I had to overcome challenges throughout my PhD journey

The Five D’s – Discipline, Dedication, Determination, Diversity, and Direction—allow one to overcome any obstacle and succeed. After all the late-night hard work and my family’s continuous support and encouragement, I finally earned my PhD from the University of the South Pacific.

Higher education and achievements come with obstacles at every stage, and they demand focus, prioritization of goals, balancing career and family life, and perseverance until you achieve your goal. After all, you become a strong person with compatible research skills and ideas. The biggest challenge was during the COVID-19 pandemic, when we could not access the laboratory facilities.

My PhD research was based on ocean energy, particularly “Marine current energy.” More research and development in ocean energy and renewable energy are pillars for the Pacific island countries in achieving sustainable development to meet energy demands. Developed nations have the utmost focus and research in ocean energy to sustainably produce energy and mitigate climate change.

I had enormous support from the Head of the School of Information Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Physics (STEMP), USP, my project supervisors, colleagues, and friends.

“Believe you can, and you’re halfway through.” Love what you’re doing. Small efforts repeated day in and day out lead to success.