KNUST CoE harnesses leadership and innovative potential of students

The second edition of the leadership skills lecture series to inspire engineering students to strive for excellence in their career development, has been held in Kumasi.

The Lecture was put together by authorities of the College of Engineering (CoE), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST),

“It is the vision of the CoE to nurture high-caliber graduates for industry and ultimately to become the best engineering institution in Africa by 2025 - in line with the University’s strategic plan,” Professor Mark-Asamoah, Provost of the College, noted.

Leaders, he said, were made through training and formation, citing the Pareto principle which suggested that leaders were twenty per cent born and eighty per cent made, while a research by the University of Illinois put the percentage at thirty per cent born and seventy per cent made.

Prof. Adom-Asamoah pointed out that the programme had been designed to ‘bring together some of the most seasoned leaders of our time who will be sharing their rich experience in leadership with the engineering students on key topics as far as leadership is concerned.”

“We do not only want to churn out graduates who are academically good but products who are prepared and ready to lead at every given opportunity,” he remarked.

The maiden edition of the programme was held in the last academic year, and in attendance were about 1, 500 undergraduate students from eighteen academic programmes of the College.

CoE, one of the flagship Colleges of West Africa’s foremost and best science and technology university (KNUST), had in recent time, made some major breakthroughs in leading efforts for cutting-edge technology to address development challenges in the society.

They range from the development of drones for agricultural and environmental protection purposes, intelligent wheel chair, solar-powered vehicles and traffic lights, as well as 3D printing technology.

Some of the innovative technology, whose prototypes had been developed and being perfected by the College’s Innovation Centre, a brainchild of the current Provost, is meant to facilitate Ghana’s socio-economic growth.

Prof. Adom-Asamoah advised students of the College to aim high in their educational development, adding that the students “will embark on industrial internships at the end of the semester during which an assessment will be conducted by their supervisors.”

They should take the lecture skills series seriously since it was intended to boost their confidence and capacity-building, as well as a sense of innovativeness for major projects.

Prof. Francis Momade, former Provost of the KNUST CoE, who delivered the maiden lecture, challenged engineering students to be visionary.

It is their responsibility to constantly search for solutions to problems inhibiting sustainable development of the Ghanaian society.

“Engineers must look into the future with optimism - working to develop appropriate technologies relevant to some pertinent issues such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on climate change and energy.

Prof. George Obeng, Chairman of the Planning Committee for the Lecture Series, said in all, five lecture series would be organized for the benefit of the engineering students.