From Congo to Columbia, Engineering Grad Perseveres for Her PhD
Daniela Bushiri, NJIT Class of 2021, has not been in the U.S. for long – about five years. In that time, she graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in chemical engineering, a minor in Applied Mathematics, and is now taking her talents to Columbia University in the fall where she will research alternative energy in pursuit of a Ph.D. She is an Albert Dorman Scholar, a McNair Scholar, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, and a member of the National Society of Black Engineers.
Bushiri moved with her family from Congo to South Africa in 2000, then to Elizabeth, N.J. in 2016. In South Africa, she saw electricity shortages resulting from an unstable grid overly reliant on coal.
“I want to look into ways to improve our systems to provide energy to a growing population,” said Bushiri, who began research into energy at the Reactive and Energetic Materials Laboratory at NJIT. “There wasn’t a lot of research about renewable energy on campus, so I started researching the fundamentals of energy.”
As an undergraduate, Bushiri grew fascinated with the potential of aluminum as a fuel replacement. The element stores a remarkable amount of energy, has low-temperature reactivity, low ignition temperatures and fast burn times. Bushiri and her colleagues tested composites containing aluminum using electron microscopy, thermal analysis and custom ignition and combustion experiments.
"I want to look into ways to improve our systems to provide energy to a growing population."
Bushiri can rest easy now that she’s graduated and on her way to a prestigious doctoral program close to her family. But it wasn’t always that way. Bushiri was born into civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As refugees, her family fled to South Africa where she later earned a full scholarship to the University of Cape Town – one of the best on the continent. Through a United Nations program, her family was then relocated to the United States.
The same qualities that got her a full-ride scholarship in South Africa were equally valued here. Bushiri would soon attend the Albert Dorman Honors College at NJIT and receive scholarship from the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, a federal initiative to promote Ph.D. achievement for students from groups historically underrepresented in higher education. Most recently, Bushiri was awarded the highly prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, which fully funds three years of postgraduate research.
By the end of Bushiri’s time at NJIT, she racked up over 15 awards and merits, including the Madame Mau Outstanding Female Engineer by the Newark College of Engineering in 2021, interned at two fortune 500 companies, and published in a research journal.
“I had my life planned out. With the opportunity the U.N. gave us, it made sense to leave that behind,” said Bushiri. “Before leaving South Africa, I was feeling very uncertain about life in the U.S. We didn’t know anyone. When I got here, I was very distressed because I didn’t know if I would be able to go to school or fulfill my dream of pursuing my education. I didn’t know what America would be like.”
Like so many people, especially those displaced from their homeland, she lacked money, which is further distressing and isolating. She even took a year off from school to work while missing friends and family back home. Over time, the feeling of rootedness and ‘home’ begins to float.
“I always feel like I don’t belong anywhere because home is home,” said Bushiri. “I didn’t get to grow up in the Congo. A part of me feels like a large part of my identity that I don’t understand that I want to understand. I wasn’t given the opportunity to grow up in my home.”
Obstacles in her path never vanished, only changed. NJIT required one of her biggest adjustments. She was used to studying alongside Africans she could relate to. Suddenly she became a fish out of water.
“I learned a lot about Americans and everything that has happened here,” said Bushiri. “The first few semesters were quite a shock, but not in a bad way. You learn and understand people better.”
Family, friends and faith kept Bushiri going through it all.
“I kept faith in God to see me through and help me achieve my dreams. Being able to graduate without debt is a blessing,” said Bushiri. “I made the most of the opportunities and used all my obstacles as a motivation to achieve beyond my greatest dreams. I also made a lot of friends along the way.”
When moving fast, it can be hard to look back. Best keep your eyes on the road ahead and look for the signs. Hopefully that path leads home, whatever that is.
