UNILORIN shines at national engineering contest
By Mustafa Abubakar
The University of Ilorin has achieved a historic milestone in Engineering education by becoming the first Nigerian University to secure podium finishes in all award categories of the 2026 Committee of Deans of Engineering and Technology of Nigerian Universities (CODET) Students’ Competition in a single edition.
The feat was recorded at the 34th Assembly of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) held in Abuja.
The University received national recognition in the Best Engineering Graduate, Single Project, and Group Project categories. The University also emerged First Runner-up in both the Single Project and Group Project categories.
The Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Prof. Joshua Olanrewaju Olaoye, disclosed this last Tuesday (July 14, 2026) in an internal memorandum to the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, a copy of which was made available to UNILORIN Bulletin.
Prof. Olaoye said that the annual CODET competition is organised to promote excellence, innovation, creativity, scholarship and professional competence in Engineering education.
According to him, the competition also serves as a national platform for identifying, celebrating and rewarding outstanding Engineering graduates, innovative undergraduate Engineering projects and impactful academic research publications from Engineering Faculties, Schools and Colleges across Nigerian universities.
Prof. Olaoye explained that the competition seeks to promote academic and professional excellence among Engineering graduates, encourage students to apply theoretical knowledge and Engineering design principles to practical industrial and societal challenges, stimulate creativity, innovation, teamwork and entrepreneurship, showcase outstanding Engineering research, strengthen healthy competition among Engineering institutions, recognise exceptional Engineering talents, promote effective oral, written and technical communication, and foster collaboration among universities, industry, Engineering regulatory agencies and professional bodies.
The Dean noted that the University mounted the podium in all three award categories—Best Engineering Graduate, Single Project and Group Project—making it the first university in Nigeria and in the history of the CODET competition to accomplish such a feat in a single edition.
He described the accomplishment as a testament to the sustained commitment of the University to producing highly skilled Engineering graduates, advancing research and innovation, and developing practical Engineering solutions to national and global challenges.
Prof. Olaoye added that the achievement further strengthens the reputation of the University of Ilorin as one of Nigeria’s leading institutions for Engineering education and reflects the dedication of its management, academic staff and students to sustaining a culture of excellence.
The competition, which is designed to recognise exceptional Engineering graduates, featured 23 qualified nominees from Engineering faculties, schools and colleges across the country.
Representing the University of Ilorin, Miss Omolara Kayode Elizabeth of the Department of Civil Engineering, who emerged as the Faculty’s Best Graduating Student for the 2024/2025 academic session, delivered an outstanding performance to place third overall, scoring 252 out of 300 marks among contestants from the 23 participating universities.
The University also distinguished itself in the Engineering Students’ Projects Competition, which was conducted in the Single (Individual) Project and Group Project categories to encourage students to develop Engineering solutions to contemporary industrial, environmental and societal challenges.
Projects were assessed using approved CODET evaluation criteria, including originality and innovation, relevance of the Engineering problem addressed, application of Engineering principles, technical quality of design, functionality and feasibility, potential societal and industrial impact, sustainability and scalability, quality of presentation, as well as contestants’ ability to respond to questions from the panel of assessors.
Representing the North Central Zone in the Single Project Category, Abubakar Habeeb of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering presented “Design and Implementation of AgroSense AI: An End-to-End Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence Ecosystem for Low-Cost Precision Agriculture,” a project that demonstrated the application of Artificial Intelligence and IoT technologies to affordable precision agriculture.
In the Group Project Category, Eniola Oladejo, Hikmah Olawore, Adio Boluwatife and Popoola Ayodeji of the Department of Biomedical Engineering presented their project titled “NOOSI.”
The projects were coordinated and supervised by Dr S. O. Zakariyya of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Dr S. A. Yahaya of the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
