Chapter One
INTRODUCTION This report entails everything that happened during my IT (Industrial Attachment) and also brief information about the organization where I worked. This SIWES was a very good initiative because it has added a lot of knowledge and technical skills to me. I started my IT in the Trademark Patent and Design Registry under the Ministry Trade and investment on th
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the 15 of March, 2013 and ended on the 2 of Sept, 2013. The head of the Commercial Law department in my organization in person of Mrs. Nima Salman Mann cheerfully welcomed me to the department after which I was introduced to everyone in the department. My supervisor Mr. Abdulwasiu Popoola gave me orientation with a view to familiarizing me with the policies, operations, activities, rules and regulations and the challenges of the department. The orientation assisted me immensely to know more about the department and most especially the acceptance/it unit of the organization with special focus on the relevance of the department to the organization, the relationship of the department to other departments.
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OBJECTIVES OF SIWES The objectives of SIWES are:
To provide an avenue for student in institutions of Higher Learning to acquire industrial skills and experience in their course of study
To prepare students for the working situation they are to meet after graduation
To expose students to work methods and techniques in handling equipment and machinery that may not be available in educational institutions.
To provide students with an opportunity to apply their knowledge in real work situation thereby bridging the gap between university work and actual practice.
ABOUT THE TRADEMARK , PATENT AND DESIGN REGISTRY
This registry has been in existence for a very long while. It has helped the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment to attain one of its important goals which is committed to providing prompt and excellent service delivery consistent with modern innovation and technology as well as raising the profile of Nigeria in the area of Intellectual Property Protection, in a way consistent with best practices across the globe.
Clients come from different part of the country to register their products here. Registering all these products helps in differentiating one business from another, legally protecting each trademark from the use by a competitor. T rademarks are to be distinctive for the goods and services that you provide, not to be deceptive, illegal, immoral and not similar to existing trademarks. The registry is located at Area 3, old federal secretariat, block D, Garki Abuja.
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Chapter Two
I will like to talk briefly about the Acceptance/IT unit being one of the most important unit and its relationship with other unit in the registry. Without the Acceptance/IT unit, the organization will have encountered a lot of problems and challenges because of the vital roles it plays. The unit is currently headed by Mr Abdulwasiu Popoola.
Functions of the Acceptance/IT unit: Some of the functions of the department are listed below:
Hardware repair
Networking
Hardware installation
Software Installation
Software Development
Data collection
Training
Hardware and System servicing
Server management
Acceptance of manual and online trademarks
Capturing of files for publication
Rejection of manual and online trademarks
Printing of manual and online acceptance and refusal letter
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For the effective performance of all these functions, the head of unit is assisted by other members of staff and a small parasata firm called Einasolutions. The unit consists of three (3) members of staff excluding the head of unit they include Mr Abiodun who was in charge of issuance of acceptance and refusal letter, Miss Deborah Atainyang who was in charge of capturing files for publication and all the files that comes into the unit, Mrs Ayodele Nifemsi who was charge of online acceptance and refusal letter, while the parasata also consists of three (3) member of staff Mr Oyewole Femi who is in charge of networking, hardware and system services, Mrs Anita who is in charge of general system management and Miss joy who is in charge of software development and maintenance.
Relationship between the Acceptance/IT unit and other unit in the registry Due to the need to carry out duties more effectively and faster the need to have a computer was brought about. The Acceptance/IT unit ensures proper installation and maintenance of the hardware and other computer accessories such as Monitor, Printer, CPU, Scanner, and UPS. This unit also ensures proper software installation including operating and application software’s and also software maintenance. Apart from all these, this unit ensures that all
trademarks available in the unit are treated, their owners collect their acceptance or rejection letter in good time and also they are moved for publication in good time also. From the director to the head of units and to all the members of staff, the Acceptance/IT unit handles their hardware maintenance, upgrade, software coding and installation. They also ensure prompt upgrade of all the computers and computer accessories in all the other units. They make available wireless internet connectivity for members of staff to carry out their duties and make sure everyone is connected to the network. 5
WHERE I WORKED AT The Acceptance/IT unit is where I spent most of my time as this is where I was posted to after my orientation with the company. In the Acceptance/IT unit I handled responsibilities such as FILE CAPTURING and DATA COLLECTION: Due to the fact that this unit is one of the busiest unit in the department, I was required to help out clear some backlog on the files going to publication and also due to the more work and less hands I was also required to record all manual files that were accepted into a database in the system. USER SUPPORT : As a member of the Acceptance/IT unit, I was assigned to solve user problems of the some units of the company along with Mr Popoola and Mr Femi. At my early stage of the work I watched them solve problems but as time went on I found myself solving user problems alone without any assistance. I was given a duty of attending to other offices when they had problem with connecting their network, was also given the duty to handle all manual accepted application, was also given the duty of handling all the online index cards and help in developing an application that would be used in storing the index cards. I was also given the duty of online applications when ever Mrs Nifemi is not around. Working with this team, I also learnt about various official processes for example i) if an agent wants to collect his/her acceptance letter you follow the following process :
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The agent/client collects the photocopy of the acceptance letter, acknowledge everything therein is correct, then attach it with the form 1 (which is also called letter of authorization)
When this is done, I print out the original copy stamp and seal this copy and then give it to the agent.
ii) when my office is short of materials we follow the following process:
I write a letter requesting all the materials needed
When this is done, I give the head of unit to sign or I sign on his behalf
When this is done, I submit this letter in the admin office in which the admin officer reads this letter
When this is done, the admin officer would give me all the materials requested and if some of these materials are not available he will tell me and would bring it himself to the office when available.
When this is done will take it to the office and put them were they suppose to be .
iii) when an office complains of no network we follow the following process:
When appointed by my supervisor to go and check what the problem is, I will go to the office
Check why the system is not connected, which maybe because the wireless connection is not on or the system can connect to any of the network available
When this is done, if the problem is the wireless connection is not on will put it on and make the connections but if the system can’t connect to any of the network available which often happens I will connect it to the LAN network instead.
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Chapter Three
WORK EXPERIENCE ACQUIRED th
I started my IT on the 15 of March and it was a wonderful experience because of the things I learnt and the people I worked with. I was taken round the department to know the location of the various units and their Head of Unit. I spent most time working with Mr Popoola and Mr Femi as earlier stated and I was involved in a lot of activities and below are some of the basic things I learnt during this period. (1) Practical exposure to the hardware components which includes input devices such as Keyboard, mouse, scanners, photocopying machines and hosts of others; output devices such as Monitors, Printers, Projectors and other peripherals. I learnt how to scan and photocopy documents. I also worked on computers that had RAM, mouse and general hardware problems. The exposures made me have more knowledge about how they operate and allowed me use them more effectively. (2) I learnt how to make LAN cables. (3) I learnt how to connect a computer to a printer on the network. (4) I was made to type reports and other documents on Microsoft word and excel. (5) I also carried out computer maintenance and under this I performed some of the activities below : (i)
Connection and disconnection of computer systems from the network.
(ii)
Taking inventory of printers, scanners, and computer systems.
(iii)
Updating and scanning computer systems for virus.
(iv)
Ensuring firm and secure cable connections.
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(6) I learnt about CorelDraw and how to use them to design:
Business cards
Calendar
Logos
Wedding Invitation cards
(7) I had a practical exposure to networking with special focus on its advantages and operations. The specific advantage of networking includes sharing data, sharing hardware and allows people to communicate efficiently through the use of e-mail. The types of networks based on the distance covered by them include Local Area Network (LAN) (8) I had also had a practical exposure to web design. I learnt both php programming language and css. (9) I had the opportunity to learn and build some web applications which includes:
An upload image web site
A content management system
A simple email registration system without the use of mysql
How to create a comment class
How to create a photograph class
And also how to use css to create image slider
(10)
I also had the opportunity to learn about subnetting
(11)
I also had a special focus on the similarities between a router and a switch,
the differences and their advantages. (12)
I learnt how to create a guest network on a router
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(13)
I learnt the different LAN cable clipping and learnt how to use to them to
connect different systems. (14)
I learnt about software known as imageviewer. This software is used to join
pictures so they can be seen as back and front. (15)
Outside my field of study I learnt the following:
(i) I learnt about trademarks and the processes it takes from when a client just pays for the registration till when the client collects his/her certificate. (ii) learnt how to verify if an acceptance or acknowledgement letter is authentic (iii) I learnt how to also verify if an application has gone for publication or not. (iv) I also learnt how to capture files for publication. (v) I also learnt how to put trademarks in their different classes. (vi) I also learnt how to write manual acceptance and refusal letters (vii)
I also learnt how to cut index cards.
(viii)
I learnt how to arrange online acceptance letters going for publication.
(ix) I learnt how to verify if an online application has gotten to the unit. (16)
I learnt how to use Microsoft office picture manager and Paint, in which I use
to edit some logos.
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Chapter Four
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WORK EXPERIENCE My industrial work experience was a very interesting, challenging, demanding and educative one. The importance of which gave me the basic knowledge of how the corporate world operates. It also gave me the opportunity to put my theoretical knowledge of networking, typing, maintenance, web development to test. It has also given me the prospects of familiarizing and exposing myself to the needed experience in relating with other people especially those that are older and more experienced than I am.
CHALLENGES I faced a lot of challenges during the cause of the industrial training but with everything I can still classify the challenges as a means of learning. I look at every challenge as a means of learning because with the successful overcoming, you can have an idea on how to overcome them the next time it happens. But there were three major challenges I faced. Getting a place of attachment was my first challenge because most organizations I went to said they had no more space for industrial training students and that I should have brought my letter earlier or I have to wait till September or October. The second I’ll say is the distance from the office to my house because they are both at both
ends of the state. From my house to the office is like 45mins on a normal day but with hold up in other parts of the states, it takes me like 1hours 30mins to and from work every day which makes me wake up too early to get to work early or to get home late in the night.
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The third I’ll say is the salary payment. My salary p ayment every month is 5000 naira but the
salary is always delayed. Like the first payment was payed after 4 months, and with the work load of the job it wasn’t encouraging at all.
Apart from these, I was able to manage very well in all other tasks given to me and I was loved by my work supervisors who put me through in some areas and made it possible for me to gain some media terms and also learn from all the units and activities that go on in the organization.
CONCLUSION I will like to conclude by saying that the SIWES programme which I did at the Trade mark registry at the MINISTRY TRADE AND INVESTMENT was worthwhile. Despite the fact that I started mine a bit late due to circumstances beyond my control, I can proudly beat my chest and say that it was a good initiative because of the things I learnt in my field and outside my field. I acquired some experience on how things are organized in an office environment and also about the trademark registry. This programme taught me a lot about punctuality, because I had to wake up as early as 5am to get ready for work so as to get to work on time; diligence, because as an IT personnel this is another important character that one must have due to the kind of information at your disposal. This programme made me understand the importance of creative thinking and hard work because with this one can will not have to rely on the government or private organizations to provide job but rather create one of you own.
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RECOMMENDATION I will like to make a few recommendations as a result of some things I observered. I will recommend that the school authority should extend the duration of the SIWES programme so that students can have more time to familiarize themselves with commercial environment and also learn more in their respective field of study.
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