The just concluded 4th edition of the Industrial Games Challenge organized by Total Automation Concepts (TAC) ltd for tertiary institutions was conducted online on Saturday, 21st December, 2024, just like the 2020 edition which took place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The process commenced on the heels of the 32nd COREN assembly at Abuja were specific institutions were invited based on their geographical spread across Nigeria.

The project coordinator, Engr. Paul Ugoji, stated that this was done deliberately to highlight the reach of “Gamification in Learning” as a tool that can complement the traditional means of knowledge transfer in ways that can bridge the gap between various industries and the academia.

He also said, for economic development, Nigerian students should regularly have access to relevant industrial applications and information that would enable them compete comfortably with their peers globally.

The institutions that selected to participate in the 2024 edition were Covenant University, Federal Polytechnic Bida, Federal University of Technology Bida, Landmark University, Nnamdi Azikiwe University and Petroleum Training Institute while the applications utilized for the competition were Alpha 1 Petroleum Products Loading Depot and Alpha 1 Crude Oil Production Platform.

The top 2 Engineering students from each of these institutions were picked for the finals after going through a general basic online training and selection process. The first stage of the finals was a team event which involved the summation of scores obtained from students of each institution after engaging both applications.

The top 3 teams that emerged as winners were Covenant University represented by Aghanwa Daniel and Obin Ubene Egwu with a combined score of 100.0% taking first position, Petroleum Training Institute represented by Ikechukwu Divine Sobechukwu and Joseph Great scored 98.4%, took second position while Nnamdi Azikiwe University represented by Gideon Ubakwe and Francis Nwafor scored 92.0%, took third position.

The funds which make up part of the reward structure were electronically transferred to the top 3 students and the department of the first position team from Covenant University. After this stage, the main final was conducted between the 2 students representing Covenant University to decide who would take home the available laptop as the overall best player and this was picked up by Obin Ubene Egwu.

Finally, for participating in the event, all the 6 institutions received 10 one-year free licenses each for both applications to be installed in any computer of their choice. Before concluding the event, some invited industry professionals who witnessed the competition advised the participating students on how to make the best use of the opportunities they have now while in school.

The participating students then expressed their appreciation of the concept utilized for the event and hoped that the competition would be sustained on an annual basis for the Nigerian educational system.

The project coordinator thanked the students, institutions and lecturers who coordinated the students without whom the event wouldn’t have been possible.

He highlighted some of the challenges faced as internet penetration, non-uniformity of academic calendar, students access to personal computers and sponsorship but stated that he was glad that some of these issues were surmounted to an extent.

Finally, he also indicated that next year’s edition would be broader with more gamified applications covering a crude oil refining facility, waste water treatment plant, turbine power plant, spill contingency exercise and many more could be incorporated into the competition with support or sponsorship from industries covered by the project, this as earlier stated would definitely help us bridge the gap between the academia and various industries.