With the inauguration of the $2 million NLNG Engineering Research Centre at the University of Ilorin last Friday (July 8, 2016), the institution's Faculty of Engineering and Technology is set to launch into the global train of cutting-edge engineering research that will help boost the University's impact in the country. The Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Prof. Y. A. Jimoh, stated this in his address at the commissioning of the Research Centre.

The Complex, which, the Dean said, was supported by an additional 40 percent of the total sum by the University, is a three-floor magnificently built structure on a 1000 sq. metre land template, consisting of a ground floor housed together with the reception area, medium-heavy equipment laboratories for research studies in hydraulic system/pipelines, energy research and wind tunnel, instrumentation and control, process controls/electronic feedback, material testing and corrosion and the nano-technology.

Prof. Jimoh explained that "the first floor is essentially dedicated for advance computing and simulation of engineering systems, while the second floor is for high performance computing and operational monitoring and overall surveillance and the library. The last and pent floor will serve some other functional and social purposes." The Dean further disclosed that "the equipment supplied has been installed and are being test-run, which includes a wind tunnel, a single element costing over 30 per cent of the equipment fund".

He said, "With the facilities provided, we are now able to perform high quality researches in the area of energy, material characterization, instrumentation and control, engineering process and development and high performance computing. We can design and reproduce control systems for some equipment to monitor stress, strain and environmental effects. Also, with the engineering work stations, the various instrumentation for nano-technology (micro-level) and macro level studies for real life size and pilot engineering system, numerical and physical modeling schemes can be developed for destructive and non- destructive approaches."

While pledging to take advantage of the state-of-the-art facilities in order to address the challenging aspects of the Faculty's research efforts, Prof. Jimoh said, "What is important and more deserving for any intervention such as this is to put it into use for effective, optimized and iconic outputs so that the Nigerian engineering education can be catapulted into global reckoning. That much is the wish of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology." The Dean disclosed that the Faculty was ranked the best in Africa in 2015 based on the publications of its staff, a feat which he observed, could not have been possible without tangible research efforts.

"In compiling the list of equipment, we considered the major operation of our donor and also took notice of the high technology facilities and state-of-the –art equipment already available within the Faculty and the University, especially the University of Ilorin Central Research Laboratory", Prof. Jimoh said.