A team of academics from the Penn State University in the United States of America (USA) has met with the management of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State, as part of moves to forge a partnership between the institutions.
The partnership is being facilitated by the Olowu of Owu Kingdom, Oba (Prof.) Saka Matemilola.
The polytechnic management led by the Rector, Dr Adeoye Odedeji, received the 5-man team at the institution on Thursday where both parties expressed their preparedness to cement the partnership.
The Penn State University team was led by Prof Sylvester Osagie, Associate Director, Africa Partnerships, Director, Faculty Fulbright Program; Kimberly Lawless, Dean, College of Education; Sjoerd Willem Duiker, Professor of Soil Management & Applied Soil Physics; Esther Obonyo, Professor of Engineering Design and Architectural Engineering and Mel White, who is Senior Director, Special Projects & Coordination.
Odedeji, in his remarks, expressed the polytechnic’s commitment to the partnership, saying “We will play our roles effectively in this partnership.”
The Rector said the polytechnic possesses an array of researchers who are ” receptive, teachable and ready to collaborate.”
Apart from research, Odedeji expressed readiness for collaboration on the exchange programmes between the institutions.
While applauding the first class monarch for providing the platform, Odedeji assured him that the institution will make good use of the partnership to improve on research and teaching in the institution.
Osagie noted that partnerships between institutions are needed to jointly tackle challenges around the world.
“Partnerships are very important because when it comes to global challenges, there is no one individual, no one institution and no one country can address these challenges. So, we all have to collaborate with each other to be able to address these issues,” Osagie said.
He said faculty members from both institutions will meet and discuss their areas of interest in order to formalise the partnership.
He said “What is going to happen is that we are going to have a workshop where faculty members from Penn State University will meet with faculty members from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and other institutions, and have a conversation so that their level of interest will play up.
“On the basis of those interests, we are going to organise a workshop where people can actually narrow down on the kind of activities they would like to do research in.”
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