Engineers sensitize students on benefits of profession

“IF you have education, you are one step closer to where you are going to, from where you are coming from; you have a direction of life,” these were the words of the Publicity Secretary, the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Apapa branch, Lagos State, David Omavuezi, an engineer, during a career talk by the branch to the students of First Foundation College, Akatakpo Street, Ajegunle, Lagos State. 

   Disclosing to the students that they were in the school to propel the willpower in them to become what they want to become in life, he however, implored the students to take to engineering, enumerating the immense benefits that engineering brings to both the individual that toes the part and the world in general.

   Meanwhile, the Vice Chairman of the society, Garba M. Ombugadu, an engineer, said that the essence of the career talk was to build talents and younger students and make them see the need to join the engineering profession, which he revealed is one of the focal point of the present president of NSE.

   He stated that some students who are actually talented and have the capacity to become engineers out of fear and wrong perception of science as a hard course to do run away from it.

   “This is a kind of campaign, education, sensitization, mobilization; telling them; look, you can achieve it if you are self discipline and focused. Engineering is not cast on stones,” he said,  

   Defining engineering as “the application of scientific, economic, social and practical knowledge in order to invent, design, maintain, research, redevelop and improving structures, machines, devices and processes,” David noted that it is an offshoot of science and technology with the sole aim of bringing about comfort to human beings.  

   He told them that the profession was not only a noble one, which affords one a whole lot of opportunities, “it is all about solving problems and making human beings comfortable, adding however, “it requires a lot of discipline and focus.”

   David listed branches of engineering to the enthusiastic students, which include Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, Agric, System, Aerospace, Aeronautic, Civil, Petroleum, Biology, Nuclear, Nano, military, Metallurgical and Material engineering among others.

   Another speaker at the event, Ibisi O. Malvin, an engineer, told the students that they must have passion for the subjects, which are required for them to gain admission into the university to study engineering. 

 He said they should start by loving the teachers that teach the subjects and not run away from them.

  He said: “To become an engineer, Further Mathematics is very important. It is the main subject one has to know if he wants to become an engineer. Other subjects are Mathematics, Physics, Technical Drawing, chemistry, Biology and English which is a must for every admission into the university.” 

   The Vice Chairman,  Garba further enlightened the students on the process of becoming a registered engineer..

   According to him, “there are so many branches of engineering and there are no limits to engineering. Before you are referred to as an engineer, you must be a registered engineer and this you can achieve after working for at least four years after graduation and acquiring what is referred to as cognate experience and then applying to be admitted to the Nigeria Society of engineers (NSE). You must also have a Bachelors of Science (B.sc) or Bachelors of Engineering (B.eng) depending on what a particular university is awarding; and in the case of Higher National Diploma (HND) holders, you must get a post Graduate Diploma (PGD) on the course you read in school before you can be admitted.” 

   The students asked questions on gray areas and were put through by the team of engineers.

   The principal of the school, Mr. John Ibanga expressed happiness on the talk held for his students. He disclosed that there is a decline in students who offer science subjects in the school and expressed optimism that the career talk will go a long way to correct that.