About 5,000 students across tertiary institutions in Kwara state are set to be taken through leadership and mentoring programme by Unilorin Renewable Energy Centre in partnership with Science Ambassadors Foundation to foster creativity on students.
Director, Unilorin Renewable Energy Centre UREC Professor Joshua Olaoye, who made the call while briefing newsmen at the Multi-Purpose Hall, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, said the objectives of the programme was to foster creativity in students and encourages resilience, Team Work, knowledge application; teach students problem solving skills; revamp the students’ mindset
Prof. Olaoye said the vision of the Unilorin Renewable Energy Centre was to provide a world class centre of excellence in thought leadership, postgraduate education and innovation management to support research and development in renewable energy.
“The Unilorin Renewable Energy Center in collaboration with Science Ambassadors Foundation SAF will equip graduating students with work ethics to excel in their chosen careers.
“Our goal is to empower graduating students with the right innovative skills. This is wholly based on Ideation which is very crucial to the Innovation Ecosystem.
“The goal is therefore, to take 5,000 students through this leadership and mentoring programme. The students will be taken through these leadership and mentoring programme through virtual interaction and an organized hands on practical session.
“The desire of our Vice Chancellor is to extend the programme to other tertiary institutions in the state and not to limit it to the benefit of our students at the University of Ilorin only.
“It is therefore a town and gown affair where the impact of our activities will be positively felt within our community.
The students are to be grouped into clusters of 100 students per unit with assigned one international and one local mentors.
“Our firm believe is that the coming together of great minds in the community would provide spark of creativity that would have an indelible mark on their development in the state specifically and the country at large.
“We believe that this level of synergy would place Unilorin Renewable Energy Centre UREC and Kwara State on the global educational map and increase investments in the initiative as well as create job opportunities through the ingenuity of our bright minds.
“To Conduct research and development in renewable energy resources in Nigeria, generate alternative power supply and to provide sustainable solution to the known and dire energy problems confronting the nation.
“To improve the quality and scope of Nigerian research and development in renewable energy technologies and to promote and support the development of innovative technologies and human resources to enable a prompt transition to a sustainable energy system.
“Unilorin Renewable Energy Centre is to be the voice of renewable energy research in Nigeria. The centre is to create opportunities to open up new possibilities, new ideas, concepts, approaches and new initiatives in renewable energy development.To support the transition to a sustainable low carbon world, and to offer special support for the overall development of alternative energy generation in terms of informational exchange, propagation of relevant technologies and inter-mediation.
“The Unilorin Renewable Energy Center in collaboration with Science Ambassadors Foundation SAF will equip graduating students with work ethics to excel in their chosen careers.” He said
Speaking on the theme: Innovate Kwara Prof. Olaoye said ” the experiment is to initiate a mass awareness for innovation using electricity generation as a case study. The feat aims to break the stereotype of conventional education which does not task students to ideate solutions for their immediate environment using out-of-lab- materials. This will be demonstrated using improvised materials
“In our bid to host the ‘largest science practical session’ as applied in our everyday lives conducted at a single venue in order to bridge Town and Gown. This will therefore, create an opportunity for University of Ilorin through this programme to achieve the Hackathon Guinness World Record.
“This is a tripartite event which exposes our students to both indigenous and international mentors to come up with brilliant commercially viable ideas that is aimed at improving Kwara State, and overall winners are expected to showcase at the grand finale of Tech challenge in the USA, anchored by Tech Interactive, our Program Partner and lastly set the novel World Record and make our students record holders. We propose to unveil three awards
“The opening and closing of the main event is scheduled to host on the 21st March, 2020at at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State.” He said.
