Four outstanding engineering innovations developed by student teams from the Modibbo Adama University of Technology (MAUT), Yola; the University of Ibadan (UI); the University of Jos (UniJos); and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), have emerged as winners of the maiden Nigerian Engineering Olympiad (NEO), sharing N110 million in seed funding to accelerate the commercialisation of their innovations.
At the Grand Finale held in Lagos on June 30, MAUT received a N50 million grant as the overall winner, while UI received N30 million for second place.
The University of Jos received N20 million for third place, and UNN received N10 million for finishing fourth. Beyond the cash prizes, the winning teams will receive continued technical mentorship, business development support, industry partnerships, and commercialisation opportunities.
Also, the engineering faculties of the winning universities were rewarded. MAUT received a Centre of Excellence Building, while UI and UNN received grants of N75 million and N50 million, respectively, to strengthen engineering education and research
MAUT emerged the overall winner with “Ubuntu Sapphire”, a decentralised, community-powered rapid alert and security intelligence network built for the security realities of rural and peri-urban Nigeria, where connectivity is poor, security architecture is thin, and millions of households still depend on feature phones.
