Humanities and Social Sciences

Naiara Espejo Iturbe earned her undergraduate degree in telecommunications engineering at the School of Telecommunications Engineering of Bilbao. While finishing her degree, she worked as a university assistant lecturer at Newton University Academy in Bilbao from 2000 to 2001, teaching systems and signals and devices electronics. She then carried out two projects as an intern engineer: a storm detection system for IBERDROLA and a biometric authentication systems based on digital signal treatment for VICOMTech Technology Centre. From 1999-2000, she served as Deputy Chairwoman at the Telecommunications Congress Committee in Spain.

After graduating, she worked as E-Business Manager in UNCETA Group S.A., where she was in charge of business-to-business solutions and e-commerce, before taking her current position at DigiPen Institute of Technology Europe-Bilbao. She currently teaches many of DigiPen’s intro and intermediate-level mathematics and physics courses, such as Linear Algebra and Geometry, Calculus and Analytic Geometry, and Motion Dynamics.

Her hobbies include history, gastronomy, and role-playing games.

Ines Martin graduated with a BA in English from the University of Valladolid in Spain. In 1999, she earned a master’s degree in TESOL (Teaching English and Spanish as a Second Language) from West Virginia University. She then spent nine years working in the USA, where she taught Spanish and English as a foreign language at both the high school and undergraduate levels.

Once Martin returned to Spain, she worked as an international student´s coordinator and became a member of the academic board at Bircham International University in Madrid before joining DigiPen Institute of Technology Europe-Bilbao. She currently teaches Composition, Storytelling, Multicultural Literature, Career Search Preparation, and Spanish for foreign students.

“I try to create a student-centered class based on the communicative approach. I plan tasks that take the form of products that the students create in cooperation, so English is used in a meaningful way. In this fashion I try to promote active learning and cooperation among students,” Martin says.

Cristina Juesas has a degree in tourism with postgraduate studies in quality management. In 1995, her final master’s project was versed in corporate internal communication at the Escuela Oficial de Turismo in Madrid, Spain. She also has postgraduate studies in science communication at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia in 2014.

With more than 20 years of comprehensive experience in the marketing and communication field, her most prominent works include the Style and Usage Guide to Social Networks for the Basque government and the University of the Basque Country. She also works in communications for organizations such as Tecnalia, Pfizer, Junta de Andalucía, Fedrigoni, ETUI, and CCOO. She has been the licensee, host, and curator of TEDxVitoriaGasteiz since 2014 and has led several workshops for TED at their global conferences. She is also the author of Hablar en público en 4 pasos. Un método basado en El Viaje del Héroe, published by Libros de Cabecera in 2021.

She was twice named Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) by Toastmasters International, where she also was District Director of southwest Europe for the 2020-2021 term. In 2012, she won the Bitácoras Award for best cultural blog for her project “unadocenade.com.” Currently, she teaches courses in communication, intellectual property, and media and ethics with a social science perspective, all while instructing students to develop themselves in their specialized field.