(Issa Fowai) Sierra Leone, China, Canada - Why Civil Engineering

A young civil engineer’s journey through three continents!

Issa Fowai Sierra Leone, China, Canada Ph.D. student of Civil Engineering The University of Ottawa, Canada July 15, 2020 Hello young people around the world. My name is Issa Fowai, born in Sierra Leone, West Africa, 29 years ago. I spent the last 11 years studying and working in Harbin, China. After my 11 years stay in China, I have come to know how infrastructures can develop an attractive environment for foreign investment. Now, I'm pursuing my Ph.D. in civil in Canada at the University of Ottawa. I have always aspired to become a wellrounded civil engineer with an emphasis on Composite materials (FRP-Composite), concrete structures and offshore wind support structures. I have always found designing structures fascinating. However, my fondness for civil engineering is bolstered whenever I think about how I grew up in a third-world nation and how things work from a different angle. For some countries, it could take more time to construct and develop infrastructures. In our case, this was due to the lack of human power and political and mismanagement situations. Growing up in that setting, I realized as a nation; Sierra Leone needs sufficient energy to facilitate sustainable economic development.

Even though I remain determined and hard-working to succeed in life, I think the best word to truly define my journey through three continents (Africa, Asia and now North America) and transcontinental Russia is either TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OPPORTUNITIES, LUCK, PURE DESTINY. In 2009 while volunteering as a junior staff member at EducAid Sierra Leone, to my greatest surprise, I was offered a scholarship by the Chinese government to pursue my Bachelor's in Civil Engineering at one of China's top engineering institutions, Harbin Engineering University. Adapting to life in China was a challenge and an eye-opening experience for a 19-year-old who had never left his country's shores. Firstly, I had to live in an Ice city called Harbin, where winter temperature can plummet below -35 degrees Celsius and last for about one-third of the year. Secondly, Chinese was the medium of instruction, so it took me considerable time and effort to master the language and mingle conveniently with my Chinese counterparts. The language was fundamental to adaptation. In addition to my academic 1

pursuit, I worked hard on my communication skills and teaching skills, working to be a leader at Harbin Engineering University. In 2015, I had the privilege to serve as the president of the International student body. This job helped me develop and maintain positive relations with international students from different parts of the globe. My time in Harbin made me understand the essence of dialogue and the wisdom of compromising in real-life. The various opportunities and help rendered to me in China and the extra challenges that came along with it also help shape my view about the world. More so, I came to appreciate why we humans should work endlessly to make the world a free and fair society.

I completed my undergraduate in the summer of 2014, focusing on the structural analysis of frame structures and continued a 3-year master's degree, which was completed in 2017. During my graduate studies, I worked on structural analysis of jacket substructures for offshore platforms for wind turbines. Before writing my master's dissertation, I carried out a short-term internship on non-linear finite element analysis at Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Thammasat University, Thailand.

This was my first trip out of China in more than seven years; I had the opportunity to mingle with interns from Australia, Cambodia, Portugal, Russia and Vietnam, all pursuing different academic dreams. Those open discussions with fellow interns make me realize the benefit of cooperation in an academic setting. Personal, my two months stay in the civil department at the Sinrindhorn International Institute of Technology created an enormous contribution to my thesis work back in China. I was able to learn new software and view the thesis question from other researchers' points of view. Upon graduation, I have had the privilege of teaching mathematics to Chinese High school students and engineering mechanics to the first-year international students at Harbin Engineering University. In 2020, I decided to continue my Ph.D. studies in the United States of America or Canada. I was lucky again to acquire a scholarship from the University of Ottawa.

My experience in the classroom and my recognition of the need for change are my real motivations for pursuing a Ph. D. Doing research on fibre-reinforced polymerreinforced concrete structures, FRP, allows me to be a part of the decision making that will continue to occur as engineers transition from steel-reinforced structures to more advanced composite structures from FRP. I would encourage any young civil engineer not to hesitate in taking up an interest in researching these unique materials. These materials, particularly glass fibre-reinforced polymer reinforced concrete, have been used in many projects around the United States, Canada and Japan. These include the peace bridge in Calgary and the Pokemouche River Bridge in New Brunswick. Now, even though the FRP-reinforced concrete has a higher initial cost, the long-term maintenance cost is minimal, making it superior to steel-reinforced concrete in long-term projects.

These relatively new materials, especially the glass-fibre-reinforced polymers, will also limit our dependency on freshwater (we do not want to run out of drinking water) to mix concrete. Since FRP materials are not vulnerable to corrosion, seawater can replace freshwater in the concrete mixture. These are materials for the future in civil. I believe a Ph.D. degree from Ottawa will create a career path in teaching, research and engineering practice with companies around different parts of the world.

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Finally, I firmly believe that any energy-independent nation can thrive in the world for a long time. Climate change from all causes is a real threat to our global village (developed or developing). Energy poverty and climate change will remain crucial issues around the globe if proper investment is not made to facilitate sustainable alternatives. As a proponent of sound energy technology, I am thrilled to be among experts in the nuclear energy discipline to learn the essence of nuclear in solving our growing energy problems. Nuclear is clean energy with the potential to power the world while attaining sustainable development goals. I envision myself developing part of my long-term engineering career in the nuclear industry and cherishing an opportunity to interact with experts in the field to enrich my understanding of this unique source of energy.

Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, China. Issa Fowai leads Student Union discussions with Heads of Departments.

Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, China. Issa Fowai gives presentation on Africa.

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