Engineers seek improved funding for research

The President of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering, Prof. Peter Onwualu, has urged governments at all levels and the private sector to increase funding support for engineering innovators to commercialise solutions that address societal challenges.

Onwualu stated that at the 2024 Academy Technology dinner, exhibition and awards organised by the NAE in Lagos recently.

According to the Chairman of the National Innovation Committee of NAE, Dr Keluo Chukwuogo, science and technology bring national development to any society.

However, he lamented that efforts in that direction were not adequately celebrated in the fields in Nigeria, whereas they are celebrated in films, art, and culture.

He said, “The NAE feels innovators in the engineering space should be celebrated, possibly seek sponsors, commercialise the products and make money from their inventions; hence, the national innovation competition organised by the NAE.

“The younger generation should not get scared of science and technology but persevere towards making a mark in those fields, the real superstars in any economy are those involved in development in enterprise, engineering, and other sciences.”

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, harped on the efficiency of 5-G technology in aiding the smooth functioning of innovative devices.

He said that the company was working hard to ensure full deployment of the technology across locations to enhance the quality of life and economic development.

Toriola alleviated fears about potential negative health impacts from using the 5-technology, confirming its safety for human health.

The forum attracted 10 best engineering innovation exhibitors, including members of the Queen’s College Lagos Team that developed a robotic device, out of the 108 entries received.

The developers of ‘smart irrigation’, a device that solves agriculture problems, led by Dr Ogidan Olugbenga from Elizade University, Ondo State, came first in the competition and were awarded N10m, while Izumunna Obinna, who developed an intruder safety device, won the prize of N5m in the second position.

Also, developers of BMV-6 ventilator emerged third and were awarded N2. 5m, and Dr lwar Terungwa won $4,000 for the travel fellowship grant award from the NAE.

The president of the institute said the academy believed that the younger generation should drive the process of leading the country to sustainable development driven by technology.

He added that this gave birth to the National Innovation Competition/award started by the NAE to reward people who have been able to find engineering solutions to problems in different sectors of the Nigerian environment.

“Our focus is that each of the projects should lead to scale-up and start-up and we are happy that some corporate organisations have supported this venture.

“We used a set of criteria to evaluate ideas that have promise for scale-up. From 108 applications, we pruned them down to 20 and physically evaluated the 20 innovations through our experienced fellows, bringing the number down to 10, which are solutions that cut across different sectors of the economy,” he said.

He emphasised the need for innovators to assemble materials used in developing devices locally as the only way to reduce the high cost of technology for solving problems in the country.

Onwualu debunked claims that there were no innovators in Nigeria, stressing that the Federal Ministry of Innovation Science and Technology has a yearly tech show in Abuja, adding that the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion in Abuja markets technology development in Nigeria.

He said the NAE was partnering with ministries, departments, and agencies to escalate the innovations to them for possible adoption of the devices.