Logistics Management is one of the integral areas that countries worldwide are focusing on and Bahrain has given substantial importance to it as key part of its ‘National Economic Vision 2030.’
Hence, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if the youths of the country would decide to invest their time and energy in making it as a career choice and at the same time achieve success in this field.
This is exactly what happened to one young woman, Aisha Al Ansari, who did not only get into a logistics programme but also won a prestigious international award for her project on logistics and transport.
“I have always loved to work in areas in which I could play a part in the development of my country and therefore I chose this field because of its promising future,” Ms. Al Ansari told DT News.
Ms. Al Ansari had surpassed all obstacles placed along her way towards achieving her goals and takes great pride in the fact that she has managed to successfully carve a niche for herself in a male-dominated profession.
Ms. Al Ansari is currently a fourth year student, taking up Bachelor of International Logistics Management (BILM) at Bahrain Polytechnic.
She told DT News that while she hopes to work in the logistics sector one day, her real interest is towards the ‘road transportation industry’ and the ‘aviation industry’ as she believes that there is a lot that could be done in adding value to these sectors. And this determined young woman has already established a name for herself at this early, in this field, and showed her contemporaries that ‘nothing is impossible for a person who wills it.’
Project that made an impact
Ms. Al Ansari won an award in October 2013 for the ‘Best Undergraduate Level Project’ on logistics and transport.
Her project was submitted to an accredited tertiary academic institution in New Zealand, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), a professional body representing the transport and logistics industries worldwide.
“The project focused on conducting an applied performance assessment to the outbound operation activities at DHL Bahrain (an operational process of shipments that starts from Bahrain (origin) the Hub and then to other destinations), supported by theoretical hypotheses learned,” Ms. Al Ansari enthused.
She explained that the project was supported by different performance assessment tools to measure the outcomes and deliver the results in a full report after four months duration.
A woman in a man’s world
Ms. Al Ansari stated that while working in the project, she encountered a lot of challenges at first.
“I had faced some problems especially during the time when I was collecting the data and information because of the confidentiality of information or source of the required data not being clear,” Ms. Al Ansari explained.
She added that the most challenging part of her project was having to work in the air cargo field, to learn how the process works and being the ‘only woman’ in the group.
Her Project was nominated for the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Award 2013 by Polytechnic and it was a dream come true for Ms. Al Ansari when it won an award in a ceremony that took place in Auckland- New Zealand, where top logistics achievement by senior professionals and researchers worldwide were recognised.
Before that, Ms. Al Ansari also bagged the titles of ‘The Best Industry Project’ and ‘Intern of the Year’ on the local level.
Remembering that moment, Ms. Al Ansari said, “My efforts had been recognised in one of the most developed countries in logistics and transport arena. I was very proud to be the only Arab representative among the winners and I am so honoured that Bahrain’s flag was on the stage among others during the ceremony.”
Ms. Al Ansari stated that a person should believe in their capabilities and add value into whatever path they choose in life.
“You don’t have to do different things, you can do things differently. Mistakes are the best masters to learn from and always seek guidance when needed,” she concluded.
Mehr Jan/ DTNN