NFE scholarship recipient Rickel Williams is creating a promising future in Jamaica
OUR FOUNDATION
Meet Rickel,
NFE Foundation scholarship recipient
Rickel Williams has always enjoyed being creative and doing hands-on work, whether drawing or trying out new cooking recipes.
Today, she has turned that love for hands-on creativity into a promising career. She’s a Junior Civil Engineer at CEAC (Civil, Environmental, and Coastal) Solutions, supervising the operations and maintenance of CEAC Solutions’ wastewater treatment plants, managing construction, and engineering designs throughout Jamaica.
We’re honored to have played a small part in her journey. Rickel received a New Fortress Energy (NFE) Foundation scholarship in 2017 while she was a senior at The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona campus, where she earned her B.S. degree in civil engineering.
“The NFE scholarship came at a critical time in my final year when I really needed it,” she says, “and reduced the time spent seeking additional funds that I needed for my studies.”
For Rickel, those studies were more than rote learning; they were a passion.
“I love design, the sciences, and technical studies,” she says, “and the diversity and application to our environment and infrastructure that civil engineering affords. Designs for water and wastewater treatment plants are vital to society, as water use and reuse have gained increased importance, and I wanted to actively participate in that.”
Rickel urges other budding engineers to steadfastly pursue their dreams, regardless of the apparent obstacles.
“You can do whatever you want,” she counsels. “Never give up. Engineering is such a vast field of study that decreases day-to-day monotony, while providing many job opportunities worldwide. It was originally male-dominated, but more women are entering and excelling in the field.”
She knows first-hand that money doesn’t have to be an insurmountable hurdle, either.
“Seek scholarships, not only from the institution of learning, but from external sources as well,” she says. “No matter how small the value of a grant or scholarship, apply, because it all adds up in the end. Also, actively participate in co-curricular activities and professional organizations to enable networking with experts in the industry and the application of the field of study in real life.”
That persistence will come in handy as Rickel continues to work toward her own goal of completing her master’s degree and earning her license as a Professional Engineer. We know she will do it, and we wish her all the best!
