Urinrin Otite, a Nigerian, from Delta State, has made history by becoming the first-ever graduate of the Master of Science in Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience programme at Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, United States.
With a legacy of academic excellence and groundbreaking achievements, Urinrin Otite is not just a scholar, she is a trailblazer contributing to the future of catastrophe modeling and resilience, and she is Nigerian.
About Catastrophe Modeling
The prestigious programme, which was approved just a year ago, is part of Lehigh’s Center for Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience—a multi-disciplinary research hub established in 2021 to advance education and research in modeling the impact of natural disasters, epidemic and other social crisis in the United States.
Urinrin Otite’s records of academic excellence
This is not the first time Urinrin has achieved remarkable academic excellence. While studying at the University of Port Harcourt, she earned a first-class degree in Civil Engineering. During the rigorous five-year program, Urinrin achieved a CGPA of 4.73 on a 5.0 scale, earning her the title of Best Graduating Student in the Faculty of Engineering for the 2012 matriculating set. The former Head of Department, Professor Dennis Eme, recalls her as an excellent student who has made the department and university very proud with her recent achievement.
“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.”
“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,” he said.
Urinrin, a fourth-year PhD student in Civil Engineering at Lehigh, earned the master’s degree after completing the 30-credit requirement with a remarkable Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.83 on a 4.0 scale. She describes this achievement as one she’ll “cherish throughout her career.”
“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, Urinrin authored a paper with her final year project supervisor, Dr. Munachiso Ogbodo based on their study comparing the strength of fiber-reinforced polymers and that of traditional steel reinforced beams. The paper was published in the International Journal of Advanced Research and Publications. Dr. Ogbodo says Urinrin was an “exceptional student”, and he is not surprised about her latest achievement.
“I’m not too surprised but obviously very happy as she’s remaining consistent in her academic excellence”
In 2018, Urinrin was selected as a scholar for the EducationUSA Opportunity Funds Program (OFP), an initiative by the U.S. Consulate in Lagos that helps outstanding Nigerian students access fully funded graduate education in the United States. Through this program, she secured multiple admissions to top institutions, including Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Alabama, Johns Hopkins University, and Lehigh University, where she ultimately chose to pursue her PhD.
Representative of EducationUSA describes Urinrin as active member of her cohort
Chinenye Uwadileke, a representative of EducationUSA described Urinrin as an active member of her cohort, contributing to the program by mentoring the next class of scholars.
“Urinrin was an active member of the 2021 EducationUSA cohort. She contributed to both virtual and in-person sessions, sharing resources with her peers. Following her enrolment at Lehigh University, she volunteered to mentor the next cohort of EducationUSA scholars.”
“Her presentation on securing external fellowships was the highlight of our 2022 bootcamp, reflecting her commitment to academic excellence and community service.”
As a PhD student at Lehigh, Urinrin is currently working on a probabilistic framework to assess the resilience of energy infrastructure to natural disasters such as storm surges and hurricanes. She hopes to expand existing research by integrating renewable energy sources, including wind turbines and solar panels, to the proposed framework.
Exploring uncharted waters
However, stepping into this field came with challenges, because disaster risk modeling is largely unexplored in Nigeria, as we are not prone to natural disasters. Reflecting on the transition, she says she has been challenged to step out of her comfort zone – structural design – to explore more computational leaning analysis.
“Before coming to the U.S., I had minimal exposure to hurricanes or earthquakes—let alone advanced techniques for modeling them. So, it was challenging to step out of my comfort zone and learn subjects such as Data Science, Actuarial Mathematics, and Probabilistic Modeling—areas not typically emphasized in civil engineering graduate studies. Yet, this challenge turned out to be incredibly rewarding. Today, I’m thrilled to say I’m the first graduate of this trailblazing program.”
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Despite these challenges, Urinrin credits her master’s program in Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience for equipping her with the technical knowledge and analytical skills essential for her research.
After earning her PhD, Urinrin envisions a future where she will apply the knowledge gained from all her degrees to drive innovation in disaster risk management through more resilient infrastructure development.
“Ultimately, I plan to transition into the industry, where I can merge my civil engineering expertise with cutting-edge Catastrophe Modeling techniques. I believe this combination will be invaluable for developing more resilient infrastructure and better disaster risk management strategies. In the future, I want to continue innovating in this field to help communities build and maintain safer, more sustainable environments.”
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