A young Nigerian lady named Deborah Fashidah, has achieved an outstanding milestone, emerging as one of only two recipients selected worldwide for the prestigious IEEE Systems Council Engineering Undergraduate Scholarship.
The highly competitive scholarship is awarded to students who demonstrate academic excellence, proven leadership, and impactful community initiatives, placing Deborah among the very best young engineering talents globally.
Deborah's Story and How She Did It
Deborah is currently a second-year Mechatronics and Systems Engineering student at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, Nigeria. She is deeply passionate about using technology to solve real-world problems, especially within underserved communities.
Her strong academic performance and well-developed portfolio earned her the scholarship, which includes a $5,000 award and a certificate of recognition.
One of the standout aspects of Deborah’s work is her research on energy harvesting using piezoelectric transducers.
Deborah’s project focuses on converting mechanical energy from rainfall into electrical power, an innovative approach aimed at providing small-scale electricity solutions for off-grid rural communities in Nigeria.
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Using rainfall data from Nigeria’s tropical climate, she developed an analytical model exploring how this micro-energy generation system could support basic electricity needs in areas with limited access to power.
Her journey has also been shaped by global exposure. Through the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program, Deborah spent ten months in the United States, where she worked on building a smart grid test bed.
This system integrated sensors, microcontrollers, and fault detection algorithms to prevent failures in electrical networks, an experience she believes is highly relevant to Nigeria’s electricity challenges.
Beyond academics, Deborah is also a RISE finalist and an active advocate for digital inclusion. She has led initiatives introducing young people and persons with disabilities to basic digital skills, emphasizing the importance of technology in expanding opportunities.
Looking ahead, she aims to build a career designing engineering systems that are practical, resilient, and suited for environments with unstable power and limited resources.
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