Philosophy of the College
The Philosophy of the College is in consonance with that of the university, to produce graduates who are of high moral standard and integrity, excellent in academics, self-reliant, employers of labour rather than employees, and role models in the engineering profession, ready to contribute their quota to the upliftment of the socio-economic status of the nation and the transformation of her physical infrastructure and professional development.
Objectives of the College
The specific objectives of the College are stated as follows:
To offer training in basic engineering science in theory and practice relevant to the above stated degree programmes. Such training involves the following sequence of activities, some of which are unique to ABUAD:
1. During the vacation period following the second year (200 Level), students will embark on in-house workshop and laboratory practices, to make them conversant with laboratory and workshop tools and machinery, in preparation for a longer period of industrial attachment at their senior year. This is termed SWEP I (Students’ Work Experience Programme I)
SWEP I activities will involve the use of workshop tools, drilling and lathe machines, for simple fabrication of metal parts, foundry work, gas/arc welding, brick-moulding, electrical wiring of buildings, lighting, maintenance and repair of electrical appliances such as electric cookers, irons, fans, radio and TV equipment, refrigerators and air- conditioning units, maintenance and repair of automobile engines and other diesel/petrol engines, winding and rewinding of coils of various power ratings, understudying and participation in on-going construction works on the campus in building services, carpentry, welding, street-lighting, plumbing and sewage systems. Workshop fabrication of simple household and office furniture or kindergarten playground equipment such as chairs, tables, filing cabinets, kitchen blenders and grinders, iron beds, swings, see-saw, sliding platforms, etc., would be undertaken. Such fabricated items, which must be of good standard and in large quantities, would be offered for sale to the outside community so as to provide some income to the university and to make the university be of relevance to its immediate environment. Of course, such products must bear the imprint of ABUAD.
2. The long vacation following the third year (300 Level) will be utilized for further in-house experience on more workshop and industrial practices (SWEP II).
ABUAD has established a number of industrial ventures that are of practical scientific and technological interest to engineers-in-training. For students in mechanical, electrical/electronics and computer engineering, the university has an automated, electromechanically-controlled water production plant which starts from the blowing out of the plastic bottles, to washing, filling, corking, labeling and packaging, all in one assembly line. Adjoining this, is the water-sachet production system. There is also a 21st century, digital, colour-separation printing press being used for all publications of the university as well as for public commercial enterprise. Others are, the laundry, bakery, restaurant and an extensive mechanized-farming for various types of agricultural products. All of these involve applications of science, engineering and technology that could engage the students effectively, and sustain their interest, during the holidays. Students of electrical/electronics, mechanical and civil engineering will find fulfillment in participating in the research projects on Renewable Energy Resources of the Photo-voltaic (PV) Solar Power and the Small Hydroelectric Power (SHP) systems that the College staff will soon embark upon.
Students will also embark on some individual or group mini-projects and presentation, oral and written, of technical reports of their SWEP II activities which will be graded and scored.
Apart from these in-house activities, students will have the privilege of excursions to places of engineering and technological interests within Ekiti State and other neighbouring states. For instance, the UAC water bottling industry that produces the well-known Gossy Water in Ikogosi-Ekiti, the site of the famous Warm Spring, is a few kilometres away from ABUAD; There are water dams atUreje,Ero and Egbe for Ekiti State water supply; Broadcasting Stations of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and the State Radio and TV stations are located in several places within Ekiti State, so also are the Base Stations of the private GSM mobile telecommunications systems. The electric power control centre for the whole country is located in Osogbo, a few kilometres from Ado-Ekiti. Machine Tools factory and steel rolling mills are also located in Osogbo. For students of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, there will be opportunity to visit petrochemical industries and petroleum refineries nearest to ABUAD.
This SWEP II programme is unique to ABUAD. It is provided over and above the Minimum Academic Standards stipulated for Engineeringprogrammes by the NUC. It is not being offered by most Engineering Faculties in the country. This is made possible in ABUAD by the regular, uninterrupted nature of the university calendar and the fully residential situation made available to ABUAD staff and students.
3. For the whole of the second semester of the 400 Level and the succeeding long vacation, students will be attached to various industries outside the university for a continuous period of not less than six calendar months of supervised Industrial Training, to enable them experience industrial practices and business management in the diverse areas of the professions relevant to the College programmes listed above. Such experiences will relate to the classroom theoretical aspects already taught them. This Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) is stipulated mandatorily by the NUC for all Engineering courses in Nigerian universities. It is to be supervised jointly by university lecturers and industry personnel during the period of attachment, and reports submitted by the students at the end of the attachment, including detailed logbooks of activities undertaken, are to be assessed, scored and graded like the normal university courses for the computation of the student’s Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA).
4. At the final year, fifth year (500 Level), of the programme, students are to undertake independent projects, usually of laboratory-based, hands-on design and construction of practical engineering devices/equipment, building of working prototype engineering systems or computer-aided design and investigation of some fundamental concepts, on which the student writes a technical report in standard and acceptable format. Thereafter, the student must make oral presentation and defence of the project for proper grading. This is an important component of the Bachelor of Engineering Degree awarded by the university, and carries a much heavier scoring weight than any of the courses at any level.
5. In addition to all above. ABUAD further provides Value-Added Programmes for all students in the university by the introduction of the following:
(a) Entrepreneurship, Skills Acquisition and Business Management Skills, under the General Studies programme. This is compulsory and a requirement for graduation. It is meant to further deepen the students’ intellectual and practical know-how, to make them, after graduation, to be self-reliant, self-employed, innovative and aware of the areas of socio-economic needs of the country;
(b) Work-Study Programme: this enables financially deficient students to devote some hours per week to work and earn rewards for such work, thereby reducing the financial burden on the students’ parents. ABUAD, being an excellent, private and fully residential institution, necessarily charges fees that are higher than public institutions in Nigeria, though still relatively cheaper than comparable local, and much cheaper than international universities. However, the reward is not in terms of cash reimbursement; rather, the financial cost of the part-time work is credited into the student’s school fees account, to be deducted from the fees charged by the university.
For Engineering students, the following are relevant areas they can work in: university ventures, agricultural farm, e-library, ICT units ( for LAN networking, intranet and web-design activities), Works Department ( electrical, mechanical, civil, automobile and environmental units).
(c) Language Acquisition Programme: In addition to English language, which is the medium of instruction, every student is expected to undergo a study programme in French, and one of three major Nigerian languages: Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo. The programme is designed to ensure that graduates of the University can compete favourably with their colleagues in the French speaking West African zone and elsewhere in the world where French is the medium of instruction.
(d) Sporting Activities:There is a full-fledged Department of Sports Science in the College of Sciences which has made provision for high quality set of equipment and teaching facilities for sporting activities in the University. The facilities are made open to all students and staff in various field and track events as well as indoor games. Significant among these are the multi-purpose courts for Handball, Tennis and Badminton; an ultra-modern soccer pitch with eight-lane tracks round it. The Department inculcates in all students the idea that competitive sports programmes designed for them are vital aspects of their educational well-being. The Department has initiated scholarship programmes for outstanding sports performers among the students, to encourage their participation, and to establish standards whereby the University can maintain a high level of competition in sports at national and international arena.
(e) FESTO FACT-Centre for Mechatronics: The University has signed an MOU with FESTO Automation Ltd., a renowned international company, providing automation solutions and training for industrial applications all over the world.FESTO FACT (FestoAuthorized and Certified Training) Centre for excellence in Mechatronics is being established in AfeBabalola University with Laboratory Equipment for Basic Technologies. The FACT Centre is designed to meet the standards and specifications of similar Centres in other parts of the world. Hence, anybody certified by the ABUAD FACT-Centre will be recognized for employment purposes anywhere in the world. The Centre is guaranteed to strengthen University – Industry interactions that are largely lacking in most engineering faculties in the country.
6. In general, students are encouraged to participate in inter-disciplinary curricular and extra-curricular professional activities, and to emphasise that modern engineering practices and manufacturing processes are interdependent, as exemplified by the new subject of Mechatronics highlighted above. Participation in professional activities such as the Nigerian Universities Engineering Students Association (NUESA), the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and other national and international professional organisations are encouraged. These are preludes to the future involvement of ABUAD graduates in engineering ethics and best practices for national development and global relevance.