The Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria, APWEN, has called on administrators and policy makers, to take seriously, mentorship of young engineers to professional level.
APWEN President, Mrs. Funmilola Ojelade at a news briefing and virtual meeting in Lagos to kick start a four-day conference of the Association said, the mentoring of young engineers is necessary at this period when the world is adjusting to the new normal, occasioned by the current global health challenges.
The 4-day event is an expression of the life-impacting culture of APWEN that will bring together dignitaries from home and abroad.
Ojelade emphasized that the COVID-19 has redefined the way things are done especially in Engineering education which requires that students carry out physical activities in laboratories and workshops.
“We have realised that the Pandemic has given us opportunity to learn a way to have hybrid events, that even when we are gathering, we can have people join us online and participate.
“This is the first virtual event for any engineering body in Nigeria, with some members joining online and others in the hall”.
She stated that the virtual Conference will witness lectures by leading engineers from both the industry and the Academia from Nigeria and abroad.
President, Nigerian Society of Engineers, NSE, Babagana Mohammed, in his remarks applauded the commitment of APWEN to the development of the Engineering society and promotion of enhanced knowledge.
The NSE president represented by Mr. Ayo fanimokun noted that the event is timely, especially in the face of the evolution currently witnessed globally.
“We commend APWEN because they have continually promoted Engineering career, among our school girls. The robust partnerships to mentor our women is highly appreciated. I am highly elated that APWEN has continued to promote the ideals of the society”
Chairman, Nigeria Society of Engineers, Victoria Island branch, John Audu, says the gathering will help bridge the gap between the academia and the reality in the industry.
He expressed the hope that the upcoming female Engineers would help take the profession a step forward, help the continent catch up with the rest of the world, using home grown solutions.
“I want to advice the young boy message to change the the narrative, and up the ante, because we have not really done so much as far as technological advancements is concerned”
He added that “Covid-19 has taught us how things can change so fast, so there must be renewed emphasis on trying to catch up with the rest of the world, they need to think outside the box, we should be enterprising and look in for home grown solutions, they are the most sustainable solutions”.
The theme of the Conference is: The Dynamics of Engineering Education for Sustainable Development.
The sub-themes are: Engineering Policies, Renewable Energy Technology, Waste Management, Strategic leadership and entrepreneurship, sustainable materials processing, Modelling & simulation of engineering design as well as sustainable production systems. Experts in these fields will present papers on these topics..
To declare the conference open is his Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kebbi State, Sen. Abubakar Atiku Magudu, as the distinguished Guest of Honour and the Keynote speaker. He will be giving a keynote address around the theme of the conference.
The opening ceremony is a hybrid event meaning we will have some people attending physically in this hall and others, from all over the world will join via Zoom.
The event will on the 24th of September witness the inauguration of its flagship program, called Town & Gown Mentoring capacity development for young female Engineers.
The program is a bridge between the academia and the industry. Young engineers in this parlance refers to undergraduate engineering students from their penultimate university year up to 3 years post-graduation.
Participants in the event are, the President of the Sierra Leone Institution of Engineers, Ing. Trudy Morgan, The MD/CEO of Siemens Nigeria, Ms Onyeche Tifashe, The Director of Academics at the African University of Science & Technology, Abuja, Engr. Prof. Peter Onwualu, FNSE, who is a former DG of the Raw Materials Research & Development Council, A senior engineer at South Jersey Industries, USA, Ms Adaeze Udeogalanya.
