very exciting and the work was highly praised by all the members of the court and other colleagues”.

Priscilla had gotten him an internship at a company, which he was unable to undertake due to the covid-19 pandemic. But perseverance pays. She “she did not give up” and at the end of last year she got a job opportunity precisely in that area. And this year, “we had everything to start her thesis work, having already chosen the topic and the schedule. Everything was decided. And it was also related to the wind turbine maintenance area. As usual. There was no way it could go wrong.”

With his brother Lucas.

“For me it was very special that he had earned a place in this market full of men. We don’t have many women working in that sector, those who manage to do it must have a lot of desire and will. She took the first step”, mentions Priscilla. “We will miss her very much. She was without a doubt one of the best students we have ever had.”

Matías Loinaz is also a teacher at the UTEC in Durazno and had Martina among his students. “A real pleasure. A flower of a student, a genius, ”he says without hesitation. “Martina had three courses with me in the race. She gave me to get to know her quite a bit, ”he deepened.

She tells an anecdote that demonstrates Martina’s performance: “Two weeks before a midterm, we had an exchange in class and she asked me a question. I tell her: ‘but Martina, you’re drawn, at this point you’re asking me this question’. And in that partial it was the maximum mark”.

For the teacher, Martina had a “tremendous capacity”, something that she used to demonstrate frequently in class, with her attitude as a student and for her “human part” and classmate, and in her interest in the proper functioning of UTEC, in their autonomy, of groups of students. “She was in everything, she was an incredible thing. We will miss her very much.”

warm and outgoing

“Martina, from the beginning, was very warm and outgoing. She was very energetic when she was working and focused very well on what she was doing”, highlights Facundo Etcheverry, one of her co-workers at the wind farm. “I had to share with her breakfasts, lunches, dinners; in fact, the night before (Martina’s death) we had gone out to dinner at a restaurant, very happy about the day’s work we had had and he told me several things about her daily life”, he points out. “She was a person with appreciable sensitivity and a good heart,” concludes Facundo.