Professor Katia Lucchesi Cavalca Dedini, a researcher at CINE, has assumed the directorship of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FEM) at UNICAMP for the four-year period 2026-2030, becoming the first woman in this position in the unit’s more than 50-year history. The inauguration ceremony was held on April 29th.

Katia graduated in Mechanical Engineering from UNESP in 1985. In 1988, she completed her master’s degree in the same field at UNICAMP. In 1993, she obtained her doctorate in Applied Mechanics from the Politecnico di Milano (Italy).

“In the 1980s, when I was an engineering student, there were no mechanisms for raising awareness, much less for defending against prejudice and segregation, to the point of generating self-exclusion of women themselves in this type of technological activity,” says Katia. “So, the path was to conquer a space in diverse environments (classroom, internships, society in general) through work and competence, in a gentle way and with a lot of patience,” she adds.

In 1996, Katia joined FEM-UNICAMP as a professor, where she assumed a series of leadership positions within a predominantly male environment: she was head of department, coordinator of the postgraduate program, associate director of the faculty and, currently, director of the unit.

Over the years, she has experienced a continuous evolution of the female presence in her field. “Today, I see with great satisfaction a different posture, with greater equity and, while still developing, much better each year in terms of recognition, professional space, career, motherhood and facing challenges on our part,” says the newly appointed director.

The researcher is the author of more than one hundred articles published in indexed scientific journals and has supervised more than 250 undergraduate, postgraduate and postdoctoral research projects. She is an associate editor of the scientific journal Mechanism and Machine Theory, published by Springer.

Katia has been a full member of the National Academy of Engineering since 2014 and a member of the technical committee on rotating machine dynamics of the International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanism and Machine Science (IFToMM).

With extensive experience in dynamics and machine design, Katia participates in CINE research that combines this expertise with its application in wind energy generation.

Learn more about Katia Lucchesi Cavalca Dedini’s appointment as director of FEM – UNICAMP.