IEEE Smart Village Ambassador named Fellow Engineer in Zambia
Likonge Makai was selected as a Fellow in the Engineers in Zambia society. She is one of only 20 women in the country honored as a Fellow in the organization.
By Dan Estes
PISCATAWAY, NJ –. A significant honor was bestowed upon Likonge Makai Mulenga on International Women in Engineering Day, June 23, 2019. She was named a Fellow in the Engineering Institution of Zambia (EIZ) society. Along with 19 other honorees, Likonge becomes one of twenty females honored by the organization, the first time this has been done in the country. To receive this distinction, a person must have ten years of Engineering experience and have made a “significant contribution to the body of knowledge” in their field. Being named a “Fellow” is the highest level of recognition the EIZ bestows.
Likonge has been employed as the manager of electrical and instrumentation in the Nchanga Concentrator of the Konkola Copper Mines since 2017. She is also an IEEE Ambassador, having founded, in 2014, LiChi’s Community Solutions, Ltd., a Smart Village-sponsored company that provides solar power to off grid communities in Zambia.
Likonge has her Masters’ degree in Planning and Operations of Energy Systems, with specialty in Renewable Energy from Kathmandu University, and her bachelors’ degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, specializing in Electrical Power Systems from Copperbelt University.
Likonge has been recognized as a leader in her field before, and has been featured on Zambian and Seattle King5 television. In 2017, she was interviewed on Zambian station ZNBC1 on the program, “Living the Dream”. In 2015, she was featured on King5 TV News interview on “Building Micro Grids in Rural Africa” in Seattle WA, USA. She also won the 2018 PUSH Women’s Award for the Engineering Sector and got conferred EIZ Fellow in April 2019.
Likonge has been instrumental in using solar power as a foundation for change in her home community of Shikwakala in Lukulu, Western Province and Filibaba in Chingola, Copperbelt Province. Some of her projects include construction and installation of energy kiosk solar power station, distribution of solar home systems, solar home lighting kits, empowering community women groups with garden inputs, and sewing uniforms for early child education for Filibaba community and Kamita schools.