Into the Alumni Day and SEEES Conference, 2026 Edition.
Ugochukwu Kenechukwu
The SEEES Conference, held by the Society of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Students, University of Ibadan, serves as the premier platform in terms of intellectuality and professionalism for the department during the academic year. The conference brings students, professors, and industry experts together in order to narrow down the difference between the theory studied in the Faculty of Technology and current market demands in the sphere of technology and energy.
On the 8th of September, SEEES-UI held the 2026 edition of this conference, led by her student president, Joel Oluwagbenga Ayobami and other executive members of SEEES-UI. This piece documents an interview conducted with the renowned student president.
An Interview with Joel Oluwagbenga Ayobami, SEEES-UI Student President
- What was the core theme and motivation behind this year’s SEEES conference, and how well do you feel the discussions delivered on that theme?
The core theme was “Sustainable Power Systems and Beyond: Engineering Nigeria’s Tomorrow.” The theme was holistic in the sense that it balanced power systems with other critical areas like electronics, embedded systems, cloud computing, software, renewable energy, and academics. The discussions were delivered extensively on the topic. We commenced with our alumni lecturer, Abisola Koku from McKinsey & Company, who opened the day with a lecture titled, “Can we engineer a future we cannot yet see?” She led discussions around energy, power systems, the current situation of Nigeria’s power sector, pertinent industry challenges, improvement strategies, and pathways toward achieving sustainable energy by 2040. She also engaged the audience with very interactive practical exercises
- How would you assess the turnout and engagement today, both from your departmental peers and across the wider faculty?
The overall turnout was solid, although we experienced a slow start. Attendees arrived quite late; people started coming around 11:00 AM for an event scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM, which forced us to adjust our start time. However, between 11:00 AM and 12:00 PM, the venue was completely filled to capacity—to the point where there was no standing room left, and we actually ran short of refreshment packs. Faculty-wide engagement was strong. We had the Faculty President in attendance, the SPE Student Chapter President, representatives from the WBE department, and delegates from virtually all departments across the Faculty of Technology.
- Conferences often generate temporary excitement. How does SEEES intend to keep this momentum alive and ensure the ideas discussed translate into practical skill development this session?
SEEES Week is an annual tradition that continues every academic session, providing a recurring anchor. Beyond that, we maintain continuous communication pipelines with our invited resource persons so students can engage with them virtually and physically. Operationally, we have several follow-up initiatives directly aligned with the conference topics. These include our hands-on hardware training programme and structured mentorship sessions with our alumni network. These avenues ensure that the technical and practical skills introduced during the conference are continually reinforced throughout the session.
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In all, the 2026 Alumni Day and SEEES-UI was a huge success and has successfully established implementable roadmaps for innovations and development.
