Education reform: Edo Polytechnic holds maiden inaugural lecture after 17 years

… as School of Health matriculates 304

In line with Governor Godwin Obaseki’s charge to state’s tertiary institutions to take the lead in proffering solutions to societal challenges, thee do state polytechnic, Us en, is set to hold its maiden inaugural lecture to unveil attainments in research at the institution.

The lecture is to be delivered by Obokhai Kess Asikhia at the school’s complex in Usen near Benin City, on May 30 and is titled ‘Users’ Experience: Designing for the extremes to accommodate the Mainstream.’

Rector, Edo State Polytechnic, Abiodun Falodun, in an interview with journalists, said the maiden lecture was being organised as part of efforts to reposition the institution as a world-class solution centre, noting that this would be the first of such lectures in the institution 17 years after it was established.

He said, “Asikhia will use the occasion of the inaugural lecture to engage the society on his research work in the field of manufacturing

engineering, where he is pioneering work on user experience and applying them in real life situations.

“He has worked with a number of equipment fabricators and other partners, including the Market Development in the Niger Delta (MADE) II programme funded by the united kingdom’ s department for International Development (Df id ). he is working with fabricators on perfecting designs of userfriendly fish kiln for industrial use .”

According to the Rector, “We are excited to be hosting this lecture. So much has gone into planning the inaugural lecture and we want to showcase some of the ongoing research at the polytechnic to the world. The lecture will among other things, proffer solutions to the problems of design and use of machines in the industrial sector.”

On the theme of the lecture, he said, “Asikhia will use the opportunity to showcase his research on how to improve users’ experience in handling industrial machines. The scope of the lecture will cut across engineering, psychology, communication and optometry.

“We expect industrialists to benefit from the lecture, which adds to the existing body of knowledge in these disciplines. It also makes recommendations on how to strengthen partnerships between Polytechnics and industries.”

Meanwhile, the state commissioner for health, David Osifo, assures that the state government is building capacity in health science and technology to groom personnel for its newly revamped primary healthcare centres under the Edo Healthcare Improvement Programme (EDO-HIP).

The commissioner said this at the 23rd matriculation of the Edo State School of Health Technology, Benin City, during which 304 students were matriculated for the 2018/2019 academic session.