Ngalula Sandrine Mubenga is a Congolese Engineer and Assistant Professor at the University of Toledo. Mubenga was born in Kinshasa and is the daughter of a United Nations diplomat. She grew up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Senegal and in the United States. At the age of seventeen she was hospitalised with appendicitis, and needed surgery, but the city had run out of power. This experience inspired Mubenga to become an electronic engineer. Mubenga studied electronic engineering at the University of Toledo and graduated in 2005.
Her master’s research considered hybrid vehicles that included hydrogen fuel cells. In 2011 she became a licensed engineer.Her doctoral research, also at the University of Toledo, involved the development of a bilevel equaliser, and was the first to combine an active and low-cost passive equaliser. The equaliser could be used to extend the battery life of lithium-ion batteries
Her research considers sustainable energy. After earning her doctorate she was appointed as an Assistant Professor at the University of Toledo.
Mubenga founded the SMIN Power Group in 2011, which develops renewable energy solutions for people in Africa. Alongside their work in engineering, SMIN provides financial support to African students who study science and work on initiatives to tackle climate change.
To compliment these scholarships, Mubenga launched the STEM DRC initiative, which looks to encourage African young people to become inspired by science and engineering.
She is the brilliant mind that transformed an electric car into a hybrid car by integrating a fuel cell. The fuel cell is a device that is electrochemical in nature. It then converts hydrogen into electricity. In turn, the vehicle runs using hydrogen and the only ‘waste’ that it releases is water.
At first, the car was travelling at 67km/h but thanks to the hybrid system, the car prototype recorded speeds of up to 191km/h. Additionally, Sandrine has also designed a hydrogen-powered gas station that runs on solar energy.
Awards and honours
Her awards and honours include:
2009 Democratic Republic of the Congo Nkyoi Mérite
2010 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Toledo Young Engineer of the Year Award[9]
2017 Africa’s Most Influential Woman in Business[10]
2018 DesignNews Most Important Black Women Engineers[11]
2018 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Engineer of the Year
Excerpt from
1. Top 7 African inventors: https://afritechnews.com/african-inventors/
2.Wikipedia: Ngalula Mubenga
