Nigerian Engineering Students: Challenges & Innovation

Oluwatosin Kolade is a first-generation undergraduate student majoring in Mechanical Engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria. He has a strong passion in dynamical systems and control. In time, this has actually broadened to consist of astrodynamics, human-robotic global exploration, area humanoids, biomechanics, and nonlinear systems. At his IEEE pupil branch, he contributed as a Subscription Advancement Staff member, Newsletter Editor, and LinkedIn web page supervisor, while additionally helping organize STEM outreach programs for senior high school students. In 2025, he received 2 prestigious IEEE RAS travel scholarships: one under the SPIRSE program to participate in ICRA, where he joined criteria control and working group meetings, and one more under the IDEA effort to support his attendance at IROS. He desires create the future generation of humanoids that are dynamically, structurally, and smartly optimized for space expedition past our present reach, into uncharted areas, to prepare the method for future human expedition.

Oluwatosin Kolade’s Engineering Journey

We obtained most of our parts by mid-March, and immediately began servicing the drone. We had the structure 3D-printed at a price of 50 naira (roughly United States $0.03) per gram for a 570-gram framework, for a total expense of 28,500 naira (about US $18).

Both males are designers however at different stages of their academic journey: Bainomugisha went to university in the early 2000s and is now a computer science professor at Makerere College in Kampala, Uganda. Kolade remains in his final term as a mechanical engineering trainee at Obafemi Awolowo College in Ilé-Ifẹ ̀, Nigeria. They define the obstacles they deal with and what they view as the path onward for a continent overflowing with aiming engineers however woefully brief on the resources required for a durable education.

With Dr. Ajayi’s authorization, my colleagues and I ditched the “security” component of the drone job and increased the money for developing just the drone, totaling roughly 350,000 naira (around US $249). Along with the drone project, I worked on 2 various other substantial tasks for other courses. The fact is that a trainee’s capability to rack up well in these tasks is usually greatly reliant on financial resources.

Drone Project: Overcoming Obstacles

We understood our drone would certainly be half-baked without the trip controller. Still, offered our semester-ending time restraint, we chose to wage the arrangement of the transmitter and receiver. We made the last connections and evaluated the parts without the trip controller. To guarantee that the transmitter can manage all four blades simultaneously, we examined each rotor separately with each transmitter channel. The objective was to appoint a single channel on the transmitter that would certainly trigger and synchronize all 4 blades, allowing them to spin together during flight. This was important, because without correct synchronization, the drone would not have the ability to keep a stable trip.

Strolling the exhaust-fogged roads of Owerri, Nigeria, Ejimanya, the design dean of the Federal University of Modern Technology, Owerri, brings with him a department’s worth of communications, some transcribed, others on disk. To Ejimanya, broadband suggests lugging a huge bundle of published emails back with him to the college, which regardless of being one of the country’s largest and most respected design colleges, has no reliable means of linking to the Web.

As my team ended up scoping out the preliminary ideas of the drone in CAD designs, we prepared to add money toward executing our concept. We performed a cost analysis and determined to make use of a third-party supplier to assist us order our elements from China. We went this course because of shipping and customs problems we ‘d formerly experienced. Taking the third-party route was supposed to fix the issue. Little did we think what was coming.

In essence, when the globe, consisting of graduate-school-admission boards and industry employers, assesses transcripts from Nigerian engineering graduates, it’s essential to acknowledge that a quality may not fully reflect a student’s capabilities in a provided training course. They can likewise mirror economic restrictions, problems in sourcing devices and materials, and the broader economic environment. This understanding should educate how records are interpreted, as they tell a story not simply of scholastic efficiency yet also of willpower in the face of significant challenges.

Financial Constraints & Project Impact

Everything was going efficiently up until it was time to set up the flight controller– the ArduCopter 2.8 board– with the assistance of a software application called Objective Planner. We labored daily, combing via YouTube videos, on-line discussion forums, Heap Exchange, and various other resources for assistance, all fruitless. We also downgraded the Mission Planner software a number of times, only to find that the board we had actually awaited so patiently was obsolete. It was genuinely heartbreaking, however we could not buy another one since we didn’t have time to wait on it to arrive. And also, getting one more trip controller would’ve set you back an additional amount– 240,000 naira (concerning US $150) for a Pixhawk 2.4.8 flight controller– which we didn’t have.

Next, we transformed to developing the power-distribution system for the electrical elements. We ‘d planned to utilize a power-distribution board to equally disperse power from the battery to the rate controllers and the blades. This improvisation did imply additional costs, as we had to rent out soldering irons, hand drills, warm glue, cable televisions, an electronic multimeter, and other tools from an electronics hub in downtown Ilé-Ifẹ ̀.

When we ultimately sent our project to Dr. Ajayi, the due date had actually passed. He informed us to bill the battery so he can see the drone come active, also though it could not fly. Conditions really did not enable us to buy a battery charger, and we were at a loss as to where to obtain assist with the trip controller and battery.

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With Dr. Ajayi’s approval, my colleagues and I scrapped the “monitoring” component of the drone task and increased the money for developing just the drone, totaling roughly 350,000 naira (approximately United States $249). We needed to lower costs, which meant wandering off away from the original requirements of some of the elements, like the flight power-distribution, battery, and controller board. Otherwise, the expense would have been way extra intolerable.

All of it began when I was appointed a job in machine style at Obafemi Awolowo College (OAU), situated in the heart of Ilé-Ifẹ ̀, an ancient Yoruba city in Osun State, in southwest Nigeria, where I am a mechanical design pupil entering my final year of a five-year program. OAU is one of Nigeria’s earliest and most respected universities, understood for its beautiful campus and style. Some people I know refer to it as the “Stanford of Nigeria” because of the significant variety of brilliant startups it has spun off. In spite of its track record, though, OAU– like every other federally owned institution in Nigeria– is underfunded and pestered by professors strikes, causing interruptions in academics. The lack of financing implies pupils need to spend for their undergraduate jobs themselves, making the success of any kind of project greatly depending on the pupils’ monetary abilities.

Lessons in Resilience and Teamwork

This experience taught me important lessons regarding strength, teamwork, and the harsh facts of engineering forecasts done by students in Nigeria. It showed me that while technical understanding is vital, the capacity to improvise and adjust when faced with unpredicted difficulties is equally as important. I likewise discovered that failing, though frustrating, is not a finishing but a tipping rock towards growth and renovation.

Dr. Oluwaseun K. Ajayi, a specialist in computer-aided style (CAD), machine layout, and systems, offered us the flexibility to pick our final project. I proposed a research project based on a paper entitled “Advancement Simulation Technique for Wheel-Terrain Communications of Room Rovers: An Instance Research on the UAE Rashid Wanderer” by Ahmad Abubakar and coauthors. Dr. Ajayi, a driven and passionate scientist, was inspired by the possible real-world applications of our project.

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In my institution, the needs on mechanical design pupils are remarkably high. In a single semester, I was often designated up to 4 various major projects, each from a various professor. Together with the drone job, I worked on 2 various other substantial jobs for other courses. The reality is that a trainee’s ability to rack up well in these jobs is typically heavily based on financial resources. We are regularly strained with the prices of running countless tasks. The country’s continuous financial obstacles, consisting of money decline and rising cost of living, only worsen this concern.

After the last setup and parts screening, we laid out to evaluate our drone in its last type. A couple of minutes right into the screening, our battery failed. This failure suggested the job had fallen short, and we were unbelievably disappointed.

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Unexpected Setbacks & Solutions

By the time we settled our price analysis and began to gather funds, the price of the components we required had escalated because of an unexpected economic crisis and devaluation of the Nigerian naira by 35 percent versus the U.S. dollar at the end of January 2024. This was the genesis of our trouble.

The plan containing the ArduCopter 2.8 board finally got here from China, bearing the weight of our anticipation. I bear in mind picking it up, the cardboard box weathered somewhat from its trip. As I tore through the layers of tape, it seemed like unpacking a long-awaited gift. As I lifted the ArduCopter 2.8 board out of the box, my heart sank. The board, which was to be the cornerstone of our job, looked broken and old, with noticeable scuffs and bent pins. This was just one of a waterfall of setbacks my team would face.

We were readied to buy the parts from China on 5 February 2024. Regrettably, it was a lengthy holiday in China, we were informed, so we wouldn’t get the elements till March. This brought about strained conversations with Dr. Ajayi, regardless of having briefed him regarding the scenario. Why the stress? Our institution semester finishes in March, and having parts arrive in March would indicate that the task would be long overdue by the time we completed it. At the exact same time, we students had a required academic-industrial training at the end of the term.

It all started when I was designated a project in maker design at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), located in the heart of Ilé-Ifẹ ̀, an old Yoruba city in Osun State, in southwest Nigeria, where I am a mechanical engineering pupil entering my final year of a five-year program. The lack of funding indicates pupils must pay for their undergraduate tasks themselves, making the success of any project greatly reliant on the students’ monetary capabilities.

Is the circumstance any much better 20-plus years on? The short answer is of course. As computer system science professor Engineer Bainomugisha and IEEE pupil member Oluwatosin Kolade testify in the following web pages, there’s still a long way to go.

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As I advance in my education, I plan to use these lessons to future projects, knowing that perseverance and ingenuity will certainly be crucial to getting over obstacles. The fallen short drone task has actually additionally offered me a reasonable peek into the operating globe, where unanticipated troubles and spending plan restraints are common. It has actually prepared me to approach my profession with both a practical frame of mind and an understanding that success typically comes from how well you handle troubles, not just exactly how well you perform strategies.

I fulfilled Ejimanya when I visited Nigeria in 2003 to report on just how the SAT-3/ WASC, the first undersea fiber-optic cord to connect West Africa to the world, was being made use of. If students needed a computer or to get on-line, they went to a Web cafe, their out-of-pocket costs a worry on them and their families.

Tonbra’s group had been intending a robotic arm task till Dr. Ajayi merged our teams and instructed us to function on the drone, with the goal of exhibiting it at the National Space Research and Development Firm, in Abuja, Nigeria. The merging enhanced our group to 25 participants, which aided with the private economic concern yet also indicated that not everybody would actively take part in the task.