Technology
By Chinyere Nwachukwu
Lagos, July 9, 2018 (NAN) An engineering student, Mr Abdulhameed Obileye, has called on universities to emphasise practical training in engineering to facilitate Nigeria’s advancement.
Obileye, who studies at the University of Lagos, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
He spoke with NAN on the sidelines of the grand finale of the second edition of the Prof. Ayodele Awojobi Design Competition on Sunday in Lagos.
NAN reports that the competition affords engineering students the opportunity to come together and showcase efforts in research and innovation.
Obileye said that engineering students in many Nigerian universities had the challenge of inadequate practical knowledge.
“We, as Nigerian students, are faced with the issue of too much theory; we must de-emphasise theory, if we want to make our impact felt in the technology world.
“Even the laboratory classes we do involve so much writing; if we are going to spend two hours in the laboratory and 20 hours writing laboratory reports, then we are not doing the right thing.
“The way to go is to resolve the issue of inadequate practical as well as strive to attract the industry to assist our universities with the needed equipment.
“With this competition, we intend to push the boundaries of science and technology in resolving the numerous challenges facing us as a people,’’ he said.
The Director, Research and Innovation, University of Lagos, Prof. Wellington Oyibo, told NAN that the competition was a means of immortalising a late Professor of Engineering in the institution, Ayodele Awojobi.
Oyibo said that the competition had been helpful in harnessing the ingenuity of engineering students.
He noted that the late Awojobi was an innovator at a young age.
According to him, there was the need to stimulate students to think about how they can tackle everyday challenges.
“The interesting thing about the competitors is that they are all undergraduates.
“We recognise the development of human capacity; we know that these students have the capacity to be part of the challenge resolution process.
“Oyibo said that the Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe administration in the university gave priority attention to research, innovation and entrepreneurship.
“The goal of all these revolves around our students; the platform is expanding to see that students’ innovative ideas are managed.
“The essence of this competition is to see how creative their minds can be and how they can think and what value they can create in the system in terms of bringing solutions to challenges,’’ Oyibo said.
Dr Bola Ajayi of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Lagos, said that the competition was to build manpower that Nigeria could use to diversify from oil.
“We will want to build our own Bill Gates and other great innovators that will have international reputation,’’ he said.
He called for encouragement of such competitions by investing much in research and innovation.
NAN reports that a team from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, showcased a prototype of tomato processing and storage system with zero energy cooling system, at the competition.
The University of Lagos team exhibited a prototype of security alert system.
At the maiden edition of the competition, a team showcased an analogue mobile health monitor. (NAN)
CCN/IGO
========
Edited by Ijeoma Popoola