By: Tunde Olofintila
Thirty-seven Engineering students of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, arrived in China over the weekend on a 20-day Advanced Practical Training in Intelligent Manufacturing and Control Technologies under a Student Exchange Partnership with Zhejiang Polytechnic University of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, ZUME, Hangzhou, China.
Accompanied by the Provost of the University’s College of Engineering, Prof. Moses Femi Onibonoje and Dr. Imhade Princess Okokpujie, an Associate Professor of Mechatronics, the trip by the 400-Level is a further concretization and realization of the dream and vision of the Founder & Chancellor of ABUAD, Aare Afe Babalola, OFR, CON, SAN, LL. D (London), Fellow, King’s College, London, FNAE, of entrenching and institutionalizing quality, functional and impactful education in Nigeria.
Pursuant to a 2024 Agreement between ZUME and ABUAD, the students in Mechatronics Engineering, Mechanical and Electrical & Electronics Engineering will be participating in an intensive practical training programme in Intelligent Manufacturing Technology and Intelligent Control Technology, both of which are designed to provide practical exposure on emerging industrial technologies and global best practices in Engineering Innovation.
The Students Exchange Programme is the result of the 2024 strategic working visit to China by ABUAD Vice-Chancellor, Professor E. Smaranda Olarinde, and the Director of International Collaboration & Linkages, Professor Adeniran Afolalu, during which different robust academic and institutional collaborations were established between ABUAD and three distinguished Chinese institutions, namely, Zhejiang Polytechnic University of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (ZUME), Hangzhou, China, Shenzhen Institute of Information Technology (SIIT), Shenzhen, China and ChinesePlus, Beijing, China
To give verve and value to the Exchange Programme, the first tranche of 37 ABUAD Engineering students were given a two-month theoretical training component by ABUAD College of Engineering during which a strong academic foundation for the practical component for the programme in China was laid.
This unique blend of theoretical and practical learning typifies ABUAD’s commitment to producing globally competitive graduates equipped with requisite industry-relevant skills that will make them relevant in the ever-competitive global employment market.
The participation of ABUAD students in this international training underscores its unwavering commitment to fostering global partnerships, enhancing experiential learning and preparing future Engineers for the rapidly evolving technological landscape.
The stellar qualities inherent in ABUAD College of Engineering came to the fore as far back as June 2015 when the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) visited the university to assess the facilities in the College.
After touring all the floors in the numerous wings of the rather expansive College, during which they saw the quantum of the modern, sophisticated and state-of-the-art equipment and teaching facilities from the US, Spain, England and Germany as well as the quality personnel of international repute manning the University’s Engineering programme, the NSE returned a verdict, to wit: that ABUAD’s Engineering programme is “a Template for Engineering Education in Nigeria”.
Since then, students at the College have been receiving national and international Awards and laurels to the acclaim of the university and their peers in other universities around the world..
In July 2015, four students at the University, dubbed Team LifeWatch, featured and excelled in that year’s edition of the Microsoft Imagine Cup finals which took place in Seattle, United Sates of America, on account of their inventing AtshmaVisor, a device for a more effective and efficient way of managing Asthma, particularly among children.
In September 2015, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Michael O. Ajisafe, joined seven other Academics from across the globe to win that year’s Golden European Award for Quality and Business Prestige in Education sphere in Nigeria at an elaborate ceremony in Rome.
In April 2016, an Alumnus of the University, Engr. Olamide Popoola led “Team Nigeria” to win the 2016 edition of the Unilever Idea Trophy in Category Number 1 Award for “Authentically on Brand, Relevant to target Audience and Drives Talkability and Shareability (A.R.T)” in the United Kingdom.
Later in June 2016, Oluwaseye Bolaji Oguntuase, a 500 Level Mechanical Engineering student won the 1st National Engineering Students’ Competition in Abuja with his project, titled “Autonomous Pipeline leakage in the Niger Delta Area of Nigeria” beat 36 other contestants from the country’s six geo-political zones in a competition organized by the Committee of Deans of Engineering and Technology of Nigerian Universities (CODET).
Oghenetejiri Odjighoro, a 2015 First Class graduate of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, was in November 2016 employed as an Assistant Engineer by the Lagos-based Huawei Technologies Limited, a leading multinational Networking and Telecommunications Equipment and Services company, on account of her ability to speak Chinese, a compulsory subject for every ABUAD student.
In 2024, Miss Cynthia Oluwagbemisola Falegan, a 2017 Petroleum Engineering Graduate of the University, was also offered a direct admission to pursue her Ph. D in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toledo, Ohio, USA, without a Master’s Degree.
Other outstanding Achievements of the College include the following:
Winner, Best Final year students’ project South-West 1 Zone CODET competition (2024 & 2025)
Eight Engineering Lecturers are among the Nigerians listed in the World Top 2% Best Scientists for 2024 & 2025
1st Runner-up, 2024 Best Final year students’ project (Single category) National CODET competition.
A staff of the College was awarded 1st Runner-up position in the category of Best AI Researcher in Higher Education (Universities Category) in Nigeria by the National Association of AI Practitioners (NAAIP) in conjunction with the National Universities Commission (NUC) and TETFund on the 2025 AI Awareness Day
The College played host to the International Conference of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in November 2024 with about 470 published papers in IEEE Xplore
Faculty and students regularly publish in high-impact journals, contributing to ABUAD’s consistent inclusion in top 500 Researchers in Nigeria.
Ongoing research collaborations with Zhejiang Polytechnic University of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Hangzhou, China NITDA, and foreign universities.
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, commended the Chinese University for the realization of the partnership agreement between the two universities.
Her words: “History is being made again in this university. We are particularly happy that the dream and vision of our Founder & Chancellor to provide quality, functional and impactful education has again assumed a new dimension with the trip of our students to China for practical training.
This partnership, as usual, signals a remarkable handshake between our two institutions in the training of a new generation of graduates who will obtain not only academic certificates, but ones backed with practical industry exposure. This partnership is designed to develop their analytical thinking, innovation capacity and technical competence in modern engineering practice”.