The Lagos State chapter of the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN), has initiated partnership with an indigenous meter manufacturer on skills development, mentorship and job creation for young female engineers.
Mrs Atinuke Owolabi, APWEN Lagos Chapter Chairman, in a statement on Thursday, 24 August, 2023 in Lagos, said the partnership was with Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company Ltd.
Owolabi said the association took the young engineers on industrial visit to Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company Ltd, as part of the collaborative efforts for mentorship and job creation initiatives.
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, through mentorship and skill development initiatives.
She noted that women engineers and engineering students held the key to the profession and Nigeria’s future.
“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 said.
The APWEN Chairman thanked the Chairman of the company, Mr Kola Bolagun, for guiding them through the factory.
She added that the experience from the industrial visit had transformed their perception of the engineering field.
“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 said.
The Managing Director of the company, Mr Hammed Abiodun, appreciated APWEN 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 said 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.