By Stefanie Koperniak
After graduating from the prestigious University of Port Harcourt with a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering, Rita Uganden-Teryila worked in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria for six years. She eventually felt a sense of restlessness and a desire to gain new skills and perspective to approach her work in different ways—working beyond just a series of tasks and considering the complexity and interdependence of systems.
“I wanted to learn more and gain a deeper understanding, so I could approach problems correctly, right from the beginning, instead of firefighting,” she says.
When she was first researching potential graduate programs, she quickly determined that System Design and Management was an ideal option. While other programs offered more of a singular, specific focus, such as pharmaceutical science or chemical engineering, the SDM program encompasses all industries.
“SDM was the only program that I saw that offered something multidisciplinary and really focused on building complex systems and making connections between the many different components that make a system,” says Uganden-Teryila. “For me, it wasn’t just about coming to graduate school. It was about filling a knowledge gap that I needed to move to the next level in my life.”
She completed the first semester of SDM remotely from Nigeria, arriving at the MIT campus for the spring semester. She is slated to graduate in May 2026, and her goals beyond graduation extend back to her reforming energy practice back in her home country.
“My overall goal is to be able to work in the energy sector of Nigeria—to be able to help shift the way we think about energy,” says Uganden-Teryila.
She appreciates that the SDM program is designed for students with industry experience, and beyond some required core classes, students are able to explore. Her favorite part of the program has been the ability to “try so many different things,” including taking classes in analytics and data science, as well as in product development. She has greatly valued the diversity of other students’ interests and expertise, and also the strong support from the faculty.
For her internship, Uganden-Teryila spent three months interning for Apple as part of a data engineering team, strategizing how best to intentionally integrate AI into everyday operations. She found it a valuable experience to collaborate with her team and approach questions of how best to implement technology through a systems perspective.
Now working on her thesis, she is focusing on how to best apply systems thinking to Nigeria and areas of the world with similar challenges.
“For my thesis, I’m thinking about countries that face issues of energy accessibility, and energy poverty,” says Uganden-Teryila. “Although [in Nigeria] we have an abundance of energy sources, such as oil, gas, and sun, we are yet to extract this in a way that meets the criteria of affordability and accessibility for residents. I’m trying to identify the systems involved and understand how an energy-rich country can end up energy-poor at the end use.”
She says her research involves a thorough look at many different, interconnected systems, including government, infrastructure, technology, and people.
Beyond her thesis and her time at SDM, she hopes to return to Nigeria and build a startup that would improve how waste management is handled, addressing various infrastructure and societal factors. She would like to help shape government policies as well, and, ultimately, improve Nigeria’s energy sustainability, actively working toward a goal of net zero.
“I have spent so much of my life in Nigeria, I know it so well and therefore am well-suited to tackle problems there,” says Uganden-Teryila. “The knowledge and connections I’m gaining through SDM are providing me with a real opportunity to think about my home country and make an impact there.”
