adminFROM Super Steph to Super Sam.
That’s our beautiful story as Zimbabweans and we need to be proud of it.
Two of our women, born on our soil, climbing the ladders of the unique billion-dollar world of Formula One.
It can’t get better than this.
Stephanie Travers was the pioneer when she crashed barriers to become a PETRONAS trackside fluid engineer and, in the process, join the iconic Lewis Hamilton, at one of the leading franchises in Formula 1.
PETRONAS has been the title and technical partner to the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 Team, since 2010.
It provides the Fluid Technology Solutions that power the Formula 1 car.
To get her job, the brilliant Travers had beat more than 7,000 applicants, in a global talent search, to become a PETRONAS trackside fluid engineer.
Those who are in the betting industry will tell you that odds of one to 7000 are like Mission Impossible.
But, in Zimbabwe, we are a people who don’t believe in Mission Impossible.
That’s why our Super Steph beat some of the best young minds to be selected as the candidate they were searching for.
It’s not an easy job, analysing small samples of fluids from the racing cars, which are crucial to monitoring the performance of the vehicle throughout the weekend, and ensuring compliance with race regulations.
Two years ago, she made history when she became the first black woman to stand atop the Formula 1 podium. She told the world it was the realisation of a lifelong dream and love of motorsport and, as a child growing up in Zimbabwe and the UK, Stephanie would join her family around the TV on weekends to watch F1.
This week, another Zimbabwean, Samantha Nyikadzino, joined Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team as an Electronics Design Engineer.
On Monday evening, Super Sam announced, via Twitter, that she had joined the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team.
She is now an integral part of the nearly 1,000 technical staff at Mercedes.
Super Sam has a background in Electrical Engineering, Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, with acquired technical skills through experience working on schematic capture, PCB layout, BOM creation, geber and assembly file generation.
She studied Electrical Engineering at Zimbabwe’s National University of Science and Technology before doing Electrical Engineering again at Cape Peninsula University of Technology and a degree in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of South Africa.
It’s huge for a small country like ours, with just about 16 million people, to be punching way above our weight with our young academics striking such prestigious roles around the world.
It shows once again that we have a very sound education system and shows that we are right to always invest in the education of our people.
As Zimbabweans, we have built a reputation as a people who are very smart and well educated.
Now, the world cannot help but embrace the stars, who continue to come through our productive nurseries, and give them huge responsibilities.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter