KNUST holds 3rd Virtual Congregation, 11,073 graduate
The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has held a Virtual Congregation ceremony to graduate undergraduate and postgraduate students who have completed their respective programmes of study.
In all, Eleven Thousand and Seventy-Three (11,073) students consisting of Nine Thousand, Six Hundred and Forty-Seven (9,647) undergraduates and One Thousand, Four Hundred and Twenty-Six (1,426) postgraduate students graduated.
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Fifty-Nine (59) out of the postgraduate students received PhD degrees.
Asantehene
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Chancellor of the University, expressed his dissatisfaction with the country's growing unemployment crisis and challenged the graduates to be proactive, imaginative, explore new challenges, and start businesses that will create new jobs and help the economy.
He urged companies that were yet to collaborate with the university to provide internships and career assistance to students.
He believes that this will effectively train students to produce the necessary labour to secure the industry's long-term viability.
That notwithstanding, he challenged the university to put research into practice to tackle major societal problems and raise public awareness about concerns, as well as to identify, assess, and embrace challenges to better our communities and society.
Technological advancements
On her part, Professor (Mrs) Rita Akosua Dickson, the Vice-Chancellor, announced that KNUST will spend about GHS17,000,000.00 to equip the Colleges with smart classrooms to facilitate synchronous and asynchronous teaching and learning, provide support for online assessment, and provide services for online learning on campus to ensure seamless teaching and learning amid COVID 19.
“As a result, a university-wide E-Learning Centre has been developed to act as a one-stop-shop for the integration of all E-Learning tools and processes”, she noted.
She mentioned that two essential systems, an App for obtaining transcripts online and an online system for post-retirement contract appointments for ease of service provision, were successfully built and launched during the year under review.
“This allows KNUST alumni and students all over the world to request transcripts to be sent to their selected destinations without having to visit campus”, the VC emphasized.
Partnerships
Professor (Mrs.) Dickson mentioned that KNUST, in collaboration with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), has started a vaccine trial for Typhoid fever in Agogo, in the Asante Akim North Municipal District of the Ashanti Region, as well as a State-of-the-Art Trial Centre at Agogo Presbyterian Hospital.
In addition, the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, in partnership with the College of Engineering's Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering has created a Solar Biomass Hybrid Dryer that uses agro leftovers, wood scraps, and solar radiation to complete the drying process.
“This enables grain drying even at night and on rainy or wet days”, she explained.
The Department of Crop and Soil Sciences has proven the effectiveness of Zerofly®Hermetic storage bags, a unique technology that protects maize against insects and pests, as part of its mission to affect society.
“With this new technology, mycotoxin (aflatoxin and fumonisin) levels are kept within the Ghana Standards Authority's approved threshold, ensuring food safety and security”, she continued.
Grants
In terms of grants, the Vice-Chancellor mentioned that Prof. Ellis Owusu-Dabo, the Pro Vice Chancellor, won $1,404,066.32 for the project titled “Pediatric Phase II age-de-escalation dose-finding study of Vaccine against invasive non-typhoidal infections in Sub-Saharan Africa”.
Also, Prof. Fred Stephen Sarfo won $938,851.00 to work on Ghana-SPARCO: Ghana Sickle cell Pan -African Research Consortium and Dr. Richard Opoku, Department of Mechanical Engineering, won $182,179.23 to work on ‘Assessing and Commissioning of 150 Solar Powered Irrigation Systems (SPIS) in Ghana’, all successes chalked under the year of review.