An attempt to contribute to the ongoing global efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 has necessitated the experimentation of scientific technique by the students of the Department of Chemistry at Skyline University Nigeria (SUN). Albeit for the first time since inception has the students made a successful lab experiment to produce hand sanitizers for the university community and public consumption. This was made public on 18th February 2021, during a project presentation by the students, tagged ‘Laboratory Production of Hand Sanitizers’.
The presentation which was held in the Entrepreneurship Lab of the university was supervised by the members of the Department of Chemistry, under the School of Science and Information Technology. The Head of the Department, Dr. Susanta Pahari, was pleased with the students’ presentation as well as their success in the laboratory. Another faculty, Mr. Courage Dele Famusiwa, expressed his appreciation. “Although we do not expect students to master the fine details of the experiments presented, we expect the students to learn the logic of experimentation: why scientists perform particular experiments, and what techniques one might apply to a given type of problem”.
Mr. Abubakar Sadiq, a Graduate Assistant of the Department, who played a significant impact on the quality of the product, expressed his delight. “Organizing and guiding students in preparation for the presentations compelled us to monitor current research in hand sanitizers and related fields. As important, meeting with students in small groups allowed us to establish the kinds of relationships with students that rarely occur in classes”. I’m happy that the students were able to display their skills, explained the chemical composition, its application, procedures as well as result
While expressing her appreciation, Ms. Zainab Nasidi Abubakar, one of the student presenters of the hand sanitizers, stated that the process was very interesting and an eye-opener for the students to do more, “We appreciate the opportunity to be part of this experiment, to work intensively in groups. We have also learnt to approach problems independently and originally”. Another presenter, Ms. Maryam Murtala, expressed her excitement, “I’m happy to be part of the production process. It has challenged me to do a really good job because I was being evaluated and tested and it served as a springboard towards understanding research experimentation”.
Earlier, while commenting on the students’ presentations, The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Dr. Ajith Kumar.V.V congratulated the students for being able to demonstrate the production process as an integral part of promoting health and wellbeing on their own. “I believe we can use the products in the campus for the prevention of COVID-19 and add value to the society through our students’ innovation and creativity. He added.
The students’ presentation received overwhelming comments and commendation from the presentation supervisors, other members of management, staff and faculty, who urged the students to continue to impact positively in the society. The presentation ended with a distribution of gifts to the presenters and a closing remark from the university’s Special Representative to the Pro-Chancellor, Mr. Abubakar Sadiq Ismail, who stated that the presentation was a shared implementation of knowledge.
More photos below…
