She is one of the few women to hold a chief technology officer position in one of the top three players in the electricity transmission and distribution space.
[1] As a child Silva visited a large hydro power plant and this sparked her interest for electricity systems.
She moved to the United Kingdom for her doctoral studies, earning a PhD in the electrical and electronics engineering in 2010.
[2] After completing her doctorate, Silva joined EDF R&D in France, where she directed their program on Energy Systems and Markets.
[2][5] As of 2019[update] Silva is the chief technology officer at General Electric (GE) grid solutions, where she leads 3,400 engineers around the world.