Geoplex Drillteq Limited has upgraded and extended the mechanical, civil and environmental engineering faculty office floors of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) as part of efforts to boost infrastructure and capacity in learning institutions for economic growth.

Speaking at the commissioning of the extended floor at UNILAG yesterday, the CEO, Geoplex Drillteq Limited, Wole Ogunsanya, who is also an alumni of the Faculty, said the choice of the vertical extension of the department of mechanical engineering was borne out of the dire need for adequate office facilities and resources to enhance research and knowledge for the lecturers and students.

“With the students population in the faculty more than three times what it was 36 years ago without major addition to the capacity of the available infrastructures, it is difficult not to imagine the impact on the quality of education delivered to these students of the faculty.

“Without adequate office facilities and resources available to the lecturers, the impact on the quality of education and knowledge for these teeming students of the faculty is even more affected” he said.

He said there are many opportunities to support, give back and contribute to the institution that afforded many of the alumni to achieve great feat, adding that some foreign universities have endowments that run into tens of billions of dollars that afford them to deliver the best education in the world.

Ogunsanya, who linked his achievement to the knowledge he gained from the institution, said many of the research products/services, models and prototypes that the lecturers and students of the engineering faculty have delivered over the years, can have significant economic potentials if adequately supported.

He pledged his company’s commitment to work with and invest in the Faculty, specifically noting that the area of sponsoring specific research with high potential to create economically viable products and services.

“As an engineer with huge interest in applied engineering that has made our company Geoplex, the leader in applied engineering oil and gas services, not only in Nigeria, but the rest of Sub Sahara Africa, we will commit to work and invest with the Faculty for the next three years to sponsor specific research with high potential to create economically viable products and services,” he said.

Ogunsanya encouraged the Faculty and Alumni leaderships to pay significant attention to these research opportunities and be bold in attracting applicable investments.

He said the potential to create products and services in the Faculty and the Uiversity will enable them have multi-year revenue stream and create a lasting endowment.

He also appealed to the Government to ensure provision of adequate infrastructure across the country for economic growth.

In her remarks, the Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, commended the company and the Alumni, saying this infrastructure will add value to the students academic pursuit.

She said Alumni supporting the Engineering Faculty is vital to providing an enabling environment for students to thrive, especially as the course is essential to infrastructural development in the economy.

“The Alumni has done a lot to improve infrastructure in the institution. The current infrastructure caters for 10 times the number of students it used to caterer for. Funding from the government has dwindled a long time ago, the contribution of Alumni is very essential in strengthen the education system,” she said.