Prof. Sulyman Age Abdulkareem (SAA) was born on 21st January, 1954 at Oro town, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. He attended the Government Secondary School, Ilorin, for both his secondary school education and the Higher School Certificate (HSC) from 1968 to 1974, which he undertook with a Kwara State Government Scholarship.
He later got the Federal Government Scholarship for his university education at the University of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. between 1975 and 1980. At the end of the course, he came out in flying colours and was awarded the MChE, BChE (Chemical Engineering) specializing in Heterogeneous Catalysis/Reaction Engineering.
From 1985 to 1988, this high-flying intellectual was awarded the United States of America National Science Foundation Fellowship for his Ph.D programme in Chemical Engineering at the University of Louisville, USA. He also completed his Ph.D in flying colours and obtained the Engineer-In-Training Certificate of the State of Minnesota, USA in 1991. He became a registered Engineer of the Nigerian Society of Engineers in 2002 and a COREN Registered Engineer in 2004.
Prof. Abdulkareem was a Lecturer, engaged by the Detroit Board of Education Detroit, Michigan, USA from August 1984 to August 1985; and a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, from September 1985 to August 1988. He joined the services of the University of Ilorin as a Senior Lecturer in 1996 and rose to become a Professor in September 2005, the same year he discovered and fabricated a substance that could be used to rescue the environment of the oil producing areas from the menace of oil spillage and save their waters from perennial pollution.
A consummate researcher and thorough-bred academic, he has a lot of inventions and has many Patents to his credit. These include:
- Kareem, S. A., Unilor Oil Sorbing Wafers, Federal Republic of Nigeria, RP 16005 (2005);
- Kareem, S. A. Unilor Lubricating Grease, Federal Republic of Nigeria, RP16006 (2005)
- Kareem, S. A., Unilor Candle, Federal Republic of Nigeria RP16007 (2005)
- Abdulkareem, S. A. and Amoloye, T. O. (2013). Catalytic Conversion of Low Density Polyethylene (Discarded Pure Water Sachet) to Solid, Liquid and Gaseous Hydrocarbon Fuels, NG/P/2010/332
Prof. Abdulkareem has held many important positions in the University, among which are: Director, SIWES (2000 – 2008); Head, University Admissions Unit (2006 – 2009); Dean, Student Affairs (2008 – 2010); and Director, Laboratory-To-Product Centre (September 2015 to date).
From June 2010 to June 2015, Prof. Abdulkareem was Vice-Chancellor of AlHikmah University, Ilorin. He is happily married with children.
