A lecturer at the Gombe State University, Sagir Yusuf-Muhammad, has trained no fewer than 151 students, staff and security personnel of the institution on autonomous and intelligent drone operations.
The training, which took place between November 22 and 27, was geared towards boosting security via drones’ operation.
Speaking at the end of the workshop, Mr Yusuf-Muhammad who is a recipient of the Nigerian Communications Commissions’ 2020 academic institutions’ research grants, said the workshop was geared towards creating a robotic research center, as well as awareness on how to apply drones.
“This initiative is a step towards establishing a robotics research center and awareness for the general public on how to apply drones in various activities such as civil surveillance, farming, photography, and research.
“This will, in turn, create jobs and support the digital economy policy of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy under the able leadership of Professor Isa Ali Pantami,” Mr Yusuf-Muhammad, a robotics expert, emphasized.
He, however, noted that the training would be extended to the Nigerian police, the Military, and other paramilitary institutions in order to boost their capacity in tackling current security challenges in the country.
Mr Yusuf-Muhammad r, who hails from Gombe State, is a First-Class graduate of Computer Science from Gombe State University.
He was the ‘Best Graduating Student’ of his set.
He then proceeded to the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, for a direct Ph.D. programme (without a master’s degree).
The 27-year-old lectured at the University of Birmingham, UK, and served as a research assistant and programmer at the University College, London and De Montfort University Leicester.
He received both national and international awards such as the best graduating student awards; best postgraduate research image award of 2019 at the University of Birmingham, UK; best paper and presentations awards of international conferences, national and international research grants awards, and the prestigious Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, AAAI, doctoral consortium sponsorship, among others.
