By Isqil Najim
The Chairman, Association of professional Women Engineers of Nigeria, APWEN, Engr Atinuke Wuraola Owolabi has said that Failing to expose female Engineers to essential skills and industrial trends can hinder competitiveness and productivity.
Owolabi made this known when she led an industrial visit of young female engineers to famous indigenous Nigerian metering School, Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company Ltd last Thursday in Lagos.
She also announced that the Association has begun partnership with the meter manufacturer on skills development, mentorship and job creation for young female engineers.
Owolabi said the association took the young engineers on industrial visit to Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company Ltd, as part of the collaborative efforts that deliberately target empowerment, mentorship and job creation initiatives for the budding engineers.
According to her, the training by the firm includes artificial intelligence, printed circuit board, cloud computing and data science. She said the training was aimed at closing the gap between the academia and industry.
APWEN Lagos is at the forefront of closing the gap between academia and industry through mentorship and skill development initiatives
She added that women engineers and engineering students hold the key to the profession and Nigeria’s future. therefore, “Failing to equip them with essential skills and expose them to cutting-edge technologies and industrial trends can hinder their competitiveness in the market and impact their productivity.”
“APWEN Lagos is at the forefront of closing the gap between academia and industry through mentorship and skill development initiatives,” she added.
While thanking the Engr Kola Bolagun, for guiding them through the factory, she remarked that the experience from the industrial visit has transformed their perception of the engineering field.
According to her, “These young engineers and engineering students are now set to contribute to Nigeria’s success story.”
“Momas stands as an all-encompassing engineering solution company and they are set to empower our young female engineers and engineering students through internship and job creation,” she concluded.
Momas awarded the SIFA GRANT by the German Government
The Managing Director of the company, Engr Hammed Abiodun in his response, appreciated APWEN members for taking out time to visit the factory.
Abiodun commended the passion and commitment of APWEN to equipping young female engineers with skills to prepare them towards value addition to the workspace and engineering for technological development of Nigeria.
He said that the training request by APWEN aligned with the firm’s ideology on youth empowerment and that it had its own skill acquisition school, the Momas TVET Centre for Electro-Technology.
He said the school, which engaged in vocational skill acquisition training, had just been awarded the SIFA GRANT by the German Government to support in developing its permanent site.
The managing director, however, said the company was ready to provide engineering training support to young female members of the association and the undergraduates. He added that Balogun had approved Printed Circuit Board fabrication and design training for some young members as a demonstration of the firm’s commitment.
He gave assurance that it would continue to support APWEN in its drive to advance engineering practice in Nigeria.
