Engineering has always been a big part of Mmasi Obi’s life.

“From a very young age, I always knew that I wanted to be in a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) career,” she said.

Mmasi, originally from Nigeria, was one of six daughters who grew up in a family that highly valued education. With the encouragement of her parents, Mmasi explored her curiosity about mechanics and her love for mathematics from an early age, spending hours trying to fix her broken toys or figuring out why the TV remote stopped working.

Eventually, this curiosity led Mmasi to relocate to the United States in 2017 to obtain a degree in mechanical engineering at Wichita State University (WSU). At WSU, Mmasi worked as an applied learning student in The Smart Factory by Deloitte @ Wichita, Deloitte’s immersive experience center and proving ground for next-generation, digitally driven manufacturing, located on WSU’s Innovation Campus. Through her academic work at The Smart Factory, Mmasi helped facilitate tours with leading manufacturers to help them embed new technologies into their businesses and learned the ins and outs of emerging technologies. Before the applied learning program, Mmasi had not considered the many opportunities a career in manufacturing could bring her, including a job at Deloitte.

Mmasi helped support Deloitte’s Believers program, which aims to advance education and workforce readiness skills to help students thrive in the rapidly evolving tech manufacturing and operations sector, along with associated STEM careers. This initiative aims to help resolve the STEM workforce shortage and inspire the next generation of talent—particularly those in Title-1 eligible schools, which are districts with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income backgrounds.

As part of her role at The Smart Factory, Mmasi helped assemble Smart Rover kits—the robotics toys shipped out to schools as part of the program—on the factory’s assembly line. She worked on advancements to the robots, and much more. As someone who is passionate about helping foster the STEM workforce of the future, Mmasi was able to connect her experiences, love of engineering, and ultimately, part of her new career path to making a difference for others.

“Engineering and robotics offer robust career opportunities with competitive salaries and the potential for career growth, which is why I am proud to be part of a program that can help all students—no matter their economic background—access STEM learning.”

Mmasi is passionate about being a role model for others in STEM and believes attracting students who may not otherwise have access to a robust curriculum will bring new perspectives and problem-solving abilities to the workforce. To help do this, she stresses that it’s important to foster interest in initiatives like the Believers program that introduce engineering concepts in early education and promote engineering and robotics as a career field for all.

“I BELIEVE that we all have a responsibility to help create the next generation of smart manufacturing and STEM talent. My experiences have shown me that children can achieve anything—and programs like Believers can be the catalyst that sparks their future aspirations.”