RELEVANCE
OF
ENGINEERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Yinusa A. ADEDIRAN (FNSE, MIEEE)
Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering
University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria
Email: yinusaade@yahoo.com
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NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
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:
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high cost of production
ease with which finished products can be
imported rather than producing them locally
NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
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
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NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
DEFINITION
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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
NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
DEFINITION
To engineering graduates, entrepreneurship
(specifically) is
 the integration of
– business management
– with engineering/technical skills
leading to the formation of
engineer-entrepreneurs
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NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
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.
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NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
DUAL ROLE OF AN
ENGINEER-ENTREPRENEUR
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a technological professional
with entrepreneurial skills
He must be able to integrate
 business management skills with
 technical skills.
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NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
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
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NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
ADVANTAGES OF
ENGINEERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP
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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.
NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
IMPERATIVE OF
ENGINEERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NIGERIA
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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
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complex political crises and
socio-economic problems
NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
IMPERATIVE OF
ENGINEERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NIGERIA
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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.)
NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
CHALLENGES TO
ENGINEERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NIGERIA
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Poorly Managed Pension Scheme
Poorly Operated Poverty Alleviation
Programmes (NAPEP, NDE, etc.)
Minimum Academic Standard of Higher
Institutions
Multiple Taxations
High Import Tariffs
NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
SOURCES OF FUNDING
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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
NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
QUALITIES OF AN
ENGINEER-ENTREPRENEUR
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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;
NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
QUALITIES OF AN
ENGINEER-ENTREPRENEUR
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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.);
NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
QUALITIES OF AN
ENGINEER-ENTREPRENEUR
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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.
NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
TRAINING IN
ENGINEERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP
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Heartwarming and a good beginning that
entrepreneurship courses have been
introduced into the curriculum of all tertiary
institutions
Growth of the enterprise depends on
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ability to start-off,
Ability to manage effectively and efficiently the
resources at his/her disposal,
creativity to make something different from others
NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
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
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NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
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
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NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
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
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NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
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.
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NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
RECOMMENDATIONS
State Government:
should encourage local governments to assist
interested entrepreneurs
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NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
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
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NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
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.
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NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
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.
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NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
CONCLUSION
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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 redesigned 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.
NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011
THANK YOU ALL
FOR YOUR ATTENTION
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NSE Industrial Div. Intn'l
Conf/AGM, Lagos, 4-6 Oct. 2011