Top 50 Techwoman: Edmary Altamiranda is Shaping the Future of the Energy Sector

Aker BP’s Edmary Altamiranda has been named one of Norway’s top tech women in 2025. She has led groundbreaking technological development in underwater wireless communication, digital twins, and field architecture optimization. What truly makes her a role model is her ability to lift the people around her.

Photos: Kilian Munch

When Edmary Altamiranda began her engineering studies at Universidad de Los Andes in Mérida, Venezuela in the 1990s, artificial intelligence was still a niche field in most industries. For Edmary, it was already a natural part of the curriculum and clearly part of the future. AI studies were not just theoretical. From the beginning, she applied technologies like neural networks, fuzzy systems, and evolutionary algorithms to complex processes in the petrochemical industry. This became the foundation for a career defined by innovation, resilience, and the ability to turn research into real-world solutions.

Her academic credentials speak for themselves. She completed practical training, a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a PhD focused on AI, control, and systems engineering. She achieved all of this while working full-time in a demanding industry, since PhD programs were not publicly funded. Her research was implemented in industry during the process and delivered value from day one.

This drive led her to Universidad de Pamplona in Colombia, where she taught and supervised research in artificial intelligence and control systems. Later, she moved to Sweden for a postdoctoral position at Chalmers University of Technology. Still, her passion remained with the energy sector. When the opportunity arose to work with subsea technology in Norway, she took it.

In the following years, she worked across offshore operations, maintenance, field development, research, and product innovation in the subsea domain. Since 2018, Edmary has led technology development and business transformation at Aker BP. Today, she plays a central role in shaping the next generation of digital and autonomous solutions for the energy industry.

One of her most groundbreaking projects is an underwater acoustic communication protocol, essentially “underwater WiFi,” which enables smart and autonomous operations beneath the surface. This is being developed in collaboration with the Subsea Wireless Group (SWiG) and experts from the United States, Italy, Sweden, and Norway.

She also developed a digital twin framework based on a “System of Systems” approach. This has influenced international standards and has been cited across industries. The framework was also featured in a dedicated chapter in the book Digital Twin Fundamentals and Applications, published in collaboration with the Digital Twin Consortium.

Another major project is a tool for optimizing field architecture using evolutionary algorithms. It began in collaboration with a postdoctoral researcher from SUBPRO SFI and is now being further developed with a Brazilian technology company. The tool is currently in the qualification phase and is on its way to commercialization.

Edmary has contributed several publications related to her ongoing projects to international research communities.

“I love pushing the boundaries of the state of the art, in line with our vision for the future,” she says.

Still, this is not just about technology. It is also about people. What truly sets Edmary apart is how she leads. She builds inclusive and diverse teams, bringing together people from different countries, backgrounds, and disciplines. Her teams include female engineers and suppliers. For Edmary, inclusion is not about checking a box. It is about quality and reliability.

“I always put competence first. Diverse teams deliver better results, and I’ve seen that over and over again,” she says.

Edmary has mentored master’s students, PhD candidates, postdocs, and young engineers throughout her career. Today, she ensures that those she leads work on real-world challenges, contribute to meaningful solutions, and grow as professionals.

Edmary has a clear vision for the future of the energy sector. She envisions a workplace where inclusion is a natural part of how work is done, where mentoring is the norm, and where diversity provides a competitive advantage. This is not just a value statement, but a strategy for innovation.

At Aker BP, she is already helping make this vision a reality, as an engineer, a culture builder, a mentor, and a technology leader.

Throughout her career, across countries, languages, and disciplines, Edmary Altamiranda has challenged expectations and uplifted those around her. She is not only a technological pioneer. She is a model for what strong leadership in technology should look like.