Kwesi Pratt reportedly lambasted KNUST for not being able to produce a solar panel or provide any solution for the country’s energy problems, 50 years after its establishment.

“We have a University of Science and Technology which is more than 50 years but in the entire nation, we can’t construct a battery and solar panel…This is extremely disturbing…What happened to the Science and Technology?” Mr. Pratt reportedly said on Accra based Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” show on Tuesday.

But the KNUST Lecturer, Richard Tia, who’s unhappy with the assertion has rubbished same in a detailed article.

“I am not sure I know what Mr. Kwesi Pratt wants to see to know that KNUST can make a solar cell. Is he expecting a factory on campus fabricating solar cells or he expects to see KNUST-branded solar cells in the market. I am afraid none of the two is the mandate of the university, and if I were its leader, we won’t do anything of the sort. Our job is to create the knowledge based on which the solar cell fabrication will be done, and then in partnership with investors, the patent holders set up companies to do their business.”

“The way a university is set up, it is almost impossible for the institution to be the driving force of the setting up of companies. So we train the students, endow them with the technical know-how and send them into the world, what happens there then is a function of the business environment of the country and the continent and not necessarily on the quality of training we give them.”

Dr. Tia however lamented that they are constrained in undertaking research projects for the country because of lack of support and funding.

“They employ you as a scientist in the university and they give you an office (if you are lucky), a white board marker and a duster and they wish you good luck. How you fund your research is your business. I have a colleague who took a loan from his wife to buy the basic equipment he needed to start his research program! What happens to those of us who don’t have rich wives, or have no wives at all?”

Read Dr. Tia’s response to Kwesi Pratt below:

Dr. RICHARD TIA WRITES
So yesterday, I woke up to news that ‘senior journalist’ Mr. Kwesi Pratt has said that after more than 50 years of existence, KNUST, the nation’s premier university of science and technology, cannot even make a solar cell.

That is a serious indictment of a university that was set up to, in the words of Kwame Nkrumah, lead the scientific and technological advancement of the Ghana and Africa.

I am the first to admit that the university has probably not done enough to engage the public on an informed discourse on the mandate of the university and what it has done so far in the discharge of that mandate. But sometimes, there is so much an academic can do.

I am not sure I know what Mr. Kwesi Pratt wants to see to know that KNUST can make a solar cell. Is he expecting a factory on campus fabricating solar cells or he expects to see KNUST-branded solar cells in the market. I am afraid none of the two is the mandate of the university, and if I were its leader, we won’t do anything of the sort. Our job is to create the knowledge based on which the solar cell fabrication will be done, and then in partnership with investors, the patent holders set up companies to do their business.

The way a university is set up, it is almost impossible for the institution to be the driving force of the setting up of companies. So we train the students, endow them with the technical know-how and send them into the world, what happens there then is a function of the business environment of the country and the continent and not necessarily on the quality of training we give them.

Incidentally, when the debate on Kwesi Pratt’s statement was raging on, I was sitting in a Ph.D. viva voce in the conference room of the School of Graduate Studies at KNUST where the candidate was presenting her thesis on the synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials from single source precursors for solar cell applications. That is the cutting-edge in solar energy research world-wide. The candidate was not talking about what can be done; she was talking about what she HAS done. And she is not the only person doing these kind of work here at KNUST. Has Kwesi Pratt heard of the KNUST Energy Centre? Of course not, otherwise he wouldn’t say what he is reported to have said.

When I was entering the KNUST in 2001 an interesting debate was raging on. It had just been publicized that the electoral commission had spent a very huge amount of money to import indelible ink from India for the elections, so naturally the question arose as to whether indelible ink couldn’t be made locally.

The attention shifted to the universities – particularly KNUST – and questions started being asked about the right of KNUST to exist when they couldn’t make something as simple as indelible ink. So one lecturer in the Department of Chemistry got up and assigned an undergraduate student the task of formulating indelible ink for Ghana’s electoral commission, to, in his words, ‘demonstrate that making indelible ink is no big deal’.

In a matter of a few months the ink was ready. It was tested during the SRC elections of that year and was found to be far better than what had been imported. Samples were sent to the electoral commission. The electoral commission found one thousand and one reasons why they had to continue importing indelible ink from India (note: they didn’t say that someone’s 10% is in danger if they don’t import). We made all the noise in the media to no avail.

We even appeared on Kweku Sakyi-Addo’s Front Page on Joy FM but the EC wouldn’t budge. As recent as 2015, we granted an interview to Radio Ghana where we spoke extensively about the indelible ink; nothing came out of it. Those who were making so much noise about our inability to formulate indelible ink, why are they not making the same noise about the EC not using the ink? This is the indelible ink we have been using for all SRC elections on campus for the past 17 years! Mr. Kwesi Pratt has lived in this country all that time, what has he done about it?

There is also something that is rarely discussed when we are talking about the contributions of the universities to the development of the nation, and that is the area of funding of scientific research in the nation’s universities.

The Americans have the National Science Foundation (NSF) which funds research in the engineering and physical sciences to the tune of about US$ 7.0 billion (yes, billion, with a ‘b’) per annum, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) which supports scientific research in the life sciences to the tune of about US$26.4 billion per annum.

The Canadians have the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the South Africans have the National Research Foundation (NRF). All other developing countries have similar funding agencies. What do we have in Ghana? NOTHING! They employ you as a scientist in the university and they give you an office (if you are lucky), a white board marker and a duster and they wish you good luck.

How you fund your research is your business. I have a colleague who took a loan from his wife to buy the basic equipment he needed to start his research program! What happens to those of us who don’t have rich wives, or have no wives at all?

What we are left with is to compete with our colleagues from the developed world for international grants. It is easier if you can get a little support from home, then you can start something, increase your visibility, build your track record, and then you can compete with the “big boys and girls” for the bigger international grants. But here, no! You are on your own.

In the past few years the Department of Chemistry at KNUST, sensing that scientific research would die if we don’t look outside for support, started targeting international funding opportunities. In a course of a few years we have won quite a lot. Of the about ten awards that were given by the UK’s Royal Society through the Leverhulme Trust Fund, our Department got three. Of the ten awards given by the Royal Society through the DfiD grant, our Department alone got two and the Department of Soil Science got one, making three for KNUST.

Three awards out of ten in a continent with hundreds of universities! We have a L’Oréal grant, a DANIDA grant and an IFS grant. That must mean that the experts out there see something in us, and yet our own people sit here and say we don’t deserve a pesewa of support because we don’t do anything!

Today the argument is that we don’t do anything; what I see happening in the next 10-15 years is that when these grants that we have won begin to bear fruits, the argument will change to “our scientists only do things that are beneficial to the developed world” and then I shall remind them that he who pays the piper calls the tune. If the British are prepared to give me a million pounds sterling to do research on heterogeneous catalysis, that is what I will do whether it would benefit my country directly or not.

The Royal Society is not a philanthropic organization; its fundamental purpose, as reflected in its founding Charters of the 1660s, is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science, which includes identifying and supporting the work of outstanding scientists. The Royal Society is not made up of jokers; the Royal Society is the UK’s Academy of Sciences and is the oldest such society still in existence.

Sir Isaac Newton was its President between 1703 and 1727, Sir J. J. Thompson presided over it between 1915 and 1920 and Sir Ernest Rutherford between 1925 and 1930. At the time of the Leverhulme and DfID awards, its president was Sir Paul Nurse, a Nobel laureate.

So here we are, the experts at the Royal Society think that my work is important and deserves support to the tune of several thousands of pounds sterling of the British tax payer’s money, but someone who cannot define an atom (and does not have the humility to find out what I do) sits on a radio station in Ghana and questions my right to exist!

Ignorance, they say, is bliss, and Mr. Kwesi Pratt is basking in his blissful ignorance. I no bore!

Shalom!

By: Richard Tia

Author is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Chemistry, KNUST

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According to the Vice Chancellor for the school, Professor Kwasi Obiri-Danso, more emphasis is being placed on research with a focus on technology and innovation development, since they are the foundation for building a prosperous society.

“Research, science and technology is the solution to alleviating the high poverty rate, technological gap, low agricultural productivity and infrastructural deficit and the zeal to create wealth amongst the people”, he told participants in a speech read for him, at a symposium at the university in Kumasi.

The symposium was jointly organized by the KNUST, Arizona State University in the United States of America (USA) and Mastercard Foundation Scholars Programme, under the theme “Understanding Research and Pedagogical Practices”.

It brought together some international technocrats and faculty members of the two universities to share ideas, while also seeking technology transfer in order to build their competencies in various research areas of the sciences.

Topics treated ranged from ‘Research Publication’, ‘How to be an Effective Reviewer’, ‘Project-based Learning’ to ‘Understanding Research’.

Prof. Obiri-Danso pointed out that KNUST could not be left out in the changes taking place within the academic space through technological advancement and globalization.

He said the university is mobilizing the needed resources towards research activities that would innovate ideas for accelerated socio-economic development.

Prof. William Otoo Ellis, former Vice-Chancellor of KNUST said a total of 20 students from the university were last academic year, offered scholarships to study in Arizona.

Thirty students have been selected from the University this year, to pursue courses in engineering and business at the university in America.

Prof. Ellis, who was instrumental in bringing the Mastercard programme to the KNUST, said in all, some 700 brilliant-but-needy students all over the country had been identified to benefit from the initiative within the period of the programme.

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Source: GNA

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The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Kwasi Obiri-Danso, said it was part of efforts to build the capacity of community health professionals for efficient job performance.

He added that it was going to provide a significant boost to community health care.

He was speaking at a graduation ceremony held for students of the university’s affiliated nursing, midwifery and community health training institutions, in Kumasi.

The programme, jointly organized by the KNUST and Ministry of Health (MoH), saw a total of 10,171 students graduated and presented with Diploma and certificates.

Prof Obiri-Danso said the number of healthcare professionals in every nation was reflective of the health of that nation.

He underlined the readiness of KNUST to collaborate with other institutions to address challenges of accessibility and capacity-building in the heath sector, for optimal healthcare delivery at all levels.

He indicated that through partnership with Ramapo College in the United States (US), it had worked to enhance advanced learning in nursing, culminating in the introduction of a Master of Science (MSc) Programme in Nursing.

Plans, he said, were also underway to design other programmes to deal with the peculiar needs of the health sector.

In line with this, its College of Health Sciences would mount a programme in professional education at the pre-service training to develop the culture and build the capacity of health personnel in teamwork.

Prof Obiri-Danso said as the foremost science and technology training institution, the university was committed to introducing into the health sector innovative programmes that would bring improvement in healthcare services.

It would do this with assistance from the MoH to achieve quality healthcare and reduce the incidence of maternal and infant mortality, communicable diseases and infections.

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Source : GNA

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The HAINA initiative is a global ICT technology education program which authorizes universities and tertiary education organizations to deliver Huawei certification courses to their students. This is the first accreditation in Ghana with plans underway to spread to other universities.

The program adopts the increasingly popular university-enterprise cooperation model and includes training and industry certification in popular ICT technologies, such as WLAN, security, storage and cloud computing.

Through HAINA, IT students at KNUST will acquire knowledge of cutting-edge ICT technology and gain elaborate hands-on practical training experiences. At present, KNUST students going through this HAINA lab

will be able to obtain their HCNA/P-Cloud Computing certification, thus helping to boost their ICT skills to increase their chances of employability. Additionally, HAINA-trained graduates will be given first priority for internships and employment opportunities at Huawei and its partner companies.

HAINA Authorization Plaque for KNUST
Huawei provides certification service by leveraging its years of experience in developing ICT talent. Huawei certification is created to match the career development life cycle of talents for the ICT industry, meeting the needs of various roles, from college students to workplace beginners, associates, professionals, and experts. Huawei certification covers 10 fields and 12 technical directions. It offers the only certification program of its kind in the industry that covers all ICT technical fields. The students will also benefit from knowledge of cutting edge technologies such as 4G, 5G, LTE, cloud computing and will be offered opportunities for hands on practice in Huawei’s most advanced labs.

“The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is proud to partner with a global leader like Huawei to bring about competitive ICT skills for our Engineering and Computer Science students. We look forward to facilitating a closer interaction between academia and industry to help strengthen and provide highly demanded human resources for the IT and telecom fields in the Country and the sub-region,” says Ing. Prof. Mark Adom-Asamoah, Provost of College of Engineering, KNUST.

Geoffrey Li, Director of the Huawei Enterprise Business Group in Ghana, said the company is committed to the continuous knowledge-sharing and development of the technical workforce for the sustainable growth of the ICT ecosystem in Ghana while bridging the gap between what is learnt in school and what is available and practical on the job market.

“As an international ICT innovator, Huawei actively works with partners on joint projects dedicated to up skilling educational environments and providing the youth with more opportunities to meet the ICT ecosystem’s long-term need for talent,” he added.

As part of the partnership with KNUST, Huawei took part in this year’s College of Engineering Awards by rewarding the Best Level 300 Female Telecom Engineering Student. The recipient of the Huawei Special Award was Ms. Deborah Tettehkie Amanor.

Ms. Amanor was presented with a brand new Huawei (Media Pad) M2 Tablet to assist her with her academic and social activities in school while keeping her connected. She also stands the chance of being part of the next badge of students who will be benefitting from the “Huawei Seeds for the Future” program in Ghana. She expressed her appreciation and thanked Huawei for the support.

Huawei’s support and contributions towards the University’s activities was also acknowledged as the College of Engineering presented the company with a special recognition award during the ceremony.

Huawei believes that education is the key to creating endless opportunities and limitless possiblities, and is thus dedicated to improving the education environment and allowing more young people to get education opportunities by leveraging the full potential of telecommunication technologies.

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Source: Huawei

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The Command has tasked the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Department (PIPS), to investigate the conducts of the officers and submit a report for immediate action.

A released signed by the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, COP Ken Yeboah, and copied to Citi News said police intercepted a video footage of some of its personnel who were seen brutalizing some of the students after they were arrested.

The command has condemned the actions of the officers and described their conduct as “unprofessional” after watching the video.

The Officers on Saturday November 25, 2017, arrested eight students of the KNUST for rioting and causing damage to vehicles around the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.

According to Police, they had information that students from the Kantanga Hall clashed with their counterparts from the Unity Hall during an outdoor event organized by Kumasi-based Luv FM, dubbed “Old School Reunion”.

The students in the ensuing melee pelted stones at one another, causing damage to vehicles and blocking the road, thereby bringing the whole event to a halt.

Eight (8) of the rampaging students were arrested and taken to the Asokwa Divisional Police Command, where they were made to write their caution statements.

They were later granted bail and handed over to the Security Coordinator of the KNUST.

COP Yeboah warned that his outfit will not shield police officers who misconduct themselves in the discharge of their duties.

He appealed to individuals who fell victim or witnessed the act to report to the Command as part of its investigations.

Citi News has learnt that authorities at the KNUST will sanction the students who engaged in the act.
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By: Hafiz Tijani/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Dr. Mensah, while working for American company, Corning Glass Works, was able to help improve and commercialize a fiber optic technology the company had been working on for 15 years without success.

Prior to the invention, copper wires were used as a major channel for data transmission and networking workstations.

Recounting his exploits on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, Dr. Thomas said while working for Corning, he was given a task to improve the fiber optics project which he did tirelessly to birth the technology which he described as “the most important invention in the 21^st century.”

“I didn’t know that the impact was going to be big like this. All I knew was that there were four inventors, three whites and me. And they said, Dr. Mensah, we’ve come all the way with the glass part, but we think you are the only one who can do the part that will move us to the industrial stage. That was the challenge I had, and I worked on it for every day. I was so focused on solving that problem, and what I did was to use the technology I had applied somewhere else whereby when you melt the glass and you are pulling it like toffee to be glass strand, you have to put a coating on it immediately to protect. So the ability to put a coating on it while you are pulling it was their limitation. They couldn’t pull it more than 2 meters per second. So for 15 years it stayed in the lab till I got there and the problem was handed over to me.”

“The question was how do we move this from the laboratory into factories, manufacturing, so that we can move into the global market? That was the problem I solved. It was a global problem. Until then, fiber optics were available in the lab, and they were making it in two meters per second. So the lasers that are transmitted along this fiber is sending the Facebook pictures, Instagram, the entire social media experience is going through this laser base fiber optics. This is really what goes through the world,” he added.

He said when people are “sending Facebook pictures, YouTube videos, your emails, tweets; everything is going down this [fiber optic] glass and it travels at milliseconds. In other words, you can sit here to upload Youtube videos, someone is viewing in the US or China in few seconds because of that technology.”

The inventor said, although he did not envision the huge impact the fiber optic project will make in the technology space and the world at large, he said most of his inventions and ideas he espoused in books he’s authored have been adopted by multi-million dollar technology giants to expand.

“…I have four books on innovation. The first one is fiber optic engineering, it’s used all over the world. So those are sold and you get money out of it. My latest book is called nanotechnology commercialization.”

About Dr. Thomas Mensah

Dr. Thomas had his secondary and tertiary education in Ghana, and managed to secure a scholarship to further his education abroad.

Dr. Mensah’s works relates to the development of fiber optics and nanotechnology.

He has 14 patents, 7 of which were awarded within a period of six years, and he was inducted into the US National Academy of Inventors in 2015.

He served as Editor-in-Chief of the international textbook Nanotechnology Commercialization published by AIChE and John Wiley & Sons. The book is aimed at moving Nanotechnology from the laboratory environment to the global marketplace.

He currently has developed a smart watch which he calls “Hug Watch.” According to him, Hug Watch can change TV stations by serving as a remote control, also makes and receives calls.

Dr. Thomas Mensah granted the interview on the back of a series of lectures he is expected to deliver at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) from November 22 to 25, 2017 dubbed RP Baffour Lectures.

He will also be receiving an Honorary Doctorate, (D.Sc Honoraris Causa) from the university after the lectures.

Click below for the full interview on the Citi Breakfast Show:

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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He said more should be done to efficiently manage stroke cases and save many from dying from the disease.

The referral facility, in 2017, saw in excess of 800 cases.

Dr. Sarfo, speaking at a public education forum held to mark this year’s world stroke day, indicated that, 40 per cent of patients in the country end up dying, with another 30 per cent returning home with paralysis.

[contextly_sidebar id=”uCnDMlZtTqthGVrMyZLjUaGECmSe0Nc0″]“Recognizing the risk factors of stroke” was the theme chosen for this year’s event.

Dr. Sarfo complained about unavailability of drugs, the lack of vital equipment, and the absence of well-structured health systems to manage the disease.

These, he said, were to blame for the unacceptably high number of people dying from stroke.

He called for the establishment of stroke units and rehabilitation centres across the nation to give the needed care to patients.

Dr. Sarfo also spoke of the need to sensitize people, especially those in their productive age, to be mindful of factors that could lead to the disease.

He mentioned some of these as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, stress, lack of physical exercises, smoking and excessive alcohol intake.

They should additionally go for regular check-ups and adopt healthy lifestyles to save themselves from getting stroke.

“Stroke is not caused by witchcraft, it can be prevented by educating people on the risk factors to protect them and prevent death and disability.”

Mrs. Gladys Ghansah, Principal Nursing Officer, appealed for strong support by way of the supply of equipment and space to properly handle stroke cases.

She announced that 233 out of the 369 patients admitted at the hospital between year 2014 and 2015, did not survive.

Earlier, the facility in partnership with Ernest Chemist, Menri Pharmacy, Medilab and Leo Medical and Beauty Supplies, organized free health screening for the public – to identify those with the risk factors, offer advice and treatment.

–

Source: GNA

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This is to help reduce the cases of rabies recorded in the region and  across the country.

President of the GVMSA-KNUST, Benjamin Kissi Sasu, made this known during a vaccination exercise held by the students for cats and dogs at the forecourts of the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.

In marking the World Rabies Day, students of the GVMSA-KNUST visited the Ejura and Kotei Electoral areas, and Aputuogya in the Bosomtwe district to sensitize people on the need to vaccinate their pets, to prevent the risk of getting infected by the deadly virus.

Benjamin Kissi Sasu said the exercise is important because, “in every ten minutes one person is dying of rabies, this is why we have joined in the celebration and we are saying let’s end rabies together, by 2030, we shouldn’t have any human die out of rabies.”

He furthered said that, “our target is to vaccinate 1000 dogs and so far we have done 650.”

The Principal Veterinary Officer, Dr. Marlon Mensah, said it is very important for “owners to know how to handle their pets, that is responsible pet handling, or dog ownership.”

He said there are enough vaccines for both pets and humans against rabies.

“As at now, we have enough vaccines for humans, and we have vaccines for the pets, the dogs too. If someone is bitten and we suspect that the dog who bit the person has rabies, then we give the person post-exposure prophylaxis, we don’t wait for the person to get rabies because if the person gets it, he or she will die,” he said.

Ghana recorded a total of 55 human deaths caused by rabies virus in 2016, as against 34 recorded in 2015.

Rabies claims about 60,000 human lives each year worldwide.

Both the World Veterinary Association and the World Medical Association, have called for a total elimination of dog-transmitted human rabies by 2030.

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By: Loretta Timah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The two; Miss Agyirakwa Monney Bernice and Doreenda Nikoi Kotei-Sika, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science students at the Kwame Nkrumah Science and Technology (KNUST) respectively have developed an app which has been electronically fitted into waste bins to direct the public on proper waste disposal.

They emerged winners at the 2017 edition of the MTN Girl Code Project in Kumasi.

The project which is a partnership between Women in Technology Africa and the MTN-Ghana Foundation is a five-day boot camp which equips young women with basic coding techniques and business validation processes to enable them develop solutions to problems in their communities.

Some of these apps and business ideas focused on breast care, kayayei, food and sanitation.

The winners have pledged to broaden their innovation which will go a long way to solve the sanitation problems in the country.

According to them, they will partner sanitation agencies to produce such waste bins for the primary and Junior High Schools (JHSs) across the country as a way of inculcating good sanitary practices and hygiene into pupils.

They also called on Government to support such ideas in its bid to keep the country clean.

A facilitator and Ghana Chapter Lead for Women in Tech-Africa, Selasi Dzikunu expressed delight at the partnership between her outfit and  MTN-Ghana.

She said this had afforded the ladies the opportunity to develop modern applications to address needs on the market.

Data and Channel Manager for MTN-Ghana in charge of the Northern Business District, Steven Asare urged Ghanaian women to take particular interest in the study of science and technology.

According to him, there is a lot to accomplish if ladies attend their hearts to pursuing courses in the area of science and technology.

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By: HafizTijani/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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