A bright Nigerian man receives the award for top graduating student in Chemical Engineering with a 4.82/5.00 CGPA.
AFRICA | A talented Nigerian man wins the award for best graduating student and receives a 4.82/5.00 CGPA in Chemical Engineering.
Bello Peace Olalekan, a bright Nigerian, graduated with a remarkable cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 4.82/5.00 from Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria with a degree in Chemical Engineering.
Additionally, he was given the prize for his department’s top graduating student. Peace shared his accomplishment on LinkedIn and hoped that others would be motivated by his academic path.
Read more:
- 27-year-old Lady breaks record at US university, becomes the first African-American woman to bag PhD in Security Engineering
- A 59-year-old man earns a PhD from a US university after six years, marking a remarkable accomplishment.
- A remarkable 12-year-old girl receives a scholarship grant of over N500K for using her self-made business to feed other kids.
He explained that his love of chemistry and mathematics, along with his desire to ensure that energy is accessible, inexpensive, and clean, motivated him to pursue a degree in chemical engineering.
According to Peace, it was difficult and at first appeared nearly impossible to go from a first-semester grade point average of 4.31/5.00 to a final cumulative grade point average of 4.82/5.00.
He claimed that although it was challenging to pinpoint the causes of his early academic failures, he was unwavering in his resolve to succeed.
He also talked about some of his personal struggles, such as having two surgeries in a 48-hour period during his second year because of severe health issues. He thanked God, the doctors, and his own fortitude for persevering in the face of these challenges.
Peace was awarded his first scholarship by the MTN Foundation during his third year. In his fourth year, he also had the chance to participate in industrial training with Coca-Cola HBC and SLB.
He said that his academic and professional paths were significantly shaped by his membership in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Peace dedicated hours to online education.
He started his career in technology in 2020, when he helped his school win its first AIChE worldwide competition. At the same time, he started studying data science and artificial intelligence.
When Peace was a student member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers International, he published his first scholarly work in 2021. His team, Chemotronix, was founded and subsequently developed into a firm during the DSNai – Data Science Nigeria AI for Energy Hackathon, in which he later took part.
The collection of datasets for his project was one of the major obstacles Peace had to overcome in his last year.
Under the supervision of his project supervisor, he investigated thermo-economic and exergy analysis using data from the Shell Quest Canada Blue Hydrogen Project after multiple attempts to obtain it.
Peace conveyed his sincere appreciation to his parents, academic advisers, teachers, and student fellowship (BSFOAU) for their steadfast support. He added that he was inspired to keep aiming for greatness by the numerous honors he had earned along the way.
When Peace looked back on his academic career, he said it had given him a lot of important lessons that strengthened his will to succeed. “Difficulties are meant to be overcome, and life is never a bed of roses,” he stated.
He also treasured the deep connections he made through volunteering, leadership positions, hackathons, and pitching contests. Peace gave other academics advice, telling them to never give up, trust the process, seek help, and always strive for better.
With an eye on the future, Peace is enthusiastic about developing sustainable solutions that combine clean energy systems with intelligent digital technology.
