The Tribune

By Felicity Ingraham

As Beyonce says, girls can truly “run the world” by daring to enter fields dominated by men and doing their best to succeed.  

One Bahamian girl is doing just that by exploring the field of engineering even before she graduates from high school.  

Fifteen year-old Sherrina Abdool was afforded the opportunity to work at Integrated Building Services (IBS) this summer after successfully competing in the IBS Build-a-Bridge challenge.  

Her school, St Augustine’s College (SAC), won the ninth annual Build-a-Bridge challenge, which is an annual bridge-building event for high school students across the Bahamas. Student teams and their science teachers enter the competition free of charge and receive a kit containing the necessary materials to design and build bridges.

Sherrina, who is now entering her final year at SAC, said she was excited to work closely with IBS executives on a variety of engineering projects.

Her interest in engineering was first kindled while she was a student at St John’s College Primary School. Her father was a mentor for the Build-a-Bridge team at that school. She would sit with the club and keenly watch them work in the afternoons while she waited for her father.  

Those afternoons of watching and learning resulted in her joining the team in high school. 

IBS offers high school teams 100 popsicle sticks and school glue with which to design the most sturdy bridge. The bridge which holds the most load without collapsing wins the competition.  

The competition is a lively and exciting one as IBS executives add sand to a bucket, then weights if necessary, to stress the bridge until it can bear no more load. 

It allows the students to learn the importance of design, materials, and other elements when creating structures. The soundness and safety of such structures really come into play when human lives are involved – as the models are translated into real-life structures.  

“I’ve always had a vague idea of what I want to become,” said Sherrina.  

“Engineering is such a diverse field that I can choose to specialise in an area which suits my particular skill set. At the moment I plan to educate myself in the basics of civil engineering and later, as I gain more exposure and knowledge about the various aspects of engineering, select an area in which I have the potential to succeed and aid in our advancement as a nation.”

That’s exactly the kind of mindset that IBS President Nick Dean wishes to see displayed by young students of engineering.  

“We feel that it is a small investment in the future of our country,” he said. 

“Students who participate in the challenge learn the value of teamwork and partnership while gaining an interest in the practical uses of science.”

The event was started in 2008 and continues to be a success because of the private and public sector support, local media support and hard-working volunteers who plan and work at the competition, Mr Dean added.

Sherrina and the SAC team beat out Anatol Rodgers High School for first place, ending that school’s three-year reign as the competition’s victors. She received a two-month internship as one of the prizes for winning the competition.  

Since she became interested in engineering, Sherrina said she has learned about the great strides made by women in the profession and the enormous support provided to girls interested in engineering. 

“The opportunities available to me as a female interested in pursuing a career in engineering have made me confident in my ability to succeed in this profession,” she said.

“My goal has always been to be of service to my community and country, to aid in our progress as a nation. Engineering in all its aspects is a field that allows me to do just that. It is a field that is ever-advancing and strives to improve our quality of life. Being exposed to a discipline so committed to advancement has fostered my interest and has given me opportunities to aid in that advancement as well.”

The SAC team successfully constructed the lightest bridge which held the heaviest load and won the load category. The bridge weighed 0.369 pounds and held a 252.6 pound load. Anatol Rodgers’ bridge weighed 0.3775 pounds and held a load of 202 pounds. The third place winner, St Anne’s, produced a bridge which weighed 0.4015 pounds and held a load of 188 pounds.

Family Island schools made a sweep in the additional category of aesthetics: St Paul’s Methodist of Grand Bahama was the first place winner followed by Central Andros High in second and North Andros High School in third place.

Twenty schools participated in this year’s challenge, which was held at the Holy Trinity Activities Centre. Tenth and 11th grade students from 12 private and eight public schools participated in this year’s competition.

Mr Dean said it brings him much joy to be able to give back to the community by hosting the Build-A-Bridge challenge annually, and his company is excited for next year’s competition, which will represent the 10-year anniversary for the competition.  

The IBS team said it is very proud of the fact that the Build-A-Bridge challenge is endorsed by The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture, the Ministry of Works and Urban Development and the Bridge Authority. 

He encouraged the students to always be committed and dedicated as they aspire to become the future engineers of the Bahamas. He reminded them that “we have a country to build”, and as the professional engineers of future they will be responsible for propelling the Bahamas forward and making the environment structurally safe, and therefore a better place in which to live.