1. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 1 RELEVANCE OF ENGINEERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP Yinusa A. ADEDIRAN (FNSE, MIEEE) Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria Email: yinusaade@yahoo.comyinusaade@yahoo.com

2. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 2 INTRODUCTION Because of Globalisation: Developed countries having a ‘field day’ over the developing countries both economically and technologically Nigeria becoming increasingly ‘globalised’ Industries are closing down due to: – high cost of production – ease with which finished products can be imported rather than producing them locally

3. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 3 INTRODUCTION This paper has adduced lack of entrepreneurship training in the curriculum of our tertiary institutions as the main cause suggests introduction engineering entrepreneurship courses throughout the last three or four semesters in the universities and polytechnics

4. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 4 DEFINITION Entrepreneurship is (generally) the practice of – starting new organisations or reactivating mature ones – in response to major identified opportunities. Can range from – solo projects to – major undertakings leading to creation of many job opportunities and creation of new products and business

5. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 5 DEFINITION To engineering graduates, entrepreneurship (specifically) is the integration of – business management – with engineering/technical skills leading to the formation of engineer-entrepreneurs

6. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 6 EXPECTATIONS FROM AN ENTREPRENEUR An entrepreneur should be willing and able to convert a new idea or invention into a success innovation, be able to develop new markets of customers and buyers, discover new sources of materials, mobilize capital resources (land, machines, buildings, money, humans), introduce new technologies, products and services.

7. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 7 DUAL ROLE OF AN ENGINEER-ENTREPRENEUR a technological professional with entrepreneurial skills He must be able to integrate business management skills with technical skills.

8. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 8 Japan’s Statistics Factories with less than 20 employees account for up to 87.3% of total number of factories, 20.1% of total workforce, and 12.6% of the total national output. Also, the Indian economy has its greatness in the proper attention paid to engineering entrepreneurship

9. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 9 ADVANTAGES OF ENGINEERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP Self-employment, leading to job satisfaction, flexibility in time and resource management; Creation of job opportunities, the number depending on the size of, and available resources to, the entrepreneur; Healthy competition, leading to higher product quality; Availability of more goods and services; Development of more industries, particularly in rural areas; Development of entrepreneurial qualities and attitudes.

10. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 10 IMPERATIVE OF ENGINEERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NIGERIA Developed countries are continually searching for markets for their products Developing countries are becoming dumping ground for goods produced in other parts of the world because they are neck-deep in solving – complex political crises and – socio-economic problems

11. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 11 IMPERATIVE OF ENGINEERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NIGERIA Nigerian universities and polytechnics produce more than 80.000 graduates yearly, less than 10% of which are employed A reasonable percentage not gainfully employed because they are not found employable. The industrial sector is operating at just about 33% production capacity because of high cost of production (from high energy cost, multiple taxation, high import tariff on raw materials, corruption, etc.)

12. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 12 CHALLENGES TO ENGINEERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NIGERIA Poorly Managed Pension Scheme Poorly Operated Poverty Alleviation Programmes (NAPEP, NDE, etc.) Minimum Academic Standard of Higher Institutions Multiple Taxations High Import Tariffs

13. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 13 SOURCES OF FUNDING Personal savings Loans from friends, relatives, relevant agencies/banks Gratuity from retirement benefits Security exchanges (e.g. buying/selling of shares and bonds) Profit plough-back Trade credits Hire purchase Mortgages Sale of securities

14. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 14 QUALITIES OF AN ENGINEER-ENTREPRENEUR Deal with uncertainty and ambiguity (risk taking); Understand and speak the language of other professionals, especially accountants, economists and other social scientists); Team player; Convincing speaker and attentive listener; Creative and inquisitive mind; Adequate computer skills; Understand economic and financial aspects of an engineering effort; Able to design sound business plan;

15. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 15 QUALITIES OF AN ENGINEER-ENTREPRENEUR Possess analytical and planning skills; Work well in dynamic and rapidly changing environment; Work under pressure and in short time frames; Work effectively across multiple organizations, boards, companies, and departments; Work with specialists of different mentalities, origins, and cultural backgrounds; Be willing to learn and grasp new things (approaches, ideas); Good manager of resources (money, materials, machines, etc.);

16. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 16 QUALITIES OF AN ENGINEER-ENTREPRENEUR Good record keeping (of stocks, sales expenditures) Understand market dynamics; Good communication skills, both oral and written; A psychologist; People-oriented; Have inquisitive mind; Goal-oriented; Good negotiating skills; Understand state-of-the-art in related areas.

17. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 17 TRAINING IN ENGINEERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP Heartwarming and a good beginning that entrepreneurship courses have been introduced into the curriculum of all tertiary institutions Growth of the enterprise depends on – ability to start-off, – Ability to manage effectively and efficiently the resources at his/her disposal, – creativity to make something different from others

18. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 18 TRAINING IN ENGINEERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP Some recommended courses: Engineering Economics Design of Business Plan Leadership Human Resources Management Technological Entrepreneurship Cost Control Financial Accounting and Reporting

19. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 19 TRAINING IN ENGINEERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP Some recommended courses (contd) Engineering Management Legal Aspects of Entrepreneurship Financial Management Production and Inventory Control Maintenance Engineering New Product Development Marketing Management

20. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 20 RECOMMENDATIONS Major stakeholders in the development of entrepreneurship culture are the various levels of government, the professional bodies, and the entrepreneur himself/herself each with different, but complementing, roles

21. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 21 RECOMMENDATIONS Local Government : should provide the enabling environment that will make it easy for the entrepreneur to set up and operate The entrepreneur should, for example, have easy and cheap access to land, water, electricity, etc. not be stifled with unnecessary taxes and levies.

22. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 22 RECOMMENDATIONS State Government: should encourage local governments to assist interested entrepreneurs

23. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 23 RECOMMENDATIONS Federal Government should set up a functional regulatory framework to promote engineering entrepreneurship should harmonize all forms of taxes and levies in order to prevent multiple taxations

24. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 24 RECOMMENDATIONS Professional Bodies (COREN and NSE): should ensure that adequate number of techno-entrepreneurship courses is introduced into the curriculum of polytechnics and universities; continuing education courses/workshops are mounted by the professional bodies at least twice yearly.

25. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 25 RECOMMENDATIONS The Entrepreneur should ensure that the enterprise is located as close as possible to the source of local materials; focus on the needs of the populace for acceptability and marketability; operate in such a way as to encourage others to emulate him.

26. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 26 CONCLUSION An engineer-entrepreneur is one who combines his/her technical skills with business knowledge to see opportunities and convert such to create jobs for others engineering curricula in higher institutions to be re- designed in such a way as to expose engineering students to entrepreneurial skills through introduction of business-related courses. All stakeholders must play their role with the commitment it deserves.

27. NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011 27 THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR ATTENTION