In its bid to align with the Federal Government’s policy on industrialisation and to showcase the ingenuity of the nation’s ivory towers, the University has unveiled a pilot Automated Hand Sanitizer Dispenser, produced by the Directorate of Works and Services, led by the Director, Engr. Oluwole Akinyele. According to him, the production is still at the experimental stage and would subsequently be produced in different shapes and sizes.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kolawole Salako, while testing the dispenser placed at the entrance of the Vice-Chancellor’s Office, commended the Director and the team that manufactured the product, as he encouraged other Directorates and Centres in FUNAAB to come up with inventions, stating that the University Management would provide adequate support for inventions. The Vice-Chancellor admonished the team to engage younger staff of the Directorate in the production to encourage the transfer of knowledge as done in developed nations. The other team members include Engrs. John Soyinka, Sebeel Akinola, Rasheed Akanbi and Miss Opeyemi Makinde.
On what informed the innovation, Engr. Akinyele said the idea was borne out of the COVID-19 pandemic plaguing the world. According to him, “What informed our decision to come up with something like this is the concern posed from the manual opening and closing of water bucket tap and liquid soap by different people, which might not be too hygienic. So, I decided to make something more contemporary”. The Director said he started the process on his own but along the line, had to engage other officers in his Directorate alongside the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development), Prof. Clement Adeofun; and Director, Internal Audit, Mr. Olufisayo Amubode.
“Initially when we started it, I called the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development) and Director, Internal Audit to show them that this is what I intend to do. I showed them the automated one and showed them how it will operate and I showed them the manual one that is, the foot metal one that you don’t need to open, you just use your foot to operate, but when they saw the two they said I should develop the automated one first”, he said. Engr. Akinyele added that the dispenser can use both battery and electricity as it has an inbuilt rechargeable battery, which enables it function effectively even when there is no electricity; it senses that there is a movement under it, and then it releases some sanitizer. On plans to commercialise the product, the Director disclosed that being the first one to be produced and a prototype, it is quite expensive and might not be price-friendly but that research was ongoing to source for materials such as pump and other components at the cheapest price to produce it at an affordable rate before commercialisation.
Engr. Akinyele revealed that the components used for the automated sanitizer were locally sourced from Nigeria and that the other project being considered by the Directorate is the full body sanitizer whereby as soon as anyone passes through it, it would spray out and sanitise the entire body. The Director disclosed that another innovations would be introduced to the University in due course.
