Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has approved the appointment of Prof. Sunny Iyuke as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, Delta State.
This is contained in a statement by Mr Idang Alibi, Director, Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Petroleum Resource, in Abuja on Thursday.
Kachikwu said the approval was in line with the Petroleum Institute Act of 1972.
PTI is an institution established to provide instruction, training and research in petroleum technology and produce technicians and other skilled personnel for the petroleum industry.
Iyuke, until his appointment was a Professor of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, South Africa.
He obtained B.Sc (Chemistry) from Bendel State University (now Ambrose Alli University), Ekpoma, and M.Sc Chemical Engineering from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1987 and 1994, respectively.
He bagged his PhD in Chemical and Process Engineering from the National University of Malaysia in 1999 and had over 260 Articles worldwide.
He also had numerous patents in Nanotechnology locally and internationally, including the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), and Chair of Biochemical Engineering at the University of Witwatersrand from 2007 – 2013.
Iyuku is presently a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Petroleum Studies (IPS), University of Port-Harcourt and had also collaborated in research and teaching at the Fuel Cell Institute of the National University of Malaysia.
The other universities, include the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA.
He is a registered professional Engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa; a Fellow of the South African Academy of Engineers and a Chartered Engineer with the Engineering Council, United Kingdom.
Iyuku, 52, was born in Irhodo Jesse in Sapele, Ethiope-West Local Government Area of Delta and is married with children.
