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University of Mines and Technology

UMaT holds 2nd innovation, career fair

One of the problems of tertiary institutions in Ghana over the years has been the lack of a link between industry and research outcomes, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) at Tarkwa in the Western Region, Prof. J.S.Y. Kuma, has observed. 

 

‘‘Our research outcomes have, perhaps, not helped to solve the everyday problems of the Ghanaian,’’ he noted in an address at the 2nd UMaT Innovation and Career Fair organised at the university on the theme, ‘‘Think Smart. Be Innovative.’’

The Vice Chancellor said for that reason, the university had introduced courses in entrepreneurship and management, which are compulsory for all students who passed through the institution so that research outcomes and innovations could be showcased and possibly commercialised.

Entrepreneurial potentials

The fair was instituted last year to help unearth the entrepreneurial potentials among the students and also to provide a platform for them to transform what they study into feasible and scalable projects that would impact positively on the communities and the country at large.

It is also aimed at bringing together engineers, researchers, students, consultants, business executives, service providers and all those who are interested in innovation in mining, petroleum, technology and related disciplines.

Prof. Kuma explained that the theme for the programme was particularly relevant because the current global economy was characterised by constant innovation, product improvement and competition, among others.

The fair, he indicated, outlined the tenets of the university’s vision and mission which was to become a centre of excellence in Ghana and Africa for producing world-class professionals in the fields of mining, petroleum, technology and related engineering disciplines.

Track record

‘‘We are a university with a track record as the best public-funded university as far as science and engineering is concerned; and that is why our innovative career fair continues to be one of the main pillars in the training of our students,’’ the Vice Chancellor pointed out.

Prof. Kuma further noted that over the years, the university had tried to achieve that mandate through a series of innovation and transformational processes in teaching and learning that enabled it to turn out graduates whose high quality outmatched those of their competitors trained elsewhere.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dreamoval Limited, an Accra-based development-oriented company, Mr Derrydean Dadzie, in his presentation as the guest speaker, explained that innovation was a quest for continuous improvement by making additions and subtractions of existing initiatives.

He added that innovation distinguished between a leader and a follower, saying without innovation nothing else happened in the world while ideas without actions were useless.

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