Down to earth but very brilliant, young engineer reflects on her experience at her first work station
Nyaguthii Maina is a mechatronics engineering graduate from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).
She is passionate about the development of design solutions in engineering. Her childhood dream was to become a pilot but her parents were not keen about that. She therefore decided to pursue aeronautical engineering. Nevertheless, since the course was not being offered locally, she opted for mechatronics engineering.
She was not disappointed. “I really enjoyed studying mechatronics engineering since it gave me an opportunity to sharpen my creativity,” she says.
Opportunity
She learnt about the job opportunity at Adrian through one of her WhatsApp groups. “The advert was eye catching and I therefore decided to try my luck,” she says. Before long, she was invited for an interview and she was successful. To start with, she underwent an intensive training programme for one month. One of the sessions was in personal development and she learnt how to develop her personal goals, vision and core values.
She also learnt how to work with various types of personality including: driver, expressive, amiable and expressive.
According to her, the driver walks ahead of the park and shows people the path that they should take. The analytical person on the other hand is meticulous and looks critically at the nitty-gritty of the situation at hand. An amiable person is a very good team player, easy going and kind hearted.
Lastly, expressive people are very energetic and they foster friendships easily. The other training sessions were on the importance of product knowledge and understanding the target market.
Team leader
“In my team, two members are analytical, the third one is a driver and the fourth is amiable,” says Nyaguthii. “I have therefore taken time to learn the dynamics of this group so that none of the members may feel unappreciated,” she adds.
She is the team leader of the managed services division technology ambassadors at Adrian Group. Her role is to ensure that the team meets its target and to facilitate bonding sessions among the members so that they can be focused. She also ensures that her team interacts closely with the other two. They work closely with both the construction and fibre division teams so as to enhance an exemplary experience for the customers. Leadership within this team is on a rotational basis. “We want everyone to experience what leading a team entails,” Nyaguthii says.
Nyaguthii’s personal vision is to be a source of inspiration to her colleagues by making their lives easy and comfortable.
Her core values on the hand are ambition, adaptability and responsibility. She is planning to enrol in a masters degree in mechatronics engineering in order to grow her career. In the same breath, she is looking forward to mentoring young ladies pursuing the course as a way of giving back to the society.
The young graduate acknowledges the effort of the Adrian Group’s management to train her ( together with her twelve colleagues) as an entry point to the ever competitive labour market. “This is an invaluable springboard for young female graduates keen on growing their careers and playing a key role in the socio-economic development of our country,” she happily ends.
Nyaguthii at a glance
Diary: She wakes up at 4.30 am, meditates, prepares herself and takes breakfast.
At 8.00 am, she reports to work, holds a meeting with her team and sets the tasks for the day;
Hobbies: Baking and reading. She is currently reading ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ by James Herriot;
Favourite dish: Coconut rice with minced meat or chicken.
