Urinrin Otite, a Nigerian scholar from Delta State, has etched her name in history as the first-ever graduate of the Master of Science in Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience programme at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, USA.
This programme, introduced just a year ago, is a key initiative of Lehigh’s Center for Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience. Established in 2021, the centre serves as a multidisciplinary research hub dedicated to advancing education and research on the impact of natural disasters, pandemics and other societal crises in the United States.
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Otite’s latest milestone builds upon an already stellar academic record. During her undergraduate years at the University of Port Harcourt, she earned a first-class degree in Civil Engineering, graduating with an impressive CGPA of 4.73 on a 5.0 scale. As the top student in the Faculty of Engineering for the 2012 matriculating class, her brilliance was widely recognised.
Professor Dennis Eme, the former Head of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, recalls her as an outstanding student who brought immense pride to the department and university.
“As the Head of the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at the time, I had the privilege of lecturing some of her classes and often referred to her as Bosco. She showed remarkable problem-solving skills and consistently excelled in exams… Seeing her flourish now makes us incredibly proud,” he said.
“She has always reached for the stars, and her latest achievement shows the depth of her determination and the excellence of her academic foundation. We are delighted to call her one of our own and look forward to seeing her continue to blaze new trails.”
Currently in her fourth year as a PhD candidate in Civil Engineering at Lehigh, Otite completed the 30-credit master’s programme with an outstanding CGPA of 3.83 on a 4.0 scale. She describes this achievement as a defining moment in her academic journey.
“I feel incredibly proud and inspired. Being the first person at my university—and possibly in the entire United States—to receive this degree is an achievement I’ll cherish throughout my career. Learning how to model and manage risks related to natural disasters is a skill that few civil engineers possess, and it’s exciting to be one of them,” she said.
In 2017, Otite co-authored a research paper with her final-year project supervisor, Dr. Munachiso Ogbodo, analysing the strength of fibre-reinforced polymers compared to traditional steel-reinforced beams. Their work was later published in the International Journal of Advanced Research and Publications.
In 2018, Otite was selected as a scholar for the EducationUSA Opportunity Funds Program (OFP), an initiative by the US Consulate in Lagos that provides exceptional Nigerian students with access to fully funded graduate education in the United States. Through this platform, she received multiple offers from top-tier universities including Stanford, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Alabama, Johns Hopkins, and Lehigh, where she ultimately chose to pursue her PhD.
As part of her PhD research, Otite is developing a probabilistic framework to assess how energy infrastructure withstands natural disasters such as hurricanes and storm surges. She hopes to extend existing studies by incorporating renewable energy sources, such as wind turbines and solar panels, into the model.
With her groundbreaking achievements and dedication to resilience research, Urinrin Otite is not only making history but also paving the way for future generations of scholars in catastrophe modeling and civil engineering.
The post Meet Nigeria’s Urinrin Otite, first to earn Master’s in Catastrophe Modeling at US varsity appeared first on Vanguard News.
