María Zapata Cáceres qualified as an architect at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and also graduated in Computer Science Engineering. She holds master's degrees in Virtual Environments and Video Games Design and Production, as well as a doctorate in Information Technology and Communications from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, where she is a researcher and visiting professor. Her main research focuses on Computational Thinking and the use of video games as learning tools for computer science. She is the principal author of the internationally recognized Beginners Computational Thinking Test (BCTt) and serves as the principal investigator for international projects such as the Erasmus+ project CoteDI, which explores computational thinking. With more than 15 years of professional experience as an entrepreneur and independent professional, she has been involved in 3D design, video games, technology, and teaching. Throughout her career, she has received several awards recognizing her contributions to these fields.