A TECHNICAL REPORT ON STUDENT INDUSTRIAL WORK

EXPERIENCE SCHEME (SIWES)

UNDERTAKEN AT

SILICON VALLEY LIMITED

32 OMANUKWE STREET, OFF CHIEF BENSON STREET, RUMUOLA,
PORTHARCOURT

PRESENTED BY

ONWUAMAEZE IFEANYI MAKUA

CS/15/514

SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

IN

PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD

OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE

MADONNA UNIVERSITY
NIGERIA.

OCTOBER, 2018.

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DEDICATION

2
I dedicate this SIWES report to Almighty God who gave me the privilege, wisdom,
and saw me through my SIWES programme. I also dedicate this report to my dear
mother, for her unending support, prayers, and encouragement that kept me going.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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I am deeply grateful to God for all his blessings and seeing me through the period
of my Industrial Training. Special thanks to my Industrial-Based supervisor Mr.
Kio Clement Bestmann and the staff of Silicon Valley for their time and support all
through my Industrial Training. Also to my supervisor (Mrs. Ibegbunam
Chinonso), my Head of Department (Mrs. Eberendu Cecilia Ogu). I humbly
appreciate all my lecturers for equipping me with the necessary skills to face the
challenges of life, and finally I thank my school for giving me the chance to gain
the experience of this training.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page

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Dedication…………………………………………………………………….......... i

Acknowledgement……………………………………………………………….... ii

Table of Contents…………………………………………………………...iii and

iv

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Industrial Attachment (SIWES)…………...……………………………………

1

1.1.1 Brief History Of Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme

(SIWES)..1

1.1.2 Aims and Objectives of Industrial Training……………………………...

2

1.1.3 Functions of Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme

(SIWES)..........2

1.2 Company of Assignment (Silicon Valley Limited) ………...……………….... 3

1.2.1 Organizational Hierarchy of Silicon Valley Limited…………………….

5

CHAPTER 2: ACTIVITIES

2.1 Web Design And Bootstrap …………………………………….……………...

6

2.2 Overview of PHP……………………………………………………………….

9

5
2.3 SQL (STRUCTURED QUERY LANGUAGE)
……………………………......9

2.4 HARDWARE
…………………………………………………………………10

CHAPTER 3

3.1 Summary ……………………………………………………………………...12

3.2 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………… 12

3.3 Recommendation…………………………………………………………….. 12

3.3.1 Problems Encountered……..…………………………………………...

13

3.3.2 Ways of Improving the Programme…………………..…………….......

13

3.4 Lesson Learnt ………………………………………………………………...

14

REFERENCES
………………………………………………………………..…15

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 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 INDUSTRIAL ATTACHMENT (SIWES)

1.1.1 BRIEF HISTORY OF STUDENTS INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPIRIENCE SCHEME
(SIWES)
The Students Industrial Working Experience Scheme (SIWES) apparently offers a veritable
means of redressing the gaps between the skills repertoire possessed by Nigerian graduates and
relevant production skills required by employers. However, many problems have militated
against the success of the scheme over the years, from its inception in 1973 to date. Apart from
the problems associated with rapid expansion (increase in number of institutions and trainees) of
the scheme, other problems are as a result of inadequate standards for various facets of the
scheme and in most cases, poor adherence to the standards where they exist. The facets of a
training scheme such as SIWES which require proper quality management include the duration
of the training program, supervision of trainees, documentation and assessment of performance,
amongst others.

The changes occasioned by these developments have led to the emergence of a global economy
that is knowledge based. This also implies that the administration of SIWES must catch up with
the wind of reforms that is sweeping across the globe, or be left behind. A critical aspect of the
SIWES process which is the use of Job Specification Documents to guide the practical skills
training process of students is being addressed.

The growing concern among industrialists is that graduates of institutions of higher learning, lack
adequate practical background, preparatory for employment in industries, led to the formation of
Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) by ITF in 1993/1994. ITF has one of its
key functions; (1).
To work as a co-operative entity with industry and commerce where students in institutions of
higher learning can undertake midcareer work experience attachment in industries which are
compatible with student area of study. These have now necessitated the Industrial Training Fund
as an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria which is charged with the responsibility of

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mediating between the tertiary institutions and industries in order to enable students to
participate in industrial activities prior to graduation.

1.1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF INDUSTRIAL TRAINING

The program is planned to provide the necessary skills, knowledge and attitude within practical
experience in the field of Technology. In addition, students are brought face to face with the
reality of what has been taught in class. Prior to the numerous challenges and opportunity facing
the tertiary institutions and industries, the SIWES necessitate the following objectives:

 Provide students with an opportunity to apply their knowledge in real work situation thereby
bridging the gap between theory and practices.
 It helps to develop the intellectual skills of the students as they are often allowed to take
decisions and provide appropriate solution to problems they may encounter.
 It also affords students the opportunity to interact with a large spectrum of people in the
industrial set up.
 Enlist and strengthen employer’s involvement in the entire education process and prepare
students for employment in Industry and Commerce.

1.1.3 FUNCTIONS OF STUDENTS INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPIRIENCE SCHEME

(SIWES)

 Provide an avenue for students in institutions of higher learning to acquire industrial

skills and experience in their approved course of study.
 Prepare students for the industrial work situation which they are likely to meet after
graduation
 Expose students to work methods and techniques in handling devices and equipment not
available in their institutions.
 Expose students with an opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge in real work
situation.

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It is a clear concept that Nigerian graduates are well knowledgeable in the theoretical
background of their respective fields of study but possess inadequate practical experience
required in an industrial workplace. This widening gap between the learning acquired by
graduates of Nigerian Universities and the practical skills required in the work place has over the
years, rundown the academic output of our Universities; as theoretical knowledge alone would
not be adequate in the complete education of a potential employee or employer. Consequently, a
student must not only be knowledgeable in his/her area of expertise but must also acquire all
practical industrial skills that are essential in his/her field of interest.
The Industrial training is a period of time specifically set out for students to work in industries
related to their discipline and gain practical training and better knowledge of such discipline. I
was opportune to work with a web application development firm during the period of my
training. Chapter two of this report entails my activities during my training period in relation to
the industry.

1.2 COMPANY OF ASSIGNMENT (SILICON VALLEY LIMITED)

Silicon Valley Limited was incorporated as a limited liability company on the 21st of November,
1989. Though its first project actually took off in 1991 with the Nigeria Security Printing &
Minting Company Limited, it had its corporate office in Lagos with a total staff strength of four
(4): The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, The Senior Marketing Manager, a Secretary and a
Driver.
By March 1996 the Company relocated its head office to Port Harcourt, its staff strength has
since then increased to a total number of twelve (12).
Silicon Valley Limited has embarked on so many projects since its inception.

1. She was the consultant for full computerization of “The Nigerian Security Printing &
Minting Company Limited" Lagos, in which they oversaw the implementation of the
Tetra Chameleon Software for the company.
2. Silicon Valley Limited was the Management consultant for the restructuring and
computerization of W. W Whyte international Limited Port Harcourt.
3. The company offers Project Support Services (PSS) to Spibat Nigeria Limited, which
includes supplying of Manpower and computer Hardware and Software for the Health
Safety Environment and Security (HSES).
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 4. The company intends to pursue its already written and submitted proposals to different
organisations such as:
i) The Proposal for Maintenance of the Existing Hardware and Software and
Purchase of New Order, Intensive system Training for all their Technology Staff
for:
(a) LNG Bonny Port Harcourt/Lagos Offices.
(b) Health System Fund Project (Ministry of Health) Rivers State.
(c) Noble Drilling Nigeria Ltd.

ii) The proposal for consulting, project management, Integration and Migration
Services for NDlC.
iii) The proposal for Elimination of Ghost Workers by interfacing the Financial
System with the Payroll System and Personnel System by Computerization for the
Rivers State Government (its Ministries and Parastatals).
iv) Silicon Valley proposals with NNPC (Re: Computer aided design and scanning
package for Napims and Corporate Services.

The Company has concluded information Technology (IT) Master Plan for Niger Delta Basin
Development Authority (NDBDA).
The company also carry out five (5) Weeks Training on Desktop Training based on schedules
worked out with them.

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 CHAIRMAN

1.2.1

BOARD OF
DIRECTORS

GENERAL
MANAGER

12
Training Hardware Systems General Software System
School Maintenanc Network/ Admin/ Manager Marketing
Manager e Manager Services Finance Manager
Manager Manager
ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY OF SILICON VALLEY LIMITED

Applicati System Hardware Comput On- On- Micro Mini/main

on Software Maintenan er Line/Real Line/Real Systems Frame
Software Package ce Studies Time Public Time Oil & marketing Systems
Packages s & Commerce Gas Marketing
Sector
 CHAPTER 2

ACTIVITIES

2.1 WEB DESIGN AND BOOTSTRAP

My company I.T department deals mostly with web design and development, so as I began my
industrial training I was introduced to the basics of web design using HTML and CSS, as I
finished the basic training on HTML and CSS, I was introduced to a framework known as
BOOTSTRAP. Bootstrap is simply a pre-coded CSS and JavaScript framework that makes web
design easier I was taught how to install and use it. There are two methods of adding bootstrap to
your website;
1. Using a CDN (Content Delivery Network). To add bootstrap to your website using a
CDN, you have to specify the address in the link tag.

2. Downloading it to your website's directory. If for instance your website's directory name
is ‘learn’, put the bootstrap CSS file in the ‘css’ folder and the bootstrap JavaScript files
in the ‘js’ folder i.e. “learn\css\‘the bootstrap css files’”. The bootstrap CSS file include:
‘bootstrap.css’, ‘bootstrap.min.css’, ‘bootstrap-grid.css’, ‘bootstrap-grid.min.css’,
‘bootstrap-reboot.css’ and ‘bootstrap-reboot.min.css’. Using the link tag, you add the
bootstrap CSS;
<link rel="stylesheet" href="css/bootstrap.min.css">

And use the script tag to add the bootstrap JavaScript;

<script src="js/bootstrap.min.js">

Some people prefer to use the first method while some prefer the second method. The second
method is more secure since CDN’s are secure and they are always up-to-date, but it’s drawback
is that if there is poor network connection or the CDN’s servers are down, the website will take a
longer time to load.
After this I was given a project by my industrial based supervisor to design a Medical Health
Institution website (the project was also a means of learning). This website is meant to contain
the names of all the hospitals, pharmacies, chemists and drug stores in the region of port
Harcourt including their locations (addresses), the facilities they possess and the services they
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offer. The purpose of this website design is to inform or enlighten the masses and also the
Ministry of Health on the names and locations of the quack and unregistered health institutions
in that region (port harcourt). I began my documentation and on-paper design for the website
after which I submitted to my industrial based supervisor and it was approved so I began the
coding and the design of the website.
As my design was going on I was to abandon the project because a new project was to
abandon the project because a new project was brought to me to design a school website for LEA
Model Science Primary School garki, Abuja.
The website was meant to tell/show the information of the above primary school like the: Name,
Location, Head mistress name picture and welcome message, some of the school facilities (with
pictures), history of the school, P.T.A Department, some of the extracurricular activities, name of
the past headmistresses, names of the prefects and so many other information of the school. The
purpose of this website is primarily for the masses that seek for the school information and also
for the students and teachers. I as given a format on how the website should look like and was
instructed to design the website with that format. During the design of the above site I learnt a lot
based on Bootstrap like the
 Jumbotron: A lightweight, flexible component that can optionally extend the entire
viewport to showcase key marketing messages on your site.
<div class="jumbotron">
<h1 class="display-4">Hello, world!</h1>
<p class="lead">This is a simple hero unit, a simple jumbotron-style component
for calling extra attention to featured content or information.</p>
<hr class="my-4">
<p>It uses utility classes for typography and spacing to space content out within
the larger container.</p>
<p class="lead">
<a class="btn btn-primary btn-lg" href="#" role="button">Learn more</a>
</p>
</div>

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  NavBar: Navbars are responsive meta-components that serve as navigation headers for
your application or site. They begin collapsed (and are toggle able) in mobile views and
become horizontal as the available viewport width increases.

As a link

<nav class="navbar navbar-light bg-light">

<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Navbar</a>

</nav>

As a heading

<nav class="navbar navbar-light bg-light">

<span class="navbar-brand mb-0 h1">Navbar</span>

</nav>

 Grid System: Bootstrap’s grid system uses a series of containers, rows, and columns
to layout and align content. It’s built with flexbox and is fully responsive. Below is an
example and an in-depth look at how the grid comes together.

<div class="container">

<div class="row">

<div class="col-sm">

One of three columns

</div>

<div class="col-sm">

One of three columns

</div>

<div class="col-sm">

One of three columns

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 </div>

</div>

</div>
The above are some of the properties of bootstrap that I learnt during the design of the above
school website and so many other properties of the bootstrap

2.2 OVERVIEW OF PHP

PHP is a Hypertext Preprocessor. Its first public release was in 1995 and it was called ‘Personal
Home Page Tools’. PHP is a server-side scripting language designed for use with HTML, it
provides more flexibility to a webpage than HTML alone by allowing creation of dynamic pages
– Interaction with user and data stored in the database. PHP syntax is similar to that of C, Java
and Perl.

To write a PHP script, save the file with a ‘.php’ extension, and in the file, start with the PHP
opening tag - <?php – and end with the closing tag - ?>. PHP being a server-side language,
cannot be run directly on a browser like plain HTML without a server. There are varieties of
Local server applications which can be used to run PHP like; ‘XAMPP’, ‘WAMP’ etc.

Example of PHP code to display ‘Hello World’ : <?php echo("Hello World"); ?>

2.3 SQL (STRUCTURED QUERY LANGUAGE)

SQL is Structured Query Language, which is a computer language for storing, manipulating and
retrieving data stored in a relational database.

SQL is the standard language for Relational Database System. All the Relational Database
Management Systems (RDMS) like MySQL, MS Access, Oracle, Sybase, Informix, Postgres
and SQL Server use SQL as their standard database language.

BASIC SQL CODES

CREATE DATABASE

The SQL CREATE DATABASE statement is used to create a new SQL database.
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 CREATE DATABASE testDB;
DROP DATABASE

The SQL DROP DATABASE statement is used to drop an existing database in SQL schema.
DROP DATABASE testDB;
SELECT DATABASE

The SQL USE statement is used to select any existing database in the SQL schema
USE DatabaseName;

CREATE TABLE

The SQL CREATE TABLE statement is used to create a new table.

CREATE TABLE table_name(
column1 datatype,
column2 datatype,
column3 datatype,
.....
columnN datatype,
PRIMARY KEY( one or more columns )
);

DROP TABLE

The SQL DROP TABLE statement is used to remove a table definition and all the data, indexes,
triggers, constraints and permission specifications for that table
DROP TABLE table_name;

2.4 HARDWARE

During the website design we encountered some faulty system in the office so I was exposed to
some hardware equipment’s in the office of which helped in the repairing of the system some of
which are:

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HAND BLOWER: a hand-held electric blower that can blow warm air onto the motherboard
so as to remove or reduce the dust particles within the computer for better functioning of the
system.

As the faulty systems were brought out I was told to open the system and use the hand
blower to blow out or remove the dust particles on the motherboard out of the 4 systems that
were brought out for repair and maintenance 2 were recovered by the use of the hand blower the
other two were faulty as a result of power surge issues so the power pack were to be changed.

R.A.M (RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY): R.A.M is an acronym for “Random Access

Memory” it is a form of computer data storage that stores data and machine code currently
being used. A random-access memory device allows data items to be read or written in almost
the same amount of time irrespective of the physical location of data inside the memory. I was
asked to open a system unit and was show the r.a.m slot. I was shown how to remove and attach
it back and was given a system unit to carry out a practical

Fig 1: image of a DDR3 RAM

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 CHAPTER 3

3.1 SUMMARY
The student industrial work experience (SIWES) is a very productive experience, with its high
positive impact on students of tertiary institutions being part of schools curriculum, it helps
students to gain more knowledge and develop themselves outside the classroom or school
environment. The SIWES program help to enhance the practical knowledge of students as a
result bridging the gap between the theoretical and practical knowledge, personally, with the help
of the SIWES I have gained much knowledge in Web design and am happy for such experience.

3.2 CONCLUSION

 My SIWES programme at Silicon Valley Limited was beneficial as it goes a long way
enlightening me on the practical aspects of class room theories as well as life at work. I
was able to acquire lots of practical knowledge on ICT as it is today.
 It was an immense benefit to me and all other Nigerian sectors as it takes the student on
an extended tour from the lecture hall to the field and back again.
 The SIWES program should not be over emphasized and as such should remain on the
fore front of the nation’s human resources development policies.

3.3 RECOMMENDATION

Although the SIWES Programme achieved a lot of its stated objective, nevertheless, I suggest the
following recommendations for the improvement of the qualitative and quantitative content of
the program.

 Students should be sent to establishments where stipulated aims and objectives would be
achieved.
 A sustainable amount of money should be given to the students and on time in other to
assist his/her finances during the training period.
 Tertiary institutions in Nigeria should seek for an industrial attachment for their students
because of the difficulties in securing an Industrial Training place.

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3.3.1 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED

Before and during my six months Industrial Training (IT) program, I encountered some problems
which is stated below.

Transportation: because my apartment/place of living is very far from my work place some
days I might have to miss work because of lack of transport money while on other days I will
have to arrive late to work because of the distance.

Adapting to work conditions: Due to the fact that I had no previous work experience, it took
me some time to adapt to the high standards that Silicon Valley Limited places on her
employees.

Lack of working equipment’s: Due to lack funds or Financial support I couldn’t afford to get a
working laptop and this caused a lot of problems between me and my industrial based supervisor.

3.3.2 WAYS OF IMPROVING THE PROGRAM

 There should be a proper monitoring of Industrial Training students by the school

Coordinator to ensure that they are learning in accordance with their respective field of
study.

 Industrial Training students should be given proper training in the company by the skilled
workers.

 Allowance that is being paid to the students for the program by Industrial Training Fund
(ITF) should be paid before students embark on the training exercise since this will go a
long way for the students’ upkeep during the exercise.

 The law that mandates certain category of companies to contribute some percentage of
their profit to the ITF should be enforced so that the industrial training of students can be
further enhanced.

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3.4 LESSON LEARNT

During my industrial training in Silicon Valley I learnt a lot from my work experience of which
some of them are

Good working relationship: I learnt in my work experience that as an employee that you have
to get a good and suitable working relationship with your employer so as to promote good
working condition or environment.

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 REFERENCES

 National University Commission Nigeria (1988), Students Industrial Work

 Industrial Training Fund (2007) Programme for Manpower Training and Development
Vol. 1 (January - June).

 www.svlict.com

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