Eleven student teams from various universities will pitch their innovative ideas to solve societal problems to a team of academic and industry experts at the Professor Ogindipe Innovation Challenge (POIC) next Tuesday at the Jelili Omotola Multipurpose Halls of the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
At a press briefing to announce the challenge on Wednesday, Dean, Faculty of Science, Prof Adedotun Adekunle, said the 11 ideas were shortlisted from over 500 entries submitted by both undergraduate and postgraduate students from universities across the country.
He said the challenge was aimed at encouraging students to provide scientific solutions to indigenous problems bedevilling the country.
“We want students to use the knowledge of theory and little practice they have to solve problems in society. We want something that science can solve,” Adekunle said at the briefing held at the Faculty of Science Boardroom of the university.
Chairman, POIC, Dr Kehinde Kemabonta said the selection process for finalists started last year and was done by a team of reviewers and judges.
“We started last year. Reviewers looked at the proposals and came up with the 25 best. The judges came up with the 11 finalists. It was like a blind review because they did not know where the proposals were from. But we are lucky that some of our students from the UNILAG are among the finalists,” she said.
Dr Kemabonta said the POIC is expected to birth entrepreneurs who can hold their own internationally.
“The POIC is a brainchild of the Faculty of Science under the able leadership of the Dean of Science, Prof Adedotun Adekunle and it is designed to cater for emerging talents in a bid to build young entrepreneurs, make them locally relevant and globally competitive in their chosen areas of interest,” she said.
