The experience was traumatic when she had to fight for her life at the age of 17 because there was no electricity for doctors to operate on her for an ailment that required surgery. Sandrine Ngalula Mubenga, a Congolese inventor, discovered her calling at the Kikwit General Hospital in Bandundu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
According to Afro Culture, she aspired to be an electrical engineer so that she could provide electricity to her people and save lives. She realized she could have died. This was due to her community’s inconsistent electricity supply, which impacted institutions such as the hospital.
She became seriously ill on that fateful day, but the Kikwit General Hospital did not even have enough fuel to power a generator. Doctors had told her parents that only emergency surgery could save her life. Her father went to seek assistance. Mubenga’s life was saved after the hospital found fuel to power the generator.
Mubenga had vowed that if she survived the ordeal, she would find a way to ensure that no one else suffered the same fate. As a result, when she was accepted to the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio, she devoted her time to studying renewable energy for her Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering.
She invented a portable solar system that generates electricity from a solar panel before finishing her degree. During her master’s degree at the University of Toledo, she invented the hybrid electric car. A hydrogen fuel cell and direct current power the vehicle.
Because its only waste is water, the electric car does not pollute the environment. To generate direct current, the fuel cell uses hydrogen gas and air. This direct current powers the car’s electric motor, allowing the driver to move the vehicle. She also created a hydrogen generating station, which supplies hydrogen to the car when it runs out. In this sense, the hybrid vehicle can be driven to a filling station when necessary.
Mubenga was named best research Master of Electrical Engineering Department by the University of Toledo’s academic board. She worked for multinational corporations such as General Electric and First Energy before starting her own company in 2011. Mubenga’s dream is realized by the SMIN Power Group, which designs and installs renewable energy. The company is headquartered in the United States, but it has a branch in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital.
The Congolese Association of Washington, D.C. presented her with the Nkoy Merit Award. The Congolese Merit Award from the Boston-based organization “Friends of Congo” followed.
For her contributions to the profession, she was named Young Engineer of the Year by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2010.