DJ XP - KEEPIN' WANANCHI IN THE MIX

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COMPUTER ENGINEERING
Young expert proves her worth in a man’s world

     With a tool box in her hand, computer engineer Mercy Ayoma patiently waits at the entrance to a client’s company.

     Apparently, operations at the company have come to a standstill because of a computer software problem. When she tells the watchman the purpose of her visit — to rectify the computer problem — he refuses to let her in because he doubts her.

    Instead, he calls the head of information technology department on the telephone. She introduces herself: "My name is Mercy Ayoma from TSkills. I am here to rectify your software problem."

    "Oh! Is this the Mercy I often speak to on the phone?" the man asks. "Where are the two other young men I usually deal with?"

    She responds that they were out of the office and since the problem could not wait, she decided to fill in for them. The two men in question are her juniors! The watchman is instructed to let her in.

   "You try and fix the problem but if you don’t, please call the two immediately," the head of the IT section says.

   Miss Ayoma, 23, gets down to work and in a short while, things are up again. When she leaves, the client is not only impressed but also grateful. From then on, whenever the company has a software or hardware problem with their computers, they insist that she handles it.

   One year earlier, in another incident, Miss Ayoma went to the office of an employee at International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe) to rectify a computer problem.

"What are you doing with a screwdriver in your hand?" he asked.

   Miss Ayoma, is a senior technical operations manager and managing partner at TSkills. Among the 17 computer experts in her firm, she is the only woman. She adds that first-time clients doubt her abilities. For her, the best way to deal with such people is to ask for a chance to prove herself.

   But it is enough satisfaction for her if she boosts a client’s computer processing, storage and communication systems. She says there is a lot of crisis management in her work.

   "You may walk into the office with a work plan, but before you put your bag down, a client calls with an emergency which turns your schedule upside down," she says.

   When the other experts fail to solve a client’s problem, the task is passed on to her as the manager. There are some clients who need IT services round the clock, especially companies whose employees work on night shifts. For this, her company provides an on-site technician or engineer.

   As a pupil and student at St Teresa’s Girls School in Nairobi, Miss Ayoma loved and excelled in mathematics. Initially, she wanted to be a teacher but changed her mind when she got to Form Two. She wanted to be an electrical engineer.

   Her change of heart came after she was challenged by her part time tutor, Mr Tobias Nyakinye, then an electrical engineering student at the University of Nairobi.

   "Although I was good in mathematics, I was not interested in the sciences until he asked me to work hard on them," she recalls.

    She also admired her father, Mr Durrel Ayoma, an electrical engineer. Miss Ayoma scored B in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in 1998 and missed the public university entry mark by a whisker. Disappointed, she went to see Mr Nyakinye, who advised her to study information technology because it would lead her to computer engineering, a specialty in electrical engineering.

   Miss Ayoma joined the Kenya School of Professional Studies for a three-year diploma course in information technology. Because she was good in mathematics, she found the course initially easy. But as it progressed, it became more challenging, especially the programming part; and she began to have second thoughts about it.

   She also felt intimidated because there were only 15 women students in a class of 100. She went for internship at Housing Finance's user support desk.

   "I enjoyed myself during internship as I provided solutions to problems," she says.

   Miss Ayoma returned to SPS for another year for an advanced diploma in information technology. This was followed by a more enriching one-year internship at Icipe.

   "I was exposed to many IT ," she adds.

   Hardware maintenance involves servicing computer parts. Networking deals with connecting of computers in a locality. Web design includes setting sites hosted on the Internet. Software solutions involve designing software to respond to specific needs, implementation and maintenance.

   After leaving Icipe, she went back to her alma mater and enrolled for a degree in information technology. Because she was an advanced diploma holder, she was given credits for a year and one semester.

   After completing her studies, she taught computer programming at Centurion Systems Ltd part-time. Since last year, she has been at T skills, a consultancy firm that specialises in software and online solutions, networking, hardware repair, supply and maintenance.

   The firm provides IT support and training services to small and big companies and institutions. The key clients are African Academy of Sciences, Kenya Traffic Police Headquarters, Industrial Development Bank, Africa Academy of Sciences and the Kenya College of Accountancy.

   Among the company’s major achievement is the development of tailor-made software for cooperative societies, library management and pay roll systems.

   Miss Ayoma says there are many people masquerading as computer experts who do a shoddy job, tainting the image of professionals. She calls for more investment in IT and tax exemptions to enable the country move into the information age.

   She believes that the future is bright for computer engineers and other IT specialists: "Soon, everybody will need a computer for one thing or the other."

   She adds that university graduates employed as analysts, engineers or managers should not expect anything less than a six-figure salary. Miss Ayoma says her job is supposed to be an 8-5 one but she often works extra hours.

Article Source: Standard Newspaper's - School & Career (March 2005)

Miss Mercy Ayoma, the managing partner at TSkills, a computer company. Pic by Martin Mukangu