We got to hear from our current Lincoln East President, 
Ibukunoluwa Eunice Salami’s (IBK) journey of growth and transformation. Born and raised in bustling Lagos, Nigeria, she later moved to Benin City in 2014. Her academic path began with a B.Sc. in Systems Engineering, continued with a Master’s in Industrial Engineering, and has now led her to pursue a Ph.D. in Engineering Education Research at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
Alongside her studies, Ibukunoluwa built valuable experience in industry before choosing to shift into academia, where her passion for research and education could thrive. Family dynamics shaped her journey, providing strength and perspective. Today, she focuses her research on engineering education, embodying the transition from industry to academia and showing how personal and professional experiences can come together to create new opportunities.
Our new Rotary President gave an inspiring program about her graduate work that would have implications for us as Rotarians, but more so, for her community back home. Essentially, she is learning to bring an education model and program that would recruit, teach, and prepare potential engineers to work in their homeland . As I heard the presentation, it was a vision to engage local youth leaders to become engineers who would bring that same vision to their community of projects that would enhance the quality of life for everyone. It would bring much needed talent to build and maintain a higher quality of life. Now I have to say that I am not fully aware of details of what this could become. However, if I got excited about the possibilities that this would bring, imagine what potential engineering students and community would experience!
I dream that Rotary International would catch her vision and become involved with scholarship support or direct support for this vision to become a reality. Now how to make it real is to engage Ibk to share her vision and for us to catch it and spread the word and work that this could produce. Imagine what this could become!
Respectfully submitted,
Pastor John Duling, Rotarian from Lincoln East Rotary.