Shanna Charlette excels in electrical engineering course |28 September 2020

Ms Charlette submitting his thesis

Twenty-four-year-old Shanna Charlette from La Misère will be taking up a post with the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC) as of today after excelling in an electrical engineering course at the University of Hull in the UK.

Probably PUC’s first female electrical engineer, Ms Charlette emerged with a first class with honours for her master’s degree programme.

Ms Charlette, who only recently returned to the country following her studies, is excited to take up the position and apply her knowledge, in the hopes of further developing her skill set, while also giving back to the community in any way she can.

Seychelles NATION caught up with the brainy beauty for a brief chat about her experience thus far, and future aspirations.

Ms Charlette started her formal education at Mont Fleuri primary and secondary school, before progressing onto the School of Advanced Level Studies (Sals), where she successfully completed A levels in Maths, Biology and Chemistry. Following the successful completion of her A Level training programmes, she joined PUC as a hydrology technician for one-year, involving data collection, recording hydrological data and writing monthly reports to the CEO.
Having set her sights on a career in the medical profession, it didn’t take Ms Charlette long to realise that it wasn’t for her, leading her to change her choice and instead opt to further her studies in control and instrumentation engineering, a branch in electrical engineering. Her further studies at the University of Hull were funded partly by the government of Seychelles and PUC.

“I was always intrigued with electronics and fixing things. I remember once I learned in secondary school how to change a plug and I thought it was so cool. The same night I bought a 3-pin plug and replaced it with a 2-pin plug. It worked and I remember that it made me so happy and I felt proud,” she said.

University was starkly different to academic life and life in Seychelles in general, as Ms Charlette was the only female in her class, and far away from other fellow Seychellois.

“When I got to university, there were only two of us that signed up for the course, so the university decided to put us with the electrical and electronics engineering cohort and changed the syllabus to match ours,” she noted.

“It is quite intimidating because I was the only female on my course. The males are always testing you to see if you can do it. It's what I love to do and I put my mind to it so in the end proved them wrong. A lot of people asked me why I chose this field and my answer is always the same, you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it. The first key to success is confidence and determination”.

Regardless of the male-dominated environment and being faced with discrimination on the basis that she is female at times, Ms Charlette remained focused and determined on her studies, and proving herself to her counterparts.

Her efforts definitely paid off, as she emerged with a first class with honours for her master’s degree programme.

“I have many proud moments. I am immensely proud to have been the only female on my course and to have managed to excel. I have worked so hard for it and did not stop even though I felt like I could not do it. Also, proud to have been chosen by the professors at the university to be a laboratory demonstrator which is a paid position to help guide and assist undergraduates during laboratory in electrical, coding and electronics labs. I am also proud to have been the representative for my course on the engineering society committee and to have represented my country.”

Ms Charlette is grateful to all who have in one way or another supported her throughout her journey and who have inspired her. Her main source of inspiration, she says, is her mother, a strong independent women, who has taught her to depend on herself and to be strong when life gets tough, with her encouraging words “life is not easy but with focus, drive and determination anything can be achieved”.

She is also thankful to her extensive support system which includes former teachers, as well as colleagues at PUC, who she refers to as her ‘PUC family’, or pushing her to follow her dreams and encouraging her throughout.

While she is satisfied with being probably the first female electrical engineer at PUC, Ms Charlette’s absolute dream job is to be researcher for renewable energy field, which involves finding ways and experimenting with new materials, for instance to make the renewable energy field more reliable and efficient.

“A message to all the females out there is that you can achieve anything you put your mind to. Just believe you can do it and you will be halfway there. God is good and put your trust in him. If you need help don't hesitate to ask and also ask as many questions because there is no such thing as silly questions. One saying that kept me going was “a bird that keeps its mouth closed doesn't get fed”. But listening and understanding are also great skills that will help you to move forward,” she said.

“Focus in school and follow your heart. Whatever you want to do in life you can achieve if you put your mind to it. Never give up, if you fail do not be shy to start over again because that’s how you succeed which is learning by your mistakes,” she concluded.

Laura Pillay