The leadership of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Bwari Branch, Abuja, on Friday led a delegation to Nile University of Nigeria (NUN) to recognize and reward the breakthrough achievement and academic excellence recorded by the 500-level Nile University Engineering student Ms. Hauwa Hidaya Hafiz.
The Vice Chancellor of Nile University, Professor Dilli Dogo, welcomed the group into his office, where they were joined by the Dean of the Engineering Faculty, Professor Steve Adesina, as well as some staff and the student of the Engineering Department.
The NSE Chairman Engr. Dr. Halima Adediran, in her remark, said “in line with the federal government’s Science, Technology and Innovation Roadmap 2030, the Bwari branch of the NSE saw the need to support young engineers whose projects have the potential to solve societal economic problems and are likely to be commercialized, leading to the establishment of technological start-ups and boosting the entrepreneurial skills of the country’s large youth population.”
Dr. Halima further stated that the NSE in collaboration with the Bank of Industry(BOI), SMEDAN, and other Enterprise Development Agencies (EDAs), were inspired to recognize Ms. Hafiz of Nile University for her academic project because it tackles the issue of food shortage, production, and scarcity and, if commercialized, will ensure increased crop yields.
The award-winning Automatic Irrigation Control System using the GSM Module as designed by the Nile University’s 500-level student Ms. Hauwa Hafiz seeks to address the problem of food shortages and increase crop production to ensure the availability of food in circulation.
According to Ms. Hafiz, this irrigation farming-aid prototype if fully developed and implemented will assist farmers and gardeners in knowing the appropriate amount of water to supply to different crops and plants at varying degrees.
The four-part irrigation control project, which consists of a power supply unit that alternates between solar and electricity, an input unit, a microcontroller unit, and an output unit, has the ability to monitor and display the output of irrigation water and send short message service (SMS) alerts to the farmer about the level of soil temperature, percentage of water and humidity levels, as well as the status of water pumping machines (On/Off) on the farmland.
The Nile University Vice Chancellor Prof. Dilli Dogo commended the Body of Engineers for recognizing the university’s accomplishment and said, “Nile University under the umbrella of the Honoris United Universities Network, continues to place a premium on academic excellence and employability, that is why the school ensures its students graduate with 21st Century skills and Certificates that prepares them to impact the world.”
The high point of the meeting was the presentation of a Certificate of Excellence by the NSE to the project student, Ms. Hauwa Hidayat Hafiz, a monetary reward of the sum of One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira(N150,000) in a cheque, as well as discussion to patent the Automatic Irrigation Control System.
