Dr. Ngalula Sandrine Mubenga, an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Technology, recently participated in the 9th International Day of Women and Girls Assembly at the United Nations.
Mubenga spoke at the agency’s headquarters on Feb. 8 as part of a panel titled “Women in Science Rising: Leadership in Business and Economics.” As one of four panelists, Mubenga advocated for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo and presented advances that her nonprofit organization and other institutions there have made to promote science, technology, engineering and math.
Dr. Ngalula Sandrine Mubenga, an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Technology, recently participated in the 9th International Day of Women and Girls Assembly at the United Nations.
Mubenga, who is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, founded the STEM DRC Initiative in 2018. The nonprofit promotes STEM education, entrepreneurship and research in the DRC and its diaspora, and has so far hosted more than 6,000 attendees at workshops and conferences, awarded 185 scholarships to Congolese students and constructed a STEM center in Walungu.
STEM DRC also facilitated the development of two ventilator prototypes in the country during the coronavirus pandemic and initiated a project to produce oxygen in partnership with the World Bank and Loyola University of Congo. Eight oxygen plants that were developed through the project continue to produce 22,000 liters of oxygen per day in the DRC.
“I was honored to participate in the International Day of Women and Girls Assembly,” Mubenga said. “My panel discussed how to achieve more equitable and inclusive societies through women leadership in all STEM fields. We highlighted the importance of financing science, technology and innovation in order to make the sustainable development goals a reality. We also had a candid conversation about the importance of equity, diversity and inclusion through the voice of female youth.”
International Day of Women and Girls in Science is an annual observance adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. The Feb. 8-9 assembly brought together science leaders and experts around the world, high-level government officials and representatives of international organizations and the private sector.
