Meet the Winner of the Woman Engineer Leader of the Year category, Eng. Mkufu Shabani Tindi (Peng.)(MIET).
With a focus on Renewable Energy Technologies, Mkufu has over 14 years of working experience in the Energy sector. She has been employed by Tanzania Electric Supply Company and hold different role at the Investment Directorate and Procurement Management Unit. Mkufu has successfully grown from Engineer 1 to a supervisory/leadership role where she serves as Manager Research and Innovations at Tanzania Geothermal Development Company a subsidiary company of TANESCO. Prior to her appointment she also served as Project Manager, Principal Engineer Power Development, Senior Electromechanical Engineer, at TANESCO’s Research and Environment section.
Eng. Mkufu Shabani Tindi is a holder of BSc. Electromechanical Engineering (Hons) from the University of Dar es salaam and a Master’s degree (Msc.) in Renewable Energy from the University of Dar es Salaam, obtained through the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)-UDSM Mobility Programme in the Energy Sector.
Mkufu has attended different National and International Trainings on Renewable Energy, Contract and Project Management and Leadership. Her Leadership career was further developed through attending Mandela Washington Fellowship, a flagship program of the US Government’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) at the University of California Davis (UC Davis) in 2018.
At her personal space, Mkufu works tirelessly to create opportunities for women to thrive in the energy sector and ensuring that their contributions are recognized and valued in the pursuit of a more sustainable world. She is the founder of Women in Energy and Climate Action (WIECA), non-governmental organizations dedicated to empowering women to lead the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon energy future and provide advancing innovative solutions. The organization provides capacity building and mentorship for women in the energy workforce and technical assistance for communities to implement sustainable energy and climate action initiatives.
In additional to her role in the energy sector, Mkufu is driven by her passion to see more women excel in the Engineering Career by involving herself in different programmes aim at bridging the Gender gap in the Engineering field. She has been working with the Institution of Engineers Tanzania Women Chapter which is responsible for Capacity Building for Women in Engineering.
Mkufu served at IET-WC as a Committee member, Regional representative, Executive Committee Member, Vice Chairperson, later elected as Chairperson in 2018 until February 2021.
Mkufu also dedicates part of her time to Motivating young girls to pursue STEM careers through mentorship programs of FIRST Global Robotics Challenges and STEM in general. She is working with the Internation FIRST Committee (IFC), a US-based non-governmental organization working for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology for secondary school-aged students as the official representative of the FIRST Global Team of the United Republic of Tanzania and Technical mentor since its establishment in 2017.
Further, her efforts in Promoting STEM careers in Tanzania Mkufu works with other International Organizations as well, she is a Member of the Women in Engineering Standing Committee (WIE of the Africa Federation of Engineering Organizations (FAEO) representing Tanzania, a Committee Member for International Network for Women Engineers and Scientist (INWES-African Regional Network, Member of Women in Geothermal (WING) and Member for Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET).
Mkufu believes that Women Engineers can excel and are capable to reach positions that were previously occupied by men through exemplary Leadership in the field and mentorship.