CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION TO STUDENT WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME
In the earlier stage of science and technology education in Nigeria, students were
graduating from their respective institutions without any technical knowledge or
working experience. It was in view of this that students undergoing science and
technology related courses were mandated, for students in different institution in
view of widening their horizons so as to enable them have the technical knowledge
and working experience before graduating from their various institutions. It is in
this vein that the Students‟ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) was
initiated.
The student industrial work experience scheme (S.I.W.E.S) is a program designed
and coordinated by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), a Federal government
establishment in conjunction with institution of higher learning in Nigeria.
SIWES was established by ITF in 1973 to solve the problem of inadequate practical
skills preparatory for employment in industries by Nigerian graduates of tertiary
institutions. The aim of the program is to expose students to practical aspects of
their various fields of discipline and the industrial work situation they are likely to
encounter in pursuit of their careers during this period.
Students come across new equipment different from the ones they are familiar
with, they also get accustomed with new techniques of handling the equipment
which enable them to apply the various theoretical class works to the practical
aspect of the job in order to enhance the understanding of their discipline.
The Scheme exposes students to industry based skills necessary for a smooth
transition from the classroom to the world of work. It affords students of tertiary
institutions the opportunity of being familiarized and exposed to the needed
experience in handling machinery and equipment which are usually not available
in the educational institutions.
Participation in Industrial Training is a well-known educational strategy. Classroom
studies are integrated with learning through hands-on work experiences in a field
related to the student’s academic major and career goals. Successful internships

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foster an experiential learning process that not only promotes career preparation
but provides opportunities for learners to develop skills necessary to become
leaders in their chosen professions. One of the primary goals of the SIWES is to help
students integrate leadership development into the experiential learning process.
Students are expected to learn and develop basic non-profit leadership skills
through a mentoring relationship with innovative non-profit leaders.
By integrating leadership development activities into the Industrial Training
experience, they hope to encourage students to actively engage in non-profit
management as a professional career objective. However, the effectiveness of the
SIWES experience will have varying outcomes based upon the individual student,
the work assignment, and the supervisor/mentor requirements. It is vital that each
internship position description includes specific, written learning objectives to
ensure leadership skill development is incorporated.
Participation in SIWES has become a necessary precondition for the award of
Diploma and Degree certificates in specific disciplines in most institutions of higher
learning in the country, in accordance with the education policy of government.
These operations include the ITF, the coordinating agencies (NUC, NCCE, and
NBTE), employers of labour and the institutions. They are funded by the Federal
Government of Nigeria.
Beneficiaries - Undergraduate students of the following: Agriculture, Engineering,
Technology, Environmental, Science, Education, Medical Science and Pure and
Applied Sciences.
Duration - Four months for Polytechnics and Colleges of Education, and at most Six
months for the Universities. The second semester, fourth year of the
undergraduate degree in the Nigeria University of Technology is used for this
industrial training program which is a period of six months. During this period, I was
attached to Caverton Helicopters Nigeria Limited.
1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF SIWES
The key objectives of the scheme include:
 To make the labour force more vibrant and simultaneously making the
economic sector more buoyant.

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  To prepare students to be accustomed to work and other administrative
assignments, and also to cultivate the spirit of punctuality when employed in
the future.
 To assess the interest of the student and the suitability for the occupation
he/she has chosen.
 To provide students with an opportunity to apply his/her knowledge in real
work situation thereby bridging the gap between academic work and actual
set up.
 To expose the student to work methods not taught in the institution and to
provide access to production equipment.
 To ease transition from school to the work environment and make work
easier and also to enhance students’ contact for later job placement.
 To enlist and strengthen employer involvement in institutional activities and
in the entire educational process of preparing the student for employment
in the industry.
 To provide the students with an opportunity to apply his/her theoretical
knowledge in normal work situation thereby bridging the gap between class-
work and actual practice.
 To make the transition from school to the labour market easier for the
student.
 To enhance the assessment to students’ interest and suitability in their
various courses of study.
 To strengthen employers. involvement in institutional activities and in the
entire education process of preparing the students for industrial
employment.
 To enlighten students on the pitfalls to avoid in the business world as well as
to maximize profit in their various industrial and commercial settings.
1.3 PARTICIPANTS IN SIWES
The major participants in the SIWES are below listed.
 The Federal Government
 The Industrial Training Fund
 The Coordinating Agency (NUC)
 The Institutions (Universities)

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  The Students
 The Employers

CHAPTER TWO
CAVERTON HELICOPTERS LIMITED
2.1 BRIEF HISTORY OF CAVERTON HELICOPTERS
Caverton Helicopters Limited was established in September 2002 as a charter,
shuttle and maintenance company. It is a subsidiary of Caverton Offshore Support
group (COSG). It was initially set up to bridge the gap in the onshore helicopter
service sector. Since then, Caverton Helicopters has made strides into the offshore

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support (oil and gas) industry by providing logistics support to the major players.
Caverton Helicopter operates out of a 10,000 square meter flight facility at the
Murtala Muhammad International Airport in Lagos. The company also owns and
operates out of several purpose-built facilities in Victoria island (The Ozumba
Heliport), Port Harcourt (NAF Base), Warri and Cameroon.
The company’s focus and primary business is to render logistics and environment
support services to the Nigerian Oil and Gas producers, with broader support to
support energy operations along the West African shelf. Part of our strength in
serving the oil and gas industry is based on making suited choices in the type of
aircraft that we offer. With operating bases in strategic locations.
Caverton Helicopters is able to provide a wide array of services to the offshore oil
and gas
industry as well as other business sectors. They also offer support in

❖ Maritime and coastal surveillance

❖ Emergency medical evacuation

❖ Search and rescue

2.2 ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

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 CHAPTER THREE
WORKDONE AND EXPERIENCE GAINED
3.1 IT SERVICES
The IT Services team within the Resource Management Department of Caverton
Offshore support group (COSG) provides IT Support (amongst other services) in
computer systems and information systems to all staff members.
“IT Support” is defined as any queries made by end users to the IT Services team
regarding any failures, problems, issues, questions and other matters relating to
the operation and continuity of company-owned PCs, servers, web sites,
software, peripherals, mobile devices and other equipment or assets.
The job of the IT Services department is divided into three major parts
 User Support
 System Support
 Network Support
3.2 USER SUPPORT
User support means providing training, assistance and support to Users. The team
interprets customer questions and offer solutions. Some of the activities
performed under this section are:
 Setup of hardware and/or vendor-supported operating systems
 Installation assistance for properly licensed software
 Mobile device support
 Equipment decommissioning
 Configuration, ordering and receiving of computer hardware and software
 Ongoing maintenance etc.
3.3 SYSTEM SUPPORT
This is further subdivided into two parts
● Software Support & Hardware Support

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3.3.1 Software Support: Support is provided for all core software packages and
operating systems on COSG workstations, servers, laptops and other IT
equipment. Support is also provided for department-specific software
applications. Specifically, support is provided for:
 Microsoft Windows 7, 8 and 10
 MS Office
 Third party hosted applications: SAP, Sophos, TeamViewer, AnyDesk,
Helioffice, Panda, Enpeople, Ramco etc and all aircraft manuals and
programs.
These applications and more are stored in a shared Network folder (protected) for
easy access to all IT personnel with the company.
We were tasked with the installation and management of all these different
licensed applications for laptops and desktops.

3.3.2 Hardware Support: Support is provided for all core hardware and devices.
All
cases of suspected hardware faults are diagnosed accordingly and the IT Services
Team will attempt to fix hardware defects to the best of its ability, but may need
to send equipment back to the vendor/manufacturer. Specifically, support is
provided for:
 HP Printers: Officejet, DeskJet and LaserJet series
 HP 3-in-1 printers: Officejet 6300 series, 8600 series and 5500 series

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  HP Scanners
 Sharp, Canon or Ricoh photocopiers
 HP, Dell desktops and monitors
 Laptops: HP, Sony VIO and official MAC systems
The team gives support for all issues pertaining to system hardware. We receive
complaints from users and immediately work on its resolution, be it system lag,
user profile corruption, forgotten passwords, hard disk crash etc.
On occasions when systems are diagnosed to need extended repairs, it is quickly
escalated to external engineers for assistance.

3.3.3 Photocopier management

This is a topic of its own because on a daily basis, documents are sent and
received from within the company to outside interests. So its management is a
very important duty of the IT Services department. Some of the treatments we
perform on the photocopiers are:
● Setting up printing and scanning for users
● Installation of printers on laptops/desktops
● Creation of addresses/profiles for users to print and scan.
● Clearing print counters
● Clearing scanner journals
● Clearing paper jams
● Changing toners
Fig. A: Ricoh photocopier (Current Photocopier type used by Caverton Helicopters
Ikeja)
Fig B. Printer interface
Fig C: Addresses of some users

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3.4 NETWORK SUPPORT
The IT Services team is responsible for monitoring the company network. All cases
of network failure will be diagnosed accordingly but in some instances additional
support might be required from the Internet Service Provider (ISP). The major
networks (ISP) used by Caverton Helicopters are
 ipNX: A reliable network provider that runs on a bandwidth of 7 Mbps. It is
mainly reserved for the Managing Director, Directors and a few other
members of staff. This is the ISP used by the IT Services department.
 SwiftTalk: This is the ISP used by the majority of the staff because it runs on
a higher bandwidth of 10 Mbps. IT Services temporarily switched to this
network to monitor an upgrade being done by the network provider.
 21st Century: This is the guest link that provides access to the Internet, but
not on the home network. As the name suggests, it’s for guests to connect
to.

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3.4.1 ETHERNET SWITCHES AND PATCH PANELS
When connecting devices in data centres (server room), two common
components include a patch panel and a network/Ethernet switch. Caverton
Helicopters has a well-designed structured cabling system that makes installation
of a patch panel and an Ethernet switch effortless. Once mounted on the server
rack, the use of horizontal cable management keeps everything neat and tidy.
An Ethernet Switch is a device that forwards data packets between devices. Now
data packets are units of data made into a single package that travels along a
given network path. A switch connects devices within a network (in this case, a
local area network) and forwards data packets to and from those devices.

A Patch panel is a passive component that compliments the switch. The panel is
designed to group multiple network ports in a single location which helps
organize the wiring. Labelling the cables connected to a patch panel makes it
easier to identify signal flow as well as diagnose and troubleshoot any technical
issues. Devices can be networked together by connecting them to the switch
through the patch panel.

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3.4.2 ETHERNET HUBS
A Hub is a network hardware device for connecting multiple Ethernet devices
together and making them act as a single network segment. A hub differs from a
switch in that packets sent from one of the connected devices is broadcast to all
of the devices that are connected to the hub. With a switch, packets are directed
only to the port that leads to the device that packets are addressed to.

3.4.3 ETHERNET CABLES

These are a type of network cable used to provide internet connection. They are
designed to work with Ethernet ports by carrying broadband signals between the
switches, computer and other wired internet-capable devices thus delivering
faster internet and more reliable connectivity.
3.4.4 HOW TO CRIMP AN ETHERNET CABLE
What you'll need:
● Unshielded twisted pair (UTP) patch cable (1)
● Ethernet connector (aka RJ45) (2)
● Crimping tool (3)
● Cable tester (optional, but recommended) (4)

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There are four pairs of wires in an Ethernet cable, and an Ethernet connector
(8P8C) has eight pin slots. Each pin is identified by a number, starting from left to
right, with the clip facing away from you.

The two standards for wiring Ethernet cables are T568A and T568B. T568B is the
most common and is what we'll be using for our straight Ethernet cable. The
tables below show the proper orientation of the colored wires to the pins.
T568A T568B
PIN PIN
1 white-green 1 white-
2 Green orange
3 white- 2 orange
orange 3 white-green
4 Blue 4 blue
5 white-blue 5 white-blue
6 Orange 6 green
7 white-brown 7 white-brown
8 brown

Step 1: Strip the cable jacket about 1.5 inch down from the end.

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Step 2: Spread the four pairs of twisted wire apart. For Cat 5e, you can use the
pull string to strip the jacket farther down if you need to, then cut the pull string.
Cat 6 cables have a spine that will also need to be cut

Step 3: Untwist the wire pairs and neatly align them in the T568B orientation. Be
sure not to untwist them any farther down the cable than where the jacket
begins; we want to leave as much of the cable twisted as possible.

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Step 4: Cut the wires as straight as possible, about 0.5 inch above the end of the
jacket.
Step 5: Carefully insert the wires all the way into the modular connector, making
sure that each wire passes through the appropriate guides inside the connector.

Step 6: Push the connector inside the crimping tool and squeeze the crimper all
the way down.

Step 7: Repeat steps 1-6 for the other end of the cable.
Step 8: To make sure you've successfully terminated each end of the cable, use a
cable tester to test each pin.

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You’ve successfully made an Ethernet cable

3.4.5 WALL PLATE

Wall Plate a cabling fixture attached to a wall in a work area for connecting
computers to the network. Also called a faceplate.
3.4.6 HOW WALL PLATES WORK
Wall Plates can have RJ-45 jacks for 10BaseT networks (which resemble
household RJ-11 telephone wall jacks), BNC jacks for 10Base2 networks, or SC
jacks for networks that use fiber-optic cabling.

16
 The back end of the connector joins a horizontal cable that runs inside the wall
or through a false ceiling or floor to a patch panel in the wiring closet for that
floor. Computers are then connected to the wall plate by a short unshielded
twisted-pair (UTP) cable called a drop cable. Wall plates typically come in mono-
port, dual-port, and quad-port configurations.
Wall plates are an important feature of a permanent networking installation
because they enable stations to be easily disconnected and reconnected to the
network and they protect cables from damage. Flush wall plates are flat, like AC
outlets, but angled wall plates are often a better choice because they offer better
protection from excessive bending and from contact with heavy or sharp-edged
furniture.

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3.4.7 Wall Plates for serial interfaces
You can get special wall plates for serial interfaces that use DB connectors such as
DB9 or DB25. These wall plates are used in mainframe computing environments
in which dumb terminals are connected to mainframe hosts by using RS-232 serial
lines.
3.4.8 Identifying Wall Plates
Be sure to label or number wall plates so that you can easily identify the port on
the patch panel to which they connect.
If you can’t run cabling inside walls and must instead tack cabling directly onto the
interior wall surface, use surface-mount boxes instead of wall plates. These are
box-shaped adapters that screw onto the wall and have side or face jacks for
connecting cables.

3.5 NETWORK TROUBLESHOOTING

These are the steps we take when we receive complaints from users who are
unable to connect to the internet.
 Step 1: The Hardware layer: It deals with everything providing physical
connectivity in a network, such as Ethernet cables, the LAN port and
faceplates. We check to see it there is any damage or disconnection.

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  Step 2: The Software layer: He we check to see if the computer is able to
identify the network. If it can’t then we disable and re-enable the LAN
adapter. If it still cannot identify the network, then the issue would be
directly from the server.
 Step 3: Network Authentication: This is what verifies the user’s
identification to a network service to which the user tries to gain access to
network resources. At Caverton, the Sophos authentication client is used to
verify user access to the network. So while troubleshooting, we check if the
user logged in with the correct credentials. If this is so and the issue still
persists, then it is either the proxy settings have changed or the user profile
is corrupt.

3.6 TRACEROUTE AND PING

Consider a situation when you are not able to access a website and can access
other websites. You would want to know if this is a problem with your network,
some intermediate network, or with the webserver. How do you figure it out?
You can use Traceroute.
3.6.1 What is a traceroute?
Traceroute is a widely used command-line utility available in almost all operating
systems. It shows you the complete route to a destination address. It also shows
the time is taken (or delays) between intermediate routers. Isn’t it great? Below is
an example of the Windows operating system.

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What does the above output mean?
The first column is a serial number for intermediate routers. In the above output,
three packets are sent to every hop to get a good estimate of delays for every
router. The three columns show the time taken by three different packets. The
last column is the IP/Name of intermediate routers.
The output shows three delays for the first hop, followed by delays for the second
hop, and so on.
What is a command in Linux and other Operating Systems?
In Windows, as shown above, the command name is “tracert”, but in Linux, Unix,
and Apple MAC OS, a command is “traceroute”.
3.6.1.2 How does traceroute work?
As shown in the below diagram, there are intermediate routers between source
and destination.

It sends many packets toward the destination.

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The first set of packets (3 packets in the above example) are sent in a way that
they are dropped by the first intermediate hop and a control message is received
from the first intermediate node to get the time estimation for the first hop.
The second set of packets (3 packets in the above example) are sent in a way that
they are dropped by the second intermediate hop and a control message is
received from the second intermediate node to get the time estimation for the
first hop.
3.6.1.3 How does traceroute make sure that a packet is dropped at i’th hop?
It uses the TTL field for this purpose. TTL is set as 1 for the first packet(s), then 2,
and so on until the destination is reached.
How is the total time estimated?
When a packet is dropped, the router sends an ICMP Time Exceeded message
back to the source. That is how the source figures out the total time.
Traceroute is a widely used command-line utility in networks.

3.6.2 What is ping?

Ping is a utility that helps one to check if a particular IP address is accessible or
not. Ping works by sending a packet to the specified address and waits for the
reply. It also
measures round trip time and reports errors.
Ping is also used in checking if the computers on a local network are active. For
this, the user has to go in command prompt and type: ping 127.0.0.1, and if the
address is active,
the ping would return a message like this:

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The IP address 127.0.0.1 is the address of the local host and would receive a ping
reply even if the sender is not connected to the internet.
The PING utility is one of the most famous and most helpful networking
commands. It's the first command that comes to mind when facing network
reachability problems. It's also the first command that needs to be issued when
there is a need to find out whether a certain host is "alive" or not.
The main difference between Ping and Traceroute is that Ping is a quick and easy
utility to tell if the specified server is reachable and how long will it take to send
and receive data from the server whereas Traceroute finds the exact route taken
to reach the server and time taken by each step (hop).
3.7 DHCP
DHCP is the standard mechanism to dynamically assign IP addresses within a
network. It stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.
IP, or Internet Protocol, addressing is a logical means of assigning addresses to
devices on a network. Each device connected to a network requires a unique IP
address.
At home, dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) assigns IP addresses to your
smartphones, laptops, tablets, and devices like doorbell cameras. When you use
wifi on your home network, typically your router is a DHCP server.
In a large enterprise setting, a DHCP server is usually a dedicated computer. By
simplifying IP address management, it saves money, is more secure, and doesn’t
eat up valuable admin time.
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3.7.1 How does DHCP work?
DHCP is a network management protocol. A client device (or DHCP client), such as
a laptop, joins a network and requests an IP address. The request is made to a
DHCP server.
These servers are often configured with redundancy—often called DHCP
failover—or clustering among other network servers. Servers can run on both
IPv4 and IPv6 networks.

The server will quickly and automatically assign an IP address and some related
network configuration parameters. Once the device has accepted the assignment,
it can communicate with both the internal network and the public internet.
3.7.2 Relevant Parameters
In addition to assigning IP addresses, these servers also provide relevant
parameters, known as DHCP options. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
(IANA), the global coordinator of IP addresses, defines available DHCP
parameters.
Options number in the hundreds. Key among them is how long the IP address can
be used—known as the lease time. They also include the default gateway, its
subnet mask, and its DNS server.

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3.7.3 Some Additional Definitions
To clarify, let’s quickly define some of these terms we just mentioned:
 A default gateway transfers data back and forth between the local network
and the internet, or between local subnets.
 IP networking uses a subnet mask to separate the host address and the
network address portions of an IP address.
 A DNS server resolves names to IP addresses, translating domain names
that we easily remember, like bluecatnetworks.com, into IP addresses like
104.239.197.100.
3.7.4 Dynamic IP addressing with DHCP
The assignment of IP addresses happens dynamically within a given address
range. As a result, a device connected to the network doesn’t have a forever
address. The IP address can periodically change as its lease time expires unless
the lease is successfully renewed.
For services that always need to be on, a static IP address is often a better option.
Corporate enterprises commonly use static IP addresses for hardware like mail
servers. Certainly, a DHCP server should have a static IP address.
However, there are drawbacks to dedicating a specific IP address to a device or
service. A network administrator must manually assign, configure, and track the IP
address. It’s a time-consuming task. Oftentimes, it requires the admin to
physically be with the device.
Meanwhile, dynamic IP addresses are usually the preferred choice because they:
 Cost less to manage than static IP addresses;
 May offer more privacy and security with a constantly changing IP address;
and
 Don’t require manual administration when a device roams from one subnet
to another.
3.7.5 DHCP Communications Protocol
Communication to fulfil a DHCP request involves both the server and client.
Furthermore, a relay agent or IP helper often facilitates communication between

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the two. Relay agents receive broadcast DHCP messages from clients and then re-
send those messages with configuration information to servers.
Communication happens via small units of data, called packets, that are routed
through a network. Networking protocols like IP govern all its rules.
Most of the time, communication occurs in four steps. Briefly, they are:
1. A discover packet is sent from the client to the server.
2. The server replies to the client with a DHCP offer packet containing an IP
address.
3. The client receives and validates the offer, then sends a request packet
back to the server to accept the address.
4. The server sends an acknowledgement packet back to the client to confirm
the chosen IP address.

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 CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 CONCLUSION
Sincerely, my four-month Industrial Training at Caverton Helicopters was of great
benefit to me as a student because it has helped me understand certain principles
of network architecture and its implementation, protocols and maintenance. It
has broadened my knowledge, exposed me to aspects of the outside world and
helped boost my confidence in relating with clients. It also helps to foster
students' moral and social relationship with people outside their immediate
environment.
4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the experience I acquired and the training I received during the SIWES
program, I thereby make the following recommendations:
FOR ITF
ITF should ensure the regular visitation of the ITF officers to Supervising Agencies
Institutions, Employers and students on attachment.

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The log-book issued to students at attachment by institutions must be checked
and signed by the Industry based and ITF Supervisors responsible during
supervision not in their offices at the end of attachment.
ITF should be providing insurance cover to students on attachment and improve
on paying Students and supervisor’s allowances for motivation.
The SIWES coordinators, ITF agencies, and Area office should institute their
machinery to quicken the vetting of students' log-books.
FOR STUDENTS
Students on attachment must carefully record all training activities and other
assignments in the log-book daily, complete ITF Form 8 and submit them to
ensure proper assessment which is used in payment of their allowances.
4.3 SUMMARY
At the end of the program, I was able to put into practice all I was taught in school
in the aspect of Systems and Network.

4.4 REFERENCES
Antoniou, Stelios. 2007. How to troubleshoot your connections with ping and
traceroute. Pluralsight. October 1, 2007. [Cited: February 10, 2022.]
https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/it-ops/troubleshoot-ping-traceroute.
Encyclopedia, Network. 2015. Wall Plate. Network Encyclopedia. June 4, 2015.
[Cited: February 10, 2022.] https://networkencyclopedia.com/wall-plate/.
GeeksforGeeks. 2021. Traceroute in Network Layer. GeekeforGeeks. October 25,
2021. [Cited: February 10, 2022.] https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/traceroute-in-
network-layer/.

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