NIMechE National Chairperson, Dr Funmilade Akingbagbohun,
gave the hint on Saturday night while making her opening speech during the
association’s 2023 fellowship conferment ceremony in Victoria Island, Lagos.
She reeled out achievements of her administration in
capacity building programmes for members, young engineers and tertiary
institutions to enhance innovations.
The chairperson said her office was already building a world
class engineering academy on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to equip engineers with
knowledge needed to compete and contribute to national development.
She said a partnership had begun with Innoson Motors and
Toyota towards assembly of electric cars in Nigeria, to position local
engineers for future of technological advancement in the automobile industry.
“We have also partnered and collaborated with Innoson Motors
in terms of capacity building training for automobile assembly in Nigeria, our
focus is on electric vehicles that is coming up.
“If we are not ready to take that industry, other people
that are not engineers or mechanical engineers will take up the industry, so,
we are partnering with Innoson Motors, we are partnering with Toyota Nigeria
Ltd and Toyota is sponsoring curriculum in collaboration with us,” she said.
Akingbagbohun said the topic of the event”Recent Collapses
and Failures: Time to also look inwards?” was apt to address incessant building
collapse and the worrisome losses of lives and property.
“We (engineers) owe it on ourselves as professionals to join
hands toward arresting this menace. We must look inward, interrogate what is
wrong, and fix it,” she said.
She thanked the Board of Fellows for their hard work and
leadership while urging new conferees to take up responsibility of mentoring
younger engineers.
The Guest speaker, Mr Adekunle Adebajo, who is Chairman/CEO
Ove Arup and Partners Nigeria, said building collapse and construction failures
happen everywhere, but only the dramatic ones catch attention.
He gave tips on how professionals could look inwards through
collaboration to end the menace .
“We need to always regard design and construction as a team
activity. Learn from those who have spent years in construction.
“Don’t design anything before you understand how to do it or
are competent in it. Ask for supervision or assistance.
“Don’t sign anything you haven’t read or understood. Be
inquisitive – raise questions and if you don’t get answers elevate the issue
until you’re satisfied.
“Follow your Engineering intuition– if it doesn’t look
right, it probably is not. Be wary of clients who don’t want to pay for the
required level of design or supervision.
“Be hungry for new ideas or information and seek to expand
your knowledge.
Learn from your mistakes and those of others!,” he said.
Earlier, the chairman Board of Fellows Prof. Oluwatoyin
Ashiru, congratulated and advised new entrants on how to adopt best practices
in enhancement of engineering.
He urged the new fellows to diligently provide leadership
for advancement of the nation and give themselves to constant learning of new
skills to remain relevant.
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