University of Lagos

Brief description

Founded in 1962, the University of Lagos has, for over 5 decades, provided qualitative and research-oriented education to Nigerians and all those who have entered its domain in search of knowledge. At its inception, the University of Lagos was empowered to produce a professional workforce that would steer the political, social and economic development of a newly independent country. Over the last fifty years the University has pursued this mission with vigour, excellence and panache. The University has built a legacy of academic excellence and is now acclaimed publicly as “the University of First Choice and the Nation’s Pride.”

The establishment of the University of Lagos in 1962 was informed by the need to intensify the training of a professional workforce for a newly independent Nigeria in search of rapid industrialisation and economic development

As independence approached, it was evident that the country lacked the requisite workforce to actualise the people’s dream. Towards this end, the Federal Government established the Eric Ashby Commission on Post School Certificate and Higher Education in Nigeria in May 1959. The Ashby Commission’s report, titled Investment in Education, recommended the establishment of a new university in Lagos, the then Federal Capital, to offer day and evening courses in Commerce, Business Administration, Economics and Higher Management Studies. In 1961, the Federal Government assigned the detailed planning of the new university to a UNESCO Advisory Commission. However, whereas the Ashby Commission had envisaged a non-residential institution which would be cited in the business district of Central Lagos, the UNESCO Commission opted for a traditional university, “a complete all-encompassing institution” with residential accommodation on a large campus. Following the acceptance of the UNESCO Commission’s report, the University of Lagos was established on 22nd October 1962 on the authority of the University of Lagos Act of 1962.

The Department of Biomedical Engineering started in the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos in 1974, as the Biomedical Engineering Unit, in collaboration with the University of Liverpool. As the Biomedical Engineering Unit, it was primarily responsible for the repairs and maintenance of engineering facilities and installations within the college. As part of its responsibility, the unit was also training Biomedical Technologists. The unit was equipped with facilities for medical diagnosis and research such as the electron microscope, which was an uncommon equipment in the developing world then. It became a full-fledged academic department of the College of Medicine in the 2009/2010 session.

The department commenced post graduate programmes in Biomedical Engineering in the 2012/2013 session with the Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) programme. The Master of Science (M.Sc.) Biomedical Engineering programme started in the 2013/ 2014 session.

In addition to running departmental programmes, the Department of Biomedical Engineering has also been involved in the teaching of some undergraduate courses for sister departments in the College of Medicine.

The department draws many of its academic staff from several other departments in the University because of the multi-disciplinary nature of the programmes it runs.

Vision of the Department: To provide world class Biomedical Engineering education by leveraging on knowledge in engineering and the sciences to create a synergy that stimulates innovative interdisciplinary cross fertilization of ideas leading to solutions, new technologies and therapies that solve medical and allied problems and improve health care delivery.