Engr. Dr. Seyi Festus Olatoyinbo
Dr. Seyi Festus Olatoyinbo obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Mechanical Engineering in December, 2015 and his second Master of Science in Engineering degree in Aerospace Engineering in May, 2010; both from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama, USA. He received his first Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State in January, 2001. His Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering was obtained from Ondo State University (now Ekiti State University) Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State in January, 1998. He holds an Executive Diploma in Cybersecurity and a Certificate in Project Management from Insight Global Training Academy in March, 2024.
Engr. Olatoyinbo is a registered Mechanical Engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN). He is a corporate member of the following national and international professional bodies; the Nigerian Society of Engineers (MNSE), the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers (MNIMechE), the Nigerian Institution of Space Engineers (MNISEng), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (MASME) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (MAIAA).
Dr. Olatoyinbo joined the services of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) in May, 2008 as an Assistant Chief Engineer and rose through the rank to become a substantive Director in January, 2022. Between January, 2023 and July, 2024, he served as the third substantive Provost of the Institute of Space Science and Engineering (ISSE), a Postgraduate Institute of NASRDA, affiliated to the African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja FCT. He also serves as an Assistant Professor in the Aerospace Engineering Department of the Institute from October, 2018 to date. In his lecturing career, he has successfully supervised over 15 undergraduate students and 8 postgraduate students at postgraduate diploma (PGD) and master’s degree levels.
Between January, 2019 and December, 2022, Dr. Olatoyinbo was the Director in charge of the Advanced Aerospace Engines Laboratory, an advanced engineering laboratory of NASRDA, located in Oka-Akoko, Ondo State. Under his leadership, some engineering projects of national relevance were undertaken; prominent among them is the development of a cold gas thrusting system for nano-satellite application showcased at 2022 Science and Technology EXPO hosted by the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, Abuja.
Between January and December, 2018, Dr. Olatoyinbo was the pioneer Head of Aerospace Systems Division of the Department of Engineering and Space Systems at NASRDA Headquarters, Abuja. While in the USA for his postgraduate studies, he was the Project Manager for the first 3km-altitude sounding rocket designed, built and launched by a team of Nigerian engineers in Alabama in 2010
Before joining NASRDA, Dr. Olatoyinbo assumed duty as Lecturer II in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ado-Ekiti (now Ekiti State University) in July, 2001 and rose to Lecturer I in October, 2005. He served as the PGD Coordinator of the Mechanical Engineering Department between 2003 and 2006. He was appointed as the acting Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department from 2006 to 2008. Under his headship, the Department was awarded full accreditation status by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN). His research areas include; rocket nozzle design optimization, rocket propulsion system analyses, numerical simulations of turbulent flows, code verification and validation, and applied computational fluid dynamics.
Dr. Olatoyinbo has authored or co-authored over 30 invited lectures, conference papers and journal articles published in conference proceedings and journals. His hobbies include listening to gospel music, dancing, swimming, and playing soccer. He is happily married and blessed with three wonderful children.
