Daily Trust - the online edition

Engineers and technicians will boost knowledge through the use of information and technology applications, the Directors General of National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) Prof. Olusegun O. Adewoye has said.

Adewoye said the traditional boundaries of classical engineering disciplines have become indistinct following the advent of information technology and computer science.

Speaking at a 10-day training workshop organized for some techinicians and engineers in the country on practical application of mechatronics and its application to enhance national industrial productivity, Adewoye said it is more evident in mechanical and electronics disciplines, where today’s appliances and devices consist of an assembly of integrated parts and mechanical components that are mainly IT- driven.

The DG who was represented by Dr. Steve Momoh, said the development of computer science and information technology has broadened the scope of the discipline of Electro-mechanics giving birth to an interdisciplinary field of engineering known as mechatronics.

Prof. Adewoye said mechatronics is a relatively new field of engineering which deals with the integration of mechanics and electronics with intense computer integration using a multidisciplinary approach to product and manufacturing system design.

He added that the application of mechatronics can help increase productivity, maintain consistency in the production process and manufacture products of higher quality with greater efficiency and flexibility as well as lower operating cost to enable the products competes globally.

The participants – scientists and technicians- are drawn from the National Space Research and Development Agency (NARSDA), Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT), Products Development Agency (PRODA) and other selected agencies of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology.