With the support of the Cranfield University, United Kingdom, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has built the first Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) in sub-Saharan Africa. Also, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has developed the first curriculum for aerospace education in the country. Nigerian's Prof. David Mba, who is a world-renowned engineer at Cranfield said with strategic planning, Nigeria can export aerospace technology to neighbouring African countries. He also spoke on several other issues. ExcerptsASSESS science and technology development in Nigeria.I will take you a few steps back. I do not know whether you know about the Nigerian Air Force's (NAF) Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) codenamed AMEBO, which was developed by the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in Kaduna. Recently, I think in August, they had a flight trial. It was an unmanned vehicle, which is like a remote control vehicle, which could be used for policing pipeline and power line monitoring, aerial surveillance and a wide range of things you can use it for. Now, the technology for that and the way they developed that was in conjunction with my University at Cranfield. Some of their officers come to Cranfield to train specifically to gain the knowledge to be able to do this. They picked up a significant expertise with the support of the University in UK. But the result is that it led to a significant milestone in terms of Africa. So, it is a big contribution.Is there mileage for Nigeria to have a place in this type of technology' The answer is yes. Okay, yes we are starting perhaps a bit behind the others but there is a personnel growing core expertise to allow us build our own. What that means for the country, as a whole, for the longer term is that we have expertise in an industry, being aerospace that can be exported to neighbouring Africa countries. So we can become a hub for aerospace excellence in Africa. This is one demonstrative example on how it can be done. Yes, I know we are launching satellites in collaboration with other institutions but it is the first step on the ladder. And if we do not take this decision now, we will be too off the ladder. So, it is a worry. Yes, I agree that within the economic constraints, you might argue that it is not the best time, the right people who need education. But if you look at the longer time, at the long stage, we need to move up the ladder and if there is room to begin to do that now, why not now'Where is the optimism that we can be a leader in aerospace coming from'It is because I believe that academically, we have significantly under-utilized resources. Nigerians are very innovative, creative, imaginative and given the right kind of academic programmes with support, this resource/human-based resource can be exploited to move things further.Why is the performance of Nigerian universities poor'The issue about where are Nigerian universities moving and what is happening to our universities; because of my role, because I have been involved in a lot of international relationship for my University in Europe, Far East, Australia, Asia and Middle East; I am aware of what these emerging economies are doing strategically with their higher education; universities and postgraduate education, and how they are able to incorporate or have these universities align with their industrial objectives in development.So, when I come back to Nigeria, which I have been doing more often, I see more of a disjoint as a nation who wants to develop, how the universities are aligning with the projections. But more worrying is how the universities are not measuring up academically in terms of their academic output. The key thing is where the nation needs to go in its education system. Other emerging economies are clearly investing and they know where they want to go, they know what skills they need to impact on their people to meet their industry. They know where they want to go.My worry as I travel and I see all these, when I come home I don't see something similar either because it has not been adequately prescribed. Perhaps they need the strategy but I see a disjoint. In my university, we have Nigerian students that come to our university. I know from first hand how they describe how our undergraduate training was. I know how they need to work doubly hard to catch up with people from that side. So, we need to come back to basis and look clearly what we can do to measure up.So, it is a big concern particularly for me that we are not measuring academic output. I don't mean just teaching. Teaching is only one aspect of academic output; research, publications that are coming from our universities or research outputs from our universities have been dwindling. And with that dwindling, in addition, with perhaps the teaching style that is behind that of major economies, the output of our young guys will not be commensurate with what is expected in an emerging economy. This only means that in the longer time, we have to send people overseas to train, we have to improve our academic training, in fact, we will just be taking money out of the country.In my view, we should not just be giving universities money. Yes, we should have money for staff but there must be an element that measures performance. Not just to develop science education but higher education - undergraduate and postgraduate across all levels.Now, the argument anyone can say is that there is no money; we have just enough money to cover education. To me that is not an excuse. I think that even though we all have restraints; there are restraints in UK, there are restraints in America. In UK, the fees have gone up 300 per cent. So, we are all faced with restraints but it does not mean that we should not be judged on the academic output, and academic output is not just teaching, it is also research.How can these be addressed'Two things. I think there has to be a strategic decision at governmental level as par where you proceed in Nigeria education system and education output in a decade plus from now. And then begin also to measure what is the current level of our academic institutions, how do we compare to each other' What are the transparent comparative milestones or comparative indicators that we can use to compare' Once we know what are the institutions, which institutions excel in which areas then it allows government to perhaps target investment in particular universities that have particular niche expertise. So, we can improve the quality of academic output and also allow the government to align with where it wants to go as well with its educational objectives. It can be implemented across several levels. First of all, agreeing on strategic direction at governmental level, agreeing on using performance indicators to gauge where investment for research or teaching can be fixed; but also being able to judge how our universities compare across or within the nation and also outside.We send people overseas, how much are we wasting which could be used in developing our own' I think that is one way of doing it. Once the higher-level decision has been taken, there is easier process of implementation where things can be dedicated to either committees or National Universities Commission (NUC) and other commissions to ensure that whatever that is agreed on strategically is seen through.For example, I have been invited on several occasions by the commissioner of the United Arad Emirates in Abu Dhabi, Dubai to access their institutions in aerospace. Not just accessing their academic quality and academic delivery, but looking at the institutional effectiveness of the universities.So, how do the universities measure up' How do they institutionally demonstrate self-improvement' Not just across teaching, across research, across academic output, and also across academic services - libraries, registration. Instilling a culture that allows self-improvement but also vetted or measured by an external body, I think is another way of going about improving for the next two decades.What concept are you trying to sell to the Nigerian government'It is about two things. The idea is to try and foster collaboration with Nigeria universities. My department has a huge expertise in gas turbine technology. So, my department is the centre of excellence for Rose Royce in gas turbine performance. We are well known for gas turbines. What we started to do is, we know there is a requirement for improvement in power generation in Nigeria, and therefore there is a need for gas turbines, steam turbines, for turbine technology. We want to try and establish a Masters' programme, postgraduate level that will allow indigenous Nigerians to gain the expertise in gas turbine technology to apply their industry.We just recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Lagos. I am working with the Dean of Engineering Faculty, Prof. Isola Salawu, to see how we can compliment the existing knowledge base at the university in engineering with our unique gas turbine education system and how that can then mirror to the government needs for not only putting up power generation plants, that is just one aspect, but the personnel and the expertise on ground to be able to move that forward.Again that sort of idea mirrors what I was talking about earlier about having a strategic decision about where you want to go with our education system and bringing in colleagues or academics from overseas or in fact mixing academics from overseas to form a kind of structure, a steering group, to help implement and to move that forward. My coming to Nigeria is, one, to set these equipment, to try to establish programmes that are of benefit. And also try and see what I can do to help the universities commission or the Ministry of Education in going about deciding strategically where to go forward and how to go about implementing it and assessing our universities.Does Nigeria have potential in aerospace'I was invited by the NUC in August to develop the first curriculum in aerospace engineering, which was in Abuja. Myself and other colleagues from America, from UK, from University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and from all parts of the country; and we developed the first aerospace curriculum, which I think has gone out for consultation.The idea is that at the moment the one institution that might be able to deliver that curriculum is the AFIT in Kaduna that built AMEBO. That is because they already have some facilities, which are required in the programme. You need some experimental facilities. Now, other universities during this consultation process will look at this and will be able to pick up where they need help, where they already have expertise and to look at where they will source for the help they need, and therefore will be able to engage in the aerospace training.We have a population of roughly 180 million. We are bigger than Malaysia and many other emerging economies, so our aerospace industry is only but going to expand. We will have with time more planes, more airports and therefore we need the expertise and skill to play big in that industry. We are trying to bring the expertise into Nigeria, to train the indigenous people so that we can then move it on.Is there a gap between academic research and industrial development in the country'In my department we design turbine blades. In the developed world, the scope for significant improvement in gas turbine technology is reducing. We are having to apply our skills elsewhere, so we are looking at renewable energy. We recently designed a tidal turbine, which wind turbine that goes under water. We designed one that has been patented by a small company in Wales. We just got a $10 million funding to now build a prototype and install in a River in Wales.That is a good example of applying original research in designing something unique for that specific need in Wales, the company taking the patent out, the government now funding it to allow us to install it and then monitor it.Similarly, the same thing can apply in Nigeria. We have an abundance of natural resources - solar, tides in the Delta region. Engaging with universities or research groups either via National Energy Commission (NEC) because they have some research areas of excellence, which are looking at perhaps solar but to bring into those areas new areas of technology like hydro-tides, which can then be exploited for our indigenous streams and rivers, and specific design issues addressed at academic level. With some funding from government, prototypes can be developed if proved successful, can prove to be a new source of power generation, a new industry, new job opportunities for other people.What are the solutions to poor education especially science education'I think the first thing is to take stock. To look at what is already on the ground and how can we improve what is on the ground in the very first instance' It is not always the question of throwing money at things. Sometimes, we can use money wisely or we can realign directions. So, first thing will be to measure what we have on ground and how does that compare with others, and look at also the academic delivery. What might incentivize academics to feel why they have to work and go and teach. They say they are not being paid enough. But if their income, not just for the academics, can be measured and aligned with academic output, people might then sit up and take their jobs seriously. There is no quick fix solution. Again it comes back to strategic position, where you want to be in five, 10 years, and you go about step by step into making it.What are your personal goals'I am very much interested in renewable energy. I set up a company, H2 Energy Incorporated, looking at exploiting the solar irradiation levels that we have in Nigeria and how we can go about improving renewable energies - tidal and solar.Will biofuels meet future energy needs'The biofuel concept is a good concept and has merits. Whether it is sustainable, the question is still unanswered. In relation to, say, solar, there is clear sustainability. With biofuels it is not so clear. In academics and industrialists, and the prototypes are staying with what is more sustainable - solar and tidal. The tide will come in and go out, so you know what your flow rates are and so you can exploit that.Will setting up of solar panels across the country solve the nation's energy problems'We are not presently involved but we are trying to get involved with that. We have a very good supplier of solar panels; like everybody elsewhere is looking at how to get involved. But the key thing we are doing, which is different from anyone else is developing or in the process of developing solar power generation plants. Power generation plants based purely on sun energy, not streetlights, not pumps, not small built panels but power units, power stations based purely on solar in northern Nigeria. We are engaging with the energy commission, with the right people, and local dams. But the thing with solar is that it is capital intensive but operational and maintenance cost is significantly minimal compared to the gas turbine. The other advantage of solar energy is that you do not need gas pipelines.Will solar and tidal energy concept solve the energy needs'No. Not on its own but it can add. Everything has its place. Gas turbines, steam turbines, coal everything has its place. With solar power stations, which can be erected quickly, you can develop a 50 megawatts unit in less than a year. You don't need infrastructure, all you need is transmission lines taking it out. It can be deployed very quickly. The advantage of this is that it can be put in remote places, quickly, and it will contribute. It will not solve all the energy problems but it has a place, a part to play. Hopefully, government has a multi-tariff system because it is based on gas turbines.We are still arranging for the renewable energy tariffs to be deployed. Hopefully government will realize that these tariffs are slightly higher than the conventional power generation tariffs to incentivize industries, companies to come and invest in Nigeria.What is the relationship between that tidal energy and the gas turbines'It was the expertise that we had as university in developing turbines for gas turbines that allowed us the core skills to design turbines for tidal. It is a turbine blade that makes the difference. It is like a wind turbine but the blade is slightly different and it's specific for application under water. As the tide goes in and comes out there is a known predictable flow of water, you can design your turbine to maximize energy from that flow of water. It's submersible and with power lines, we can generate electricity.Fact SheetPROF. David Uzochukwu Mba is the Associate Dean, Masters' course director, and senior lecturer at the Department of Power and Propulsion, Cranfield University, UK. Mba, with a Nigerian father from Onitsha in Anambra State, was born in 1968, in England. He returned to Nigeria after the Nigeria-Biafra civil war. He grew up in Enugu where he had his primary education at Trans Ekulu; secondary education at the Federal Government College, Enugu from where he went to the University of Lagos for a couple of years. Mba left for UK to study Aerospace Engineering at University of Hertfordshire, 1994. He had his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Cranfield University, 1999 and was awarded the University's Lord King Norton gold medal for the best doctorial dissertation across all university campuses. He was immediately offered employment as lecturer. He was appointed a professor of rotating machines technology in 2010.Mba is actively involved with research in machine condition monitoring and prognosis, machine dynamics and turbo-machinery. A primary focus of his research is the application and development of the Acoustic Emission (AE) technology.He is the Convenor of an International Standards Organisation (ISO) working group tasked with developing the first international standards on the application of AE to condition monitoring of machinery (ISO TC108 SC5 WG14). He is also active in British Standard Institute (BSI) working committee on Machine Vibration and Condition Monitoring. He is a Fellow, Institution of Mechanical Engineers; Fellow, Higher Education Academy, UK; and Fellow of the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing.
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