Feature: Chinese-trained Kenyan female engineer charts lucky career path

Sarah Mumbi has boundless energy and optimism that has enabled her to break the glass ceiling to pursue a male dominated career.

The aeronautical engineering graduate from China's Northwestern Polytechnical University credits her mentors for instilling in her the virtues of hard work and determination at a tender age.

During a telephone interview with Xinhua on Monday, Mumbi hailed the study tour in China that not only broadened her worldviews but also sharpened her technical skills.

The bubbly 26 year old is currently employed by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) as a personnel secretary in the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project.

She is among an elite team of young female professionals involved in the implementation of the Chinese funded modern railway linking Kenya and its neighbors.

Securing employment at CRBC has provided Mumbi a platform to hone technical skills and interact with colleagues from different ethnic and racial backgrounds.

"I look forward to perfect my knowledge of Chinese language and participate in building of a better Kenya for future generations," Mumbi remarked, adding that Sino-Kenya cooperation in technology transfer had a promising future.

Before joining CRBC in January this year, Mumbi had a ten-month internship with a local airline.

She retains a strong desire to pursue a career in the aviation industry but is as well comfortable in her current work station.

Mumbi's four year university education in China was self funded and she belongs to a tiny population of young Kenyan women with a degree in aeronautical engineering.

She told Xinhua that valuable expertise gained in China would aid technological and industrial progress in Kenya.

As a personnel secretary with CRBC, Mumbi supervises a team of Kenyan technicians involved in the construction of Standard Gauge Railway.

She is optimistic about the Sino-Kenya technical and industrial cooperation that will thrive as the two bilateral partners deepen their longstanding friendship.

"I think China-Kenya technology cooperation is moving on well. China is ahead of us in many areas but more importantly, we need China's technology to move forward," said Mumbi.

She noted that Chinese firms operating in Kenya have facilitated transfer of technical skills to local population.

A growing number of Kenyan youth have expressed a desire to pursue higher education in China and return home to aid in nation building.

The Chinese government has been providing scholarships to hundreds of Kenyan youth annually to enable them to pursue cream courses like engineering and medicine in some of the leading universities in the middle kingdom. Endit