UNEP OzonAction would like to express its deepest sympathy and condolences for the passing of Dr. Charity Maeleera Kpabep, a refrigeration engineer from Nigeria, who worked with UNIDO as an expert for a Montreal Protocol project since 2019.
Dr. Kpabep's invaluable experience as a woman working in the field of refrigeration was one of the bright stories featured by UNEP OzonAction and UN Women booklet, ‘Women in Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning (RAC) Industry – Personal Experiences and Achievements’ published in 2019.
The passing of Dr. Kpabep is indeed a great loss to the RAC industry and the Montreal Protocol community, however, she leaves behind a good track record that will serve to encourage and inspire other women to pursue a career path in this important and fast-growing sector.
Below is Dr. Kpabep's story featured in the booklet 'Women in RAC Industry.'
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My career in refrigeration and air-conditioning began when I gained admission to the Federal Technical College Yaba in Lagos and subsequently passed the West African Examinations Council examination in (technical) refrigeration and air-conditioning in 1986.
I was employed by the Rivers State Government to teach refrigeration and air-conditioning theory, science and practicals in the Government Technical College, Port Harcourt, from 1997 to 1989. In 1989, I gained admission to study mechanical technology, which embraced refrigeration and air-conditioning. After graduating, I was employed in 2004 by Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori, to teach refrigeration and air-conditioning. During my employment here, I was given the opportunity to further my education. Hence I did an MSc in Industrial Education (Mechanical Option) and a PhD in Industrial Education (Mechanical Technology). From 2004 to the present I have been teaching refrigeration and air-conditioning at the polytechnic level.
I have supervised several student projects in refrigeration and air-conditioning, a few of which include design and fabrication of an ice block making machine, design and fabrication of a mobile cold room, design and fabrication of a fruit preservative refrigerator, and design and fabrication of a dual-powered refrigerator.
From 1996 to 2000 I also served as an external examiner in refrigeration and air-conditioning for the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB). My passion for refrigeration and air-conditioning motivated me to register as a maintenance contractor. Consequently, I was given the opportunity to maintain the oil movement central air-conditioner in the Port Harcourt Rewning Company at Alesa-Eleme on several occasions. I also maintained split and window air-conditioners for hotels. One of the repairs carried out at the Port Harcourt Rewning Company indicated that the unit was abandoned because of the level of contamination in the system. However, because of my expertise, I was able to rehabilitate the central air-conditioner.
I participated in a good practices refrigeration workshop in 2006 and served as a member of the committee that compiled the Training Manual on Good Practices in Refrigeration. I also took part in a hydrocarbon refrigerant workshop and a recovery and recycling training workshop in 2007 and a hydrocarbon refrigerant technology workshop in 2013. All participants in the above workshop were drawn from polytechnics in Nigeria and were given training equipment for training refrigeration practitioners in Nigeria. This training lasted from 2009 to 2010. A total of 11,000 technicians were trained in the country. An assessment of training centres was conducted for quality of training and I won the Best Trainer Award in 2010.
I was motivated by that award and consequently wrote a proposal through my Rector in 2011 to the Environment Commissioner in Rivers State for the creation of recovery centres to enable the trained technicians in Rivers State to fully install, repair and commission refrigeration systems without emission of ozone-depleting refrigerants into the atmosphere. The result was that the Permanent Secretary of Rivers State Ministry of Environment requested that I should train the environmental inspectors in the Ministry of Environment. With the assistance of Rivers State Polytechnic (now Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori), I was able to train 35 inspectors who were expected to do a follow-up on the technicians when the proposed recovery centres had been established. Unfortunately, my dream of recovery centres was never realized.
