APWEN, experts seek capacity development for engineers

To accelerate Nigeria’s industrial growth, female engineers have urged stakeholders to encourage industry-focused capacity development for budding engineers, especially students in tertiary institutions across the country.

The President of, the Association of Professional Women Engineers (APWEN), Dr. Elizabeth Eterigho, led the charge at the second edition of the ‘Town and Gown’ workshop organised to mentor undergraduates and post-graduate students.

Speaking at the forum sponsored by Worley Foundation, she said the initiative is meant to bridge the gap between young engineers and the industry, particularly the female engineering graduates and undergraduates in engineering.

The programme was also meant to promote diversity and inclusion projects that impacted communities in the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria.

Eterigho said the forum would create a pool of ‘ready-now’ female engineers for the industry and ground for the recruitment of bright young talents, as well as serve as a mechanism to assist the government to attain Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The keynote speaker and founder, Zeetin Engineering Limited, Azibaola Robert, said engineering, technology and science are the bedrock of development. Robert, a patron of APWEN, urged Nigerians to uphold the spirit of hard work, resilience and creativity.

He said the most important thing is to encourage young engineers to be passionate about the profession.

The Deputy Managing Director, DeltaAfrik, Mr. Tunde Eleshin, advised students who do not believe in working hard to retrace their steps.

According to him, engineering doesn’t grow old because there are always challenges to be solved in society. He charged them to use the workshop to learn, relearn and unlearn things that would aid their growth.

President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Tasiu Gidari Wudi, challenged the students to pay good attention to engineering education as it will enrich their knowledge of the profession.

He commended APWEN for being a force to be reckoned with in the development of science, technology and female engineering in Nigeria. He also pledged continuous support for the association.

The Director, Human Resources and Medicals, Chevron, represented by the Project and Technical Service Manager, Oyindamola Onigbogi, explained that for engineering students to excel in the field, they must develop a positive attitude, be hardworking, have a strong sense of empathy and network in a professional capacity.

Immediate past Rector, Ogun State Institute of Technology, Igbesa, Olufunke Akinkurolere, said there is a need to overhaul the curriculum in engineering courses for polytechnics, technical institutions and tertiary institutions.

According to her, vocational training, and entrepreneurship among others should be part of the curriculum that would help the students to be relevant in town.

The representative of Builders Resource Nigeria Limited, Ezinwa Nwanguma, said engineering entrepreneurship is the process of harnessing the business opportunities in engineering and turning them into profitable commercially viable innovations.

She urged the young engineers to always think big in order to attain the kind of success that they need to become relevant in their profession.