Prof. Anum Adams inducted GhIE President
A Professor of Civil Engineering at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Prof. Rev. Charles Anum Adams, has been inducted into office as the 51st President of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE).
He takes over the mantle of leadership from Mr Alexander Leslie Ayeh.
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The investiture of Prof. Adams took place in Kumasi last Saturday to climax a four-day Engineering Conference and the 51st Annual General Meeting of the GhIE.
On the theme: “Engineering, Key to Sustainable Development Goals”, the conference and AGM were held virtually with few leadership representatives of engineering assembling at the auditorium of the Institute of Distance Learning at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi.
Creativity for development
In his inaugural address, Prof. Adams charged engineering practitioners to use their creativity, services, talent and solutions for the development of the country.
“We embrace ‘Ghana beyond Aid’. Engineers are planners, evaluators, designers, builders in operations and infrastructure systems and facilities. Engineers are system thinkers and problem solvers. Engineering is all about creating systems and technologies to provide solutions. Engineering is about making imaginations real,” Prof. Adams explained.
“To this end, the Council of the GhIE intends to embark on multiple activities and initiatives in the coming years, some of which include to build a motivated engineer through our technical division and branches, as well as strengthening the national secretariat to support council activities, including engineering practice to make it more exciting to join,” he said.
The GhIE President further said the council would set up mentorship programmes for engineering practitioners to improve their skills and build confidence and their marketability.
To all stakeholders, she said: “We are aware of how Ghanaians are becoming impatient to see our country’s development to enjoy a better quality of life and, therefore, expect more from its engineers. We will ensure professionalism, responsible and ethical practice.
“However, we will also demand that society values both our advice and rewards for practice. There is profit in reliable and diligent labour.”
Appreciation
Prof. Adams expressed his sincere thanks to his successor for his tremendous service to the institution during the period of COVID-19 which disrupted activities globally.
He said he was humbled by the unique mandate and extraordinary show of confidence that the engineers in the country had conferred on him and gave an assurance that he was determined to do all in his power to accomplish the tasks ahead.
Rev. Prof. Adams explained that the institution had come of age with significant strides made.
He, however, added that there was more room for capacity development, especially considering that the country desired to move to a new development level that would make it self-sufficient.
Reducing shoddy work
Earlier, while calling the conference to order, the Executive Director of the GhIE, Mr Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, encouraged members of the GhIE, and for that matter engineers, to take advantage of the Continuous Professional Development programmes undertaken by GhIE to sharpen their professional career and learn new ways to deliver engineering solutions to reduce the incidence of shoddy works in the country.
In his welcome address, Mr Ayeh said the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic trimmed the normal activities of the Engineering Conference, but it also enabled them to think outside the box.
Background
Prof. Adams is the Founding Centre Director of the Regional Transport Research and Education Centre Kumasi (TRECK), a World Bank Centre of Excellence in Transport and Mobility for West Africa and also leads the UKAID/ReCAP-supported Centre for Sub-Saharan Transport Leadership (CSSTL). Both centres are hosted at the KNUST.
He has worked as a consultant on several projects in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Liberia funded by the World Bank Group, European Union, the GTZ and JICA.