Student Emersion In Engineering and Geosciences Research: One-Way Of Strengthening The Disciplines

As studies show, the population of the science and engineering (S&E) community is aging, it is becoming important to get the young S&E students ‘hooked’ early in research. We can achieve this by building research projects into some upper level courses in addition to independent studies or research. Since there are environmental problems and issues that need to be addressed, involving undergraduates early becomes necessary, as they will continue with research that will help address environmental problems/issues. Several courses where research has been integrated as part of the requirement include, but are not limited to these: engineering geology, water resources management, environmental engineering, environmental geology, and hydrogeology. In many of these courses, the research component may account for 30 to 60% of the course grade. Large projects are broken into bite size for students to complete within a semester. Other students have either extended the research project or gone to graduate school to conduct similar research projects. Several research projects from some of these courses have resulted in regional, national and international presentations and publications. The vast majority of the more than 50 students that participated in the research projects found the experience pleasant. Selected students research projects will be presented

Estimation of longitudinal dispersion co-efficient: A review

Accurate determination of longitudinal dispersion coefficient in rivers or streams is necessary for pollution control and management. This can be achieved through tracer studies and has proven to be a reliable method for measuring pollution spread. However, tracer studies practise which is expensive, time gulping and requiring large labour input have been substituted with empirical approaches thereby reducing the applicability of the dispersion coefficient models generated. This study reviews the various models derived as well as methods associated in the collection of tracer concentration data (measurement) existing in the literature. A sustainable approach to this study was identified and research needs were also listed

Parametric evaluation of the Euler–Lagrangian approach for tracer studies

The determination of dispersion number or its coefficient is pertinent to the control of pollution. This study evaluated the importance of the parameters measured from a river in South West Nigeria, during tracer studies using the Euler–Lagrangian approach. Several measurements which included tracer concentration, width, velocity, sampling time, and sampling point interval were obtained between January and April of 2017, cutting across the raining and dry seasons for model development and sensitivity analysis. The result revealed that a 1% increase in the dispersion coefficient will result from a 2.487% increase in velocity (t = 2.671, p = 0.020) and 8.914% increase in the channel width (t = 6.124, p = 0.000), which were statistically significant at 5% and 1%, respectively. This finding is well supported by previous studies which made use of the variable distance and constant time method. Furthermore, sampling time (t = 5.087, p = 0.000), sampling point interval (t = 6.124, p = 0.000), and tracer concentration (t = 2.453, p = 0.030) were new variables identified and all were statistically significant and had a direct relationship with dispersion coefficient. It is recommended that the Euler–Lagrangian approach should be adopted in other rivers to verify these claims, as it could be seen as a sustainable method for conducting tracer studie

TUTORING: THE PLACE OF PERSONALITY AND GENDER

The issue of tutoring in places of learning is becoming significant to study as students tend to prefer a particular personality irrespective of the gender (male or female) among teachers. This choice appears to have effect on the academic performance of students. However, it is perceived that interest in a subject could be a function of attraction to the subject tutor. Therefore, this study captures the role of personality and gender in the selection of tutor and its effect on student’s performance in engineering. Additionally, other factors that could lead to these issues, such as: method of teaching, mentoring ability, communication skills were looked into. This was achieved through the use of a well-structured questionnaire and personal interviews for proper conclusion on the subject matter. The data collected was statistically analyzed with SPSS 21 and results shows that there is dire need for places of higher learning to increase or encourage good personality in tutoring as it will improve academic performance in return. Also, there should be continuity and proper monitoring of mentoring as well as teaching pedagogy. Inclusive learning should be encouraged to harvest good performance of students

Application of Water Recovery Option for Agricultural Use in Developing Countries: Case Study of a Nigerian Community

Africa’s current population of 1 billion people is estimated to increase to 1.8 billion in 2050. This compliments the fastest growing population rate which stands at 2.4 %. Moreover, 40% of Africa’s land is semi-arid while another 27% is desert leaving a common conclusion that water is a crucial resource with tremendous implication on African development. The rapid urbanization and growing population in African cities has resulted in new water management challenges. About 85% of water in Africa is used on agriculture. Only 10% and 5% are used in households and industries respectively. The objective of this study is to appraise the different methods available for water collection, treatment and reuse for agricultural purposes in parts of Nigeria. The study involves the assessment of available methods used by farmers for the promotion of agriculture. The study deployed the use of in-depth interviews, onsite investigation and group discussions in various areas in a typical semi-urban city in southwest Nigeria. The procedure combines descriptive data on the amount of water used per day on farms, sources of the water used, purpose of the water used and the size of the farm. Results of this study showed that a comparatively large volume of water being used for agricultural sustenance is withdrawn from natural aquifer storages. This poses a challenge and threatens global effort of achieving the United Nation’s water-related Millennium Development Goals (MDG 7c) in developing countries aimed at making potable water available for millions of people. It was concluded that a sustainable, de-centralized wastewater treatment plant can be deployed for irrigation purposes in order to reduce pressure from agriculture on groundwater resources and, at the same time, encourage artificial recharge of wells. Also, adequate and efficient water management procedures which would help to overcome emerging water challenges were proposed

Response of Growing Pigs to Diet Physical Form and Allzyme® SSF Supplementation in a Palm Kernel Meal-Based Diet

. The increasing cost of conventional feeds calls for the unconventional ones. The effect of Allzyme®SSF and diet physical form on performance, haematological and serum biochemical indices of growing pigs fed with palm kernel meal-based diet was determined. Twenty four growing pigs comprising of twelve male and twelve female weighing 8.95±1.01Kg were assigned into four dietary treatment groups involving dry mash diet, wet mash diet, dry mash diet+ Allzyme®SSF and wet mash diet+ Allzyme®SSF in a completely randomized design. After feeding experiment for six weeks, haematological and serum biochemical parameters were determined. Growth performance was observed on a weekly basis for six consecutive weeks. The results showed that the diet physical form and Allzyme®SSF supplementation in a palm kernel meal-based diet did not significantly affect the haematological and serum biochemical parameters; however weight gain and feed conversion ratio were significantly influenced by the diet physical form and Allzyme®SSF supplementation, thus making dry mash diet + Allzyme®SSF the best dietary treatment. The experiment showed that the diet physical form and Allzyme®SSF supplementation in a palm kernel meal-based diet did not have any negative effect on the growing pigs and growth performance was not hindered; therefore palm kernel meal-based diet in wet or dry mash form with or without Allzyme® SSF supplementation could be fed to growing pigs

QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF A UNIVERSITY CAMPUS WASTEWATER RESOURCE

Vast volumes of freshwater can be conserved if the practice of re-using wastewater is encouraged. In this study, the quality of wastewater from the Covenant University campus was assessed to determine its suitability for landscape irrigation purposes. The university uses a constructed wetland (CW) method in treating both its black-water and grey-water (wastewater). An estimated 874,081 litres/day of wastewater was generated and treated as of 2013, with nearly all of this volume discharged without being re-used. To assess the suitability of the wastewater for reuse, duplicate grab samples of treated effluent from the CW and from the grey water outlet were assessed for physical parameters such as pH, Temperature, Total Dissolved Solid (TDS), Salinity, Conductivity were analysed using handheld Hanna multi-meter instrument (model HI2040). Also, chemical parameters such as Nitrate, Nitrite, Lead, Nickel, Cadmium, Zinc and Copper were tested using Palintest photometer (model 8000). Moreover, total coliform was checked, using standard laboratory methods. Results indicated that none of the tested parameters exceeded the specified limits by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of United Nations and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for wastewater reuse. Thus, the treated wastewater in Covenant University was found to be a valuable resource for multiple purposes that can add value other than outright discharge. Thus, it was recommended that appropriate infrastructure be put in place to harness and reuse treated wastewater coming from Covenant University

WOMEN’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE EVALUATION OF WATER-IMPROVEMENT VARIABLES TOWARDS THE ACHIEVEMENT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS: ASSESSMENT OF A SEMI-URBAN CITY IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA

Target 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals is aimed at the sustainable management of water using different levels of challenges and goals for different countries. The survey presented in this paper involves the distribution of 600 well-structured questionnaires to 340 mapped-out households, as well as personal interviews and group interactions to capture respondents’ perceptions in line with the subject matter. The questions examined variables of analysis pertaining to the level of accessibility, cost perception, sources of water and proposed use of water gotten within Ado-Odo Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. The outcome from the contributions of respondents was analyzed using the Multinomial Logit model. The Logit result obtained from the survey showed that the responsibility of accessing water within a household lies with the woman, as more women responded in affirmative to that aspect (61.2%). A thorough appraisal of the demographics showed that respondents depend on private sources, which seem expensive to get because the quality of other sources could not be relied on based on the judgment of some physical properties such as smell and colour. After evaluating all logical variables, the results further identified the shortcomings and complications of water service delivery that have caused respondents to lose confidence in government-provided water facilities. To positively improve the SDG metrics, the research highlights positive initiatives such as subsidy, cost recovery, and policy re-visitation to improve water supply access within Ado-Odo Ota

WOMEN’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE EVALUATION OF WATER-IMPROVEMENT VARIABLES TOWARDS THE ACHIEVEMENT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS: ASSESSMENT OF A SEMI-URBAN CITY IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA

Target 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals is aimed at the sustainable management of water using different levels of challenges and goals for different countries. The survey presented in this paper involves the distribution of 600 well-structured questionnaires to 340 mapped-out households, as well as personal interviews and group interactions to capture respondents’ perceptions in line with the subject matter. The questions examined variables of analysis pertaining to the level of accessibility, cost perception, sources of water and proposed use of water gotten within Ado-Odo Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. The outcome from the contributions of respondents was analyzed using the Multinomial Logit model. The Logit result obtained from the survey showed that the responsibility of accessing water within a household lies with the woman, as more women responded in affirmative to that aspect (61.2%). A thorough appraisal of the demographics showed that respondents depend on private sources, which seem expensive to get because the quality of other sources could not be relied on based on the judgment of some physical properties such as smell and colour. After evaluating all logical variables, the results further identified the shortcomings and complications of water service delivery that have caused respondents to lose confidence in government-provided water facilities. To positively improve the SDG metrics, the research highlights positive initiatives such as subsidy, cost recovery, and policy re-visitation to improve water supply access within Ado-Odo Ota