UNILAG VC harps on collaboration to drive innovation, entrepreneurship

The Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe says the institution would welcome more collaboration with the public in a bid to execute projects lined up, to further enhance its productivity.

Ogundipe spoke on the sidelines of the commissioning of the Faculty of Engineering Webinar Room and the Auto Diagnostic and Prognostic Centre on Tuesday in Lagos.

According to him, getting organisations and public spirited individuals to partner with the institution in the area of entrepreneurship, research and innovation remains key to his administration.

”I remember on assumption of office, we organised a dinner whereby I spoke on my key agenda, which is focused on ‘Pick a Project, Pick a Program and Pick a Student.’

”This is in a bid to find more ways in taking the university to its much desired height.

”Today, we are here to showcase what the university is doing in that respect. As you can see, we already commissioned the Auto Diagnostic and Prognostic Centre in this faculty.

”It will expose our students to the practical side of the programme they are running, as well as improve on our innovation by our students, in the area of entrepreneurship.

”Like I always say, when you do your research, it migrates to innovation and from innovation to entrepreneurship.

“If you look at the recent ranking of the most productive universities, UNILAG was ranked the best in Nigeria and third best in Africa. It can only get better with more collaboration,” he said.

According to him, the Centre was developed from the institution’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

He said that the university Council had approved certain funds that should go to faculties.

”So, what the Faculty of Engineering did with their own fund is what we are witnessing today. We partnered with an alumnus of the university, Nenis Foundation, and our students have been visiting her workshop for practical training, that is, Industrial Training (IT).

”So, what she has now done is to bring the workshop to the university for students to have same practical experience,” Ogundipe said.

According to the don, the project will impact on the institution’s entrepreneurship drive.

He, therefore, encouraged the students to show more interest in that field and in the area of Innovation.

”We have a whole lot of innovation hubs that are coming up and so we want to assure that we are going to continue to lead in this area,” the VC said.

On the the other project, the Webinar Room donated by the 1999 set of students of the Faculty of Engineering, the vice chancellor noted that he was convinced it was conceptualised before the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic.

“So, what I can say about this is that these set of students are very proactive and through this space, our students will be able to receive lectures from other universities around the world as well get exposed to practicals within and outside the university.

“In the industry too, they will be able to interact. The direction the world is going now is in the area of hybrid system of teaching,” he said.

The VC said that already, the Lagos Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as an alumni of the university, had continued to show support to his alma mater.

He cited the equipping of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu Geometric Research Laboratory, at the Department of Surveying and Geoinformatics.

According to him, the laboratory has been equipped with 85 systems and accessories, and the development will impact on teaching and learning in great measures.

The Dean, Faculty of Engineering of the university, Prof. Funsho Bolade, described the various projects as a welcome development, being relevant to knowledge acquisition and dissemination.

He said that the Auto diagnostic centre was for students from the various arms of engineering, such as Mechanical, Systems Electrical and Electronics among others.

According to him, with the centre, students would be able to diagnose issues on vehicles accurately, as well as proffer solutions to them.

Mr Laolu Oguntuyi, Head of Operations of the Nenis Auto Care, said partnering with the university was a privilege.
He said that with the centre, vehicle users around the institution may not need to look elsewhere to get issues with their vehicles resolved.