Center for Applied Sciences and Technology Research

The Centre for Applied Sciences and Technology Research (CASTER) has the mandate to coordinate, monitor, domesticate and document all R&D activities of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, in addition to carrying out its own direct cutting edge research projects. The Centre does these bearing in mind at all times that innovative researches raise the University profile, enhance internally generated revenue and produce patentable results that promote human development indices, boost national economic growth and upscale positive social-political transformations.

As at 2018, the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University through the Centre, has completed several R&D projects while several others are ongoing and several others are still being proposed and conceptualized. Funding for the research activities comes from several external sources with funding from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Tertiary Education Fund (TETFund) and Raw Materials Research and Development Council constituting hugely significant components.

In direct response to the fulfilment of the objectives of the first strategic plan which were aimed at creating centres of excellence in teaching, research community/extension service at IBB University, former Vice Chancellor, Professor Ibrahim A. Kolo appointed Professor Dennis O. Balogu as pioneer Director of the Centre for Applied Sciences and Technology Research (CASTER) in November 2011. Balogu was mandated to develop a Centre of Excellence in Applied Sciences and Technology-based researches.

The major focus-areas are conducting food security research and development with concentration in agricultural production, food processing, preservation, packaging and storage. Other areas of concentration include researches in Climate Change, Geology, protect of finding hydrocarbon deposits in Niger State, Nigeria, Biofuel, fisheries and water/aquatic life ecology. Most of the researches conducted at the University are sponsored by the Public Sector grants, which is totalling over one hundred million naira (N100,000,000.00), and by Institutional and private resources. For operational procedures of CASTER, see Modalities for Operating CASTER.

In 2013, IBB University completed the construction of a ‘specialized laboratory complex’ (that includes six laboratory suites) which houses the Centre for Applied Sciences and Technology Research. CASTER has attained specific milestones that enhance national food security efforts in the area of processed foods and juices using indigenous agricultural products, for example:

(1) Processed and bottles juices, e.g. cashew and mango juices;
(2) Processed and packaged powdered whole egg and egg yolk.
(3) Processed and packaged instant pounded yam flour; and
(4) processed pasta of various designs and shapes.

CASTER in collaboration with the Department of Food Science and Technology (FST), has excelled in designing indigenous processing equipment, processing and preservation of indigenous food grains, tubers, fruits and eggs into maize meal, millet and yam flours; egg yolk powder; and cashew and mango juices. Most of the research projects are funded by Nigeria’s Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP). The applied research and production efforts were manifested during the IBB University’s Second Inaugural Lecture of Prof. Balogu in March 2014 entitled “Appropriate Technologies: Food Processing and Preservation as key to Food Security in Nigeria – Opportunities for Technology Transfer,” and IBB University’s Maiden Convocation in May 2014 where the university community and over 3,000 visitors were served with cashew and mango juices, processed and bottled in CASTER and the FST programme. In March 2016, a collaboration between FST and CASTER show-cased eight research result exhibitions during the Sixth Edition of Nigerian Universities Research & Development Fair (NURESDEF) sponsored by the National Universities Commission.

Considering that Niger State, Nigeria is an Agricultural producing state with over 78 percent of its employed residents Agriculture, IBB University, Lapai lays emphasis in research that will improve the standard of living and well-being of farmers which enhance the national food security of Nigeria. The objectives of the research projects therefore focus on productivity and value-added processing of Nigerian indigenous foods and vegetable crops in increase Nigeria’s degree of food security. IBB University researchers are involved in several food processing and quality assurance researches, development of indigenous alterative food processing technologies to provide affordable processed and packaged foods and also to reduce dependency on foreign fabricated food processing technologies.
Strategically, IBBU’s Centre for Applied Sciences and Technology Research endeavours are currently divided into Three major research groups. They are presented as follows:

A. Group 1: (a) Development of nutritious beverages using native fruits and herbs (b) Development of nutritionally fortified instant yam flour Research Leader: Prof. Dennis O. Balogu
Group 2: (a) Formulation and processing of dried egg flour . (b) Value-added nutritious fast-foods using native ingredients. Research Leader: Theophilus M. Ikegwu
C. Group 3: (a) Pre-digestion/fermentation of low-quality feeds as poultry feeds (b) Analyses of native rawmilk and the development of computerized model for predicting shelf-life. Research Leader: Dr. Vincent Tochukwu Balogu