The International VLBI Service (IVS) organised the 13th biennial Technical Operations Workshop (TOW 2025) held from May 4 to 8, 2025, locally organised by MIT Haystack Observatory. TOW is, in practice, essential for operators and stations new to operational VLBI, whether in geodesy, astronomy, or both.

We spoke with Olga Bayandina, formerly a JIVE support scientist and a postdoctoral researcher in Italy, and now one of the VLBI experts at SKA-Mid in South Africa, with many valuable stops along the way. We asked her about her new role on the EVN PC, her involvement in the SKAO Science Meeting in Görlitz, and her experience as a young woman scientist.