Emily Orwaru (born 1988) is a Kenyan

aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

, who works as an aeronautical planning engineer, at

Kenya Airways Kenya Airways Ltd., more commonly known as Kenya Airways, is the flag carrier airline of Kenya. The company was founded in 1977, after the dissolution of East African Airways. Its head office is located in Embakasi, Nairobi, with its Airline hu ...

, the country's national airline.

Background and education

Orwaru was born in

Nyamira Nyamira is a town in Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the ...

Nyamira County Nyamira County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. Formally a district, Nyamira was hived off Kisii District in 1989, and it shares a common boundary with what was known as Nyamira District. The main cash crops grown are banan ...

, about , by road, west of

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, the capital and largest city of Kenya. At the age of nine, she suffered from a bout of

tonsillitis Tonsillitis is inflammation of the tonsils in the upper part of the throat. It can be acute or chronic. Acute tonsillitis typically has a rapid onset. Symptoms may include sore throat, fever, enlargement of the tonsils, trouble swallowing, and en ...

, which left her deaf in the right ear. Later, she was diagnosed with

keratoconus Keratoconus is an eye disorder in which the cornea, the transparent front part of the eye, gradually thins and bulges outward into a cone shape. This causes distorted vision, including blurry vision, double vision, increased nearsightedness, ...

, an eye condition characterized by thinning of the

cornea The cornea is the transparency (optics), transparent front part of the eyeball which covers the Iris (anatomy), iris, pupil, and Anterior chamber of eyeball, anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and Lens (anatomy), lens, the cornea ...

in both eyes. She has to wear rigid

contact lens Contact lenses, or simply contacts, are thin lenses placed directly on the surface of the eyes. Contact lenses are ocular prosthetic devices used by over 150 million people worldwide, and they can be worn to correct vision or for cosmetic ...

ed to correct the problem. After attending elementary and high schools in Kenya, she benefited from a scholarship by the

government of Russia The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...

, to attend Samara State Aerospace University, in

Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, where she studied

Aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a college graduate majoring in an engineering discipline at a higher education institution. In the United Kingdom, a Ba ...

(BEng) degree in 2009.

Career

In June 2014, she was hired as an

aircraft maintenance technician An aircraft mechanic, aviation mechanic or aircraft maintenance technician (AMT) is a tradesperson who carries out aircraft maintenance and repairs. AMTs inspect and perform or supervise maintenance, repairs and alteration of aircraft and aircr ...

, working in that capacity for six months until December 2014. Later, she was promoted to her present position of aeronautical planning engineer.

Other achievements and activities

In October 2017, Orwaru was named among the "Top 40 Under 40 Women in Kenya 2017" by ''

Business Daily Africa ''Business Daily Africa'', commonly known as ''Business Daily'', is an English-language daily business newspaper published in Kenya. The newspaper is published by Nation Media Group from its headquarters at Nation Centre on Kimathi Street in Nair ...

'', an English-language business daily newspaper, published by the

Nation Media Group Nation Media Group (NMG), formerly known as East African Newspapers (Nation Series) Ltd, is an East African media group based in Kenya and listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. It is owned by Aga Khan IV. History NMG was founded in 1959 by A ...

. She is involved in a community-based economic development group in Nyamira, her home village. She is also a member of a cancer support group called Faraja Cancer Care.Faraja Cancer Care
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orwaru, Emily 1988 births 21st-century Kenyan engineers Kenyan women Aeronautical engineers Kenya Airways people Samara State Aerospace University alumni Living people People from Nyamira County 21st-century women engineers 21st-century Kenyan women engineers