Miriam Huijser: Leading Women in Tech
Aerospace Xelerated had the pleasure of speaking with the Co-Founder & CTO of Aiir Innovations, Miriam Huijser, who has made a name for herself in the tech industry. Miriam shares her background and how her passion led her to pursue a career in artificial intelligence, machine learning and computer vision. The interview delves into her proudest achievement of building her company from scratch, the challenges she faced as a woman in STEM, and advice she has for young girls looking to start their careers in the field.
Tell us about your career and background. What motivated you to pursue a career in STEM?
I have always had a passion for the sciences. As a young girl, I was mesmerised by concepts such as existence, intelligence and how we as humans perceive the world around us. As I got older, I acquired more tools to explore these topics through mathematics, physics, philosophy, psychology and technology to name a few. I followed my passion all the way to the Artificial Intelligence Master’s program, where I focused on recreating parts of human intelligence through several fields in AI, including machine learning and computer vision.
The visual world around us especially intrigues me — the amount of information contained in the visual medium is incredible. I quickly found that I enjoy researching and exploring new options and possibilities. I had the opportunity to publish my work at a world-renowned conference in computer vision, which gave me a taste of academia. However, I wanted to make a more tangible impact in the world — for me, research becomes more meaningful when it addresses a real-world need. When we had the opportunity to apply AI to jet engine maintenance, I jumped at the chance to make a difference in this industry. During my years as an entrepreneur, I have come to find that my passion and strengths lie in big-picture thinking, coming up with creative solutions and empowering others.
What is your proudest achievement?
Building Aiir Innovations from the ground up with zero initial entrepreneurial experience. Coming from an Artificial Intelligence background, I learned and continue to learn on the job how to be a great entrepreneur in one of the most conservative industries, making it my proudest achievement.
What’s the story behind Aiir Innovations?
Aiir’s founders met during the Master’s in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Amsterdam in 2015, where we did a project for KLM E&M on automating borescope inspections. KLM was excited by our initial results that we decided to pursue it further, founding Aiir Innovations. So, you could say that our student project got a little out of control!
In your opinion, what challenges do young girls and women face who want to pursue careers in tech?
The main challenge throughout my studies and career was being chronically underestimated — so much so that I started to believe it, regardless of receiving multiple cum laude distinctions, presenting a paper at one of the biggest computer vision conferences in the world, and building a tech company from the ground up. Being underestimated affects confidence, which shapes your beliefs of what you can accomplish and contribute to the world. I hope one day we are no longer taught these limiting beliefs about ourselves and we start believing in who we already are.
What advice would you share with young girls looking to kick-start their careers in STEM?
Know that you can be successful in tech, and don’t waver. Try to surround yourself with uplifting people, find allies in the workplace and support other women. Believing in myself and surrounding myself with the right people helped me achieve what I achieved.
Thanks again, Miriam, for sharing your incredibly inspiring journey with the AX community!
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