Each year during its annual Convention, NSBE Global awards the Golden Torch in a closing extravaganza to honor the highest academic achievers.

The convention will begin on March 21^st and end on March 25^th during which Dr. Kaufmann will be honored at the closing ceremony.

This was disclosed by Mr. Billy James Dega, Director of Programs, NSBE Ghana.

The award is given to a leader and a strong supporter of NSBE international who demonstrates excellence in support of academics on an international level and exhibits commitment to the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. He added

Dr. Kaufmann commented about the award:

“I feel incredibly honoured. It is also gratifying to know that the activities in which I have been involved are appreciated and beneficial to so many people. I am grateful for the opportunity to make an impact,” she said.

“This award signifies international recognition of my work. As I go round Ghana interacting with students at different levels and their teachers, I will showcase the award as confirmation that it is possible for our people to also be beacons of excellence, brightening their own corner, but the light they generate can transcend far beyond their imaginations. It is an encouragement to strive for excellence wherever one finds himself or herself.”

Dr. Kaufmann, whose work is being recognized by the National Society of Black Engineers worldwide, is the first female recipient of the International Leadership Award. However, this is not the first time a Ghanaian has received recognition from the worldwide fraternity of engineers.

In 2013, Prof. Samuel Yeboah Mensah, the then Dean of the School of Physical Sciences, University of Cape Coast, was adjudged the first male African recipient of the distinguished Academic Excellence Leadership Award for his massive contribution to science especially in the area of engineering by the National Society of Black Engineers at the 39th Convention in Indiana.

In 2014, Ing. Prof. Innocent Kofi Ampadu; Immediate past Provost, College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is the 2nd African to receive that same award.

Dr. Elsie Effah Kaufmann is a Senior Lecturer and founding Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Ghana.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE), a Master of Science in Engineering (MSE) and a PhD in Bioengineering, all from the University of Pennsylvania, USA.

After her graduate studies, she received her postdoctoral training at Rutgers University before joining the University of Ghana in 2001.

Prof.’s teaching and research focus on Tissue Engineering, Biomaterials and Application of Biomedical Engineering concepts to the solution of problems in the Ghanaian context.  She was the recipient of the University of Ghana’s Best Teacher Award for the Sciences in 2009.  She is also keenly interested in Science education at all levels and has been the Host/ Quiz Mistress of the Ghana National Science & Mathematics Quiz TV Program since 2006.  Dr. Effah Kaufmann is the 2017 Impact Africa Summit Laureate for Education in Ghana.  The award recognizes her “exceptional and continuous contribution to science education in Ghana and for being a role model and inspiration to many young girls”.

Dr. Effah Kaufmann was a member of the Planning Committee set up by the Academic Board of the University of Ghana to make proposals for establishing the Faculty of Engineering Sciences and was also a member of the three-person Implementation Committee set up by the Vice Chancellor following the submission and adoption of the Planning Committee’s report.  She was appointed as the first Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering in 2006. During their first conference in 2017, she was elected as the President of the Ghana Society of Biomedical Engineers (GBSE).

Dr. Kaufmann joined NSBE in 1988 as a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania and eventually become the Patron of NSBE University of Ghana, Legon in 2004. According to her, she feels gratified that her work is being appreciated and beneficial to so many people. For her, engineering provided the opportunity to solve real-life problems in practical and creative ways using technical knowledge. The challenge of making a difference in the lives of people with whom she interacts was what motivated into a field less ventured by most women in Ghana.

When asked about her first reaction to the nomination, she replied that she was completely surprised! “I was working in my office when Mr. Billy James Dega, Director of Programs, NSBE Ghana showed up to tell me that there is an award NSBE-Ghana wanted to nominate me for. I remember thanking him for considering me after which I asked many questions about the award and deadlines.  He probably regretted coming to my office with the news after the barrage of questions from me. I feel incredibly honored. I am grateful for the opportunity to make an impact. Knowing that what I do makes a positive impact in the lives of people motivates me to work harder and to do even more.”

The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) was founded in 1975. It is arguably the largest student-run organizations in the world, with core activities centered on improving the recruitment and retention of Black and other minority engineers, in both academia and industry.

Ghana was the first among other African countries to establish an NSBE chapter in August 1998 and has provided opportunities for personal and professional success of its members and since then remains unmatched by any other organization to date.

NSBE’S mission is to increase the number of culturally responsible Black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally, and positively impact the community. The program was aimed at promoting women and girls in science, technology and engineering.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to GUNA, the quiz could be replaced with what they refer to as “Innovative Science”, to encourage students to develop solutions to teething national problems.

“GUNA proposes a new and more result oriented program to replace the National Science and Maths quiz program for 2^nd cycle institutions that has been in existence for over a decade. The new Innovative Science (InoScience) Challenge, will aim at tasking the students to develop solutions to teething national problems such as waste management, flooding, child delinquencies et al,” the group said in a statement.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Ws4bIKCw7Ki1htPx1SmpMD6l4SKgcAdj”]The Association in the statement signed by its Director of Administration Rev. Kingsley Osafo-Mireku, said “We strongly believe that this new program if adopted and funded by government and corporate organizations will develop and unleash the scientific prowess of our students to be more useful to society and themselves.”

The National Science and Math quiz is a private initiative held annually for second cycle institutions in Ghana.

GUNA made the call in connection with the World Science Day for Peace and Development which is commemorated every November 10.

The Association also called on government to invest heavily in research.

“Any serious developing and developed nation has a technology fair one way or the other which showcase inventions and innovations developed by individuals and corporate bodies, with the aim of mainstreaming these new technologies in their development agenda. Once again, GUNA is calling on government together with corporate bodies to as a matter of urgency, set aside funds, to develop and commercialize the innovations exhibited at these fairs. This will ensure the creation of jobs, and the exportation of such technologies to other countries for foreign exchange,” GUNA added.

Below is the full statement from GUNA:

WORLD SCIENCE DAY FOR PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT

Today, the application of science and technology have become the denominator for fast pace development. Countries which have a strong base in science and technology are the ones that develop faster and a few examples are countries like Japan, Brazil, China, India and emerging economies like Bahrain and many more. Any economy that relegates science to the background will continue to wallow in poverty and underdevelopment irrespective of how intelligent its people are, comparatively.

It is therefore incumbent on us as a nation to take science and technology very serious if we ever dream to play along with the high and mighty economies of the world. It is on this note that GUNA wants to add her assertive voice and make some profound input in the way forward so far as science and technology is concerned on the following critical matters;

Science Research Funding

Countries that have developed on the back of science have done so by developing internationally accepted scientific solutions to local challenges in all sectors especially, medicine, agriculture, education, etc. hence, GUNA calls on the government to prioritize funding of science research institutions in Ghana in order to develop scientific solutions to local problems. Without this, development will be a mirage.

InoScience Challenge

GUNA proposes a new and more result oriented program to replace the National Science and Maths quiz program for 2^nd cycle institutions that has been in existence for over a decade. The new Innovative Science (InoScience) Challenge will aim at tasking the students to develop solutions to teething national problems such as waste management, flooding, child delinquencies et al. we strongly believe that this new program if adopted and funded by government and corporate organizations will develop and unleash the scientific prowess of our students to be more useful to society and themselves.

Science and Technology Fairs

Any serious developing and developed nation has a technology fair one way or the other which showcase inventions and innovations developed by individuals and corporate bodies, with the aim of mainstreaming these new technologies in their development agenda. Once again, GUNA is calling on government together with corporate bodies to as a matter of urgency, set aside funds, to develop and commercialize the innovations exhibited at these fairs. This will ensure the creation of jobs, and the exportation of such technologies to other countries for foreign exchange.

GUNA hopes that, this World Science Day for Peace and development will not be used as a ‘talk shop’ like many others, but these concrete steps will be taken by those in authorities in order to bring about development and prosperity to mother Ghana.

GUNA, we stand for Peace, Security and Development

Signed

Rev. Kingsley Osafo-Mireku

(Director of Administration)

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

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Primetime Limited, who are the producers of the annual quiz competition held between second cycle schools in the country, sued the studio behind the play, Nyansapo, arguing that the company had not sought permission to use the brand name in their production.

[contextly_sidebar id=”UuSUIDzulXUFRyuOilOOg4S8CuJIfug8″]This year’s National Science and Maths Quiz was widely regarded as one of the best in the competition’s history.

Eventually won by Prempeh College, the competition captured the attention of Ghanaians who followed each contest keenly and trooped to the National Theatre for the final.

The competition was also a huge draw on social media where debates between current and former students of the competing schools raged on for months.

The production company had looked to capitalise on the competition’s popularity with Saturday’s play.

However, speaking to Citi News after the presiding judge, Justice Patience Mills-Tetteh granted the injunction, the Managing Director of Primetime Limited, Nana Akua Ankomah-Asare, said the company would have risked hurting the image of the competition by allowing the unauthorised use of the brand name.

According to her the production company could have sought permission from the company to stage the play and a compromise could have been reached on the content to protect the image of the competition

“We want to protect our brand. First of all, this production was done without our authorization, without our consent and without our knowledge so we don’t know what exactly the whole play is about, we haven’t seen the plot. If you are going to be using somebody’s brand name you need to ask permission. The person is definitely going to make some inputs to make sure their interests are protected. When you don’t do that, there’s an infringement on the person’s intellectual property rights,” she said.

“The other side is that it’s also about the reputation of the brand. It’s about the goodwill that the brand has in the public sphere because once some damage is done to the brand’s reputation, it will take forever for the brand to recover. And in some cases, they don’t.”

Primetime Limited had, earlier in the day issued a statement saying that they would “never tolerate or condone any attempts, however well-intentioned, to deride or discourage any participant or school from being part of this noble joint effort to improve the quality of STEM education in Ghana.”

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By: Edwin Kwakofi & Tracy Gifty Aminu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The 15-member team was led by the Headmaster of the school, Mr Samuel K Fordjour and was accompanied by other teachers, namely, Mr George Abankwa, Mr PM Cudjoe, Mr Peter Agyeman, Mr Moses Gyimah and Mr P.K Damoah and Mr Emmanuel Adu Abankoro.

The students were Masters’ Osei Badu a contestant, Safro Ansah, a contestant and Kofi Konadu Boakye, also a contestant. The remaining students on board the Starbow Flight, were Masters Lord Opoku Gyamfi, Adu-Djan Daniel, Awuku Bekoe Benjamin, Eduful Famieyeh Joseph and Ransford Bio who were all part of the Prempeh College Quiz team.

The students were welcome on board by the Flight Captain John Ababio and his team of Air hostess.

Commenting on the gesture, the Head of Sales of Starbow, Mr Sam Adjei-Sah said “we felt compelled to be associated with the wining spirit of Prempeh College and decided to let the students have a feel of air travel as part of our corporate social responsibility”

He added that “Starbow is delighted to be associated with the Champions and also to give real meaning to its customer service, which is to provide a quick and safer travelling experience to all domestic travellers in Ghana.”

It is in line of this that Starbow currently offers the best competitive prices for airline travel in the country and will in the coming weeks introduce even more compelling reason for the domestic air traveller to fly Starbow.

Mr Adjei-Sah noted that currently, Starbow is the only Ghanaian airline with IOSA certification which has international safety standards in the country, a feat he added comes at great cost, adding that “the safety of every passenger is of utmost paramount concern to Starbow irrespective of any financial cost to Starbow”.

The Headmaster of the school, Mr Fordjour expressed his profound gratitude and that of the entire school to Starbow for the kind gesture.

“Almost the entire team of 15 were first time air travellers and we thank Starbow for making this happen”.

The students who were traveling for the first time on an aircraft were over joyed and thanked the Starbow management for the gesture.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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So having been on campus when the competitions begun, I was at one of the outdoor socialisation games held for the schools involved.

I ended up making some new friends with some of them who hoped to enter the University of Ghana.

To my dismay, most of the contestants I interacted with all wanted to pursue Medicine in UG.

We are all familiar with stories of many brilliant chaps not getting into Medical School even with their excellent WASSCE results; or sometimes too, students having to move from KNUST to LEGON during their 2nd or 3rd year to pursue Medicine or vice versa. Two of my own brilliant course mates moved after 2years of nursing school to pursue Medicine in KNUST.

I think Medicine is a great course, however, I believe if we want to be a prosperous nation, we need more and more of world class trained science related professionals such as Engineers of all kinds and other pure science and pure maths related professionals.

Last year a member of Prempeh’s Brilla’ team got 8As but was rejected for UGMS and was given Biomedical engineering instead. He was devastated though his parent were hopeful that he will be successful with a reapplication this year, the public outrage meant a lot.

So I did a little research on biomedical engineering to help my little ‘Brilla’ sweetheart.

In fact in my opinion I found the course more fascinating than his dream medicine course, and foresaw a much more rewarding career life for him if he’s able to at least graduate with an upper in UG and got the chance to further abroad.

With lots of persuasive talking and literal begging at a point, I decided to introduce him to a friend of mine who had done an MSc. in an engineering course at Cambridge University (to be his inspirational mentor) and also got him a level 400 friend of mine ending his biomedical engineering bachelors who was more exposed to the UG system in that respect.

He was encouraged and begun to do his own investigations into the course and found out more details about an exciting career he could build out of biomedical engineering.

He then decided voluntarily, to abandon the plans to reapply to Medical School.
Inasmuch as his parents weren’t too happy over that , they strongly believe in the potential of their son to excel at whatever he decides to do.

He accepted my challenge to him- to aim at graduating with a First Class or at least an Upper: although only 9 people have made it out of biomedical engineering with a 1st class since the inception of the course in 2004/2005 academic year.

So far he’s on track and I believe so much that he would make it.

However, how about all the other brilliant chaps who will not have the encouraging encounter of support and of peaking of their interest in the subjects they have been “dumped in”?

Those who will find themselves in the pure chemistry class, statistics class and the various engineering programs- as medical school “rejectees”?

Should they keep reapplying to Medical School?

Or wait and bait, and hope the new fashionable Graduate Entry Medical Program GEMP will console them?

I think it’s about time we get SHS leavers to know about the wide variety of science course available in our universities; their prospective career paths in the various field, and have them choose these courses freely and willingly- rather than, PUSH them into those (far brilliant) courses as medical school “rejectees”.

In fact I believe the other way round is more probable.

In addition we must find a means of making these courses more student- friendly once they enrol on them.
I don’t know why, but it is very difficult for people (we all knew were very brilliant) to come out of these course with a first class or even Upper divisions.

Not because they stopped being brilliant when they entered university, but because first of all, they are demoralised from the start and to add insult to injury, it seems they must work and learn ( In some case chew baba) to “breaking point” just to excel in these course (which surprisingly are easy for them at the masters level abroad).

This is because majority of lecturers in these course do not teach to “pleasing point” yet they are Over-The-Top hard to please!

I am not sure about KNUST/ UCC but in LEGON the number of Graduates we have from these Science and Maths and Engineering-related courses is nothing to write home about.

The fact of the matter is that the Ghanaian educational system does not support (to satisfaction) pure science, maths and engineering courses in the universities.

The way around it is to make it more easier for brilliant student to get the grades they require to further abroad or home.

Unfortunately however, Some ( In fact most) Ghanaian Lecturers design the course to, as it were, bring out the worst in our brilliant chaps instead of bringing out the best.

The brilliant students end up with Lower or 3rd Class Degrees making it impossible or very difficult to further, and because career paths for these courses are also not advanced in our country, these graduates end up doing far less in jobs which are far below their brain power.

It is a pathetic situation and a vicious cycle which I want us to think about as we celebrate our Brilla boys and girls.

Let’s stand up and Speak about these things.

To Ghanaians:
Let’s not live for only the momentary joy and euphoria the NSMQ brings during those winning moments.

To our headmasters;
Let’s make sure our brilliant contestants and those who are not contesting but are equally brilliant are exposed to the varied options of courses and careers they could build in other fields.

To university management and government;
Let’s give our brilliant chaps a better experience in furthering their various interests at the university level.

To our Lecturers,
Let’s give them the opportunity to provide Ghana with a variety of world class professionals.

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By: Janet Maame Serwaa Arkorful

The writer, is a Student-Nurse, and General Secretary of the University of Ghana Students Representative Council (SRC).

Email:[email protected]
[email protected]

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Ahead of the main contest, they have taken the lead in various thrilling sessions of ‘jama’ and chants of their school’s anthems and other songs.

The grand finale of the 2017 National Science & Maths Quiz is ongoing at the National Theatre between Adisadel College, Prempeh College and St. Thomas Aquinas SHS.

The contest is live on Citi FM’s facebook’s page.

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By: citimonline.com/Ghana

The post Old students lead ‘jama’ at #NSMQ final [Photos] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

After a keen contest of 5 grueling rounds that saw each school performing creditably, the ‘Zebra boys’ ensured their qualification for the grande finale of the ongoing National Science and Maths Quiz for the third consecutive time.

But for the timely answer to the last riddle of the final round of the contest by Ghana National College, University Practice School would have succeeded in crushing the dream of Adisadel College to take another shot at winning the ultimate prize.

At the end of the contest, Adisadel College scored 36 points against University Practice’s 35 and Ghana National College’s 27.

Adisadel College, who won the contest last year are looking to retain the title and the accompanying bragging rights.

In 2015, they contested in the grande finale against Prempeh College and University Practice but placed second by just 3 points behind Prempeh College.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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They beat Saint John’s Grammar School and Accra Academy which was considered a favourite in the contest.

Having suffered an early blow from Accra Academy in the early round of the contest, PRESEC staged an impressive comeback in the 4^th and 5^th rounds to end the contest with 45 points against Accra Academy’s 26 points.

Saint John’s Grammar School ended the contest with 31 points.

The 2017 edition of the National Science & Maths Quiz is sponsored by the Ghana Education Service through the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) and supported by Tigo, GOIL, Prudential Life Insurance, Accra College of Medicine and GCB Bank.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The morning mentorship talk, which is an empowerment session put in place by organizers of the competition, saw the seasoned Consultant Anaesthetist  take her turn to inspire young participants of the NSMQ  as well as their supporters, to help build their capacities and go after their dreams.

Speaking at the event Dr.Wulff recounted her educational escapades from CRIG Primary School, Akim New Tafo, to her time as a Fellow at the West Africa College of Surgeons.

“My father was the doctor at the New Tafo Government Hospital for 30 years. As a child I was totally fascinated by his medical books and spent hours looking through them, not understanding anything and leaving my childish scribbles on many pages. By the time I was 6years old, I knew I was going to be a doctor and spent my subsequent years working hard to achieve that,” she said.

Dr. Wulff advised the students to set goals for themselves and admonished them to do away with distractions that derailed their efforts to achieve their set goals.

“Going into the medical field has never been easy, but you need to push yourself hard, take what you are taught and run with it,” she said.

“In Achimota School, we were taught to subjugate ourselves so we may rule. You have to learn at the feet of others and be a good servant in order to be a good master one day. There is reward in diligence and hard work and no one can take your achievement from you when you get there,” Dr. Wulff added.

She believed that it is tougher these days for students to study than before because of the proliferation of distractions like mobile phones and social media to which they are always glued to.

She further went on to tell the students about the evolution of Anaesthesia from the days of Adam, through the Stone Age days to modern day Anaesthesia as well as some challenges in the field.

Dr.Wulff reiterated the attitude required to be successful in the field.

“I don’t believe in making excuses in life, so don’t make excuses for yourself and you will make it,” she said.

Dr. Irene Adorkor Wulff is a product of Achimota School.

She has close to two decades of experience in the medical field and was in charge of Neurosurgical Anaesthesia and the Sugical Intensive Care unit for some years before she left the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital.

FOCOS Orthopaedic Hospital is a 70-bed Specialist Orthopaedic Hospital located in the Pantang area of Accra, Ghana and is noted for the treatment of complex spine and joint diseases like Scoliosis, Kyphosis as well as other degenerative and deformative Orthopaedic conditions.

The NSMQ 2017, is the 22^nd edition since its inception in 1993.

Participating schools in the contest are required to go through five rounds of academic drills in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics.

The school with most points out of three schools qualifies to the next stage of the competition.

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Credit: FOCOS

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The prelims which will take place from Monday, June 5 to Saturday, June 10, 2017, will simultaneously take place at the R.S Amegashie Auditorium and the New N Block at the University of Ghana, Legon.

108 Senior High Schools will compete in 36 contests to pick up a slot at the next stage of the competition.

In each of the 36 contests, three schools will compete in keeping their hopes of winning the competition alive.

Winners of the 36 preliminary contests will join the 27 seeded schools from the 2016 edition of the competition at the one-eighth stage. Also to progress to the one-eighth stage will be 18 losing schools with the highest scores from the prelims.

The Quiz mistresses for the prelims are Dr. Angela Lamptey of the Department of Marine and Fisheries Sciences and Mrs. Gladys Schwinger of the Department of Plant and Environmental Biology; all of the University of Ghana, Legon.

The 2017 edition of the National Science & Maths Quiz is sponsored by the Ghana Education Service through the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) and supported by Tigo, GOIL, Prudential Life Insurance, Accra College of Medicine and GCB Bank.

Below are the 36 contests for the preliminaries of the 2017 edition of the National Science & Maths Quiz. Contests 1-18 would take place at the R.S. Amegashie Auditorium while 19-36 would be at the New N Block.

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Source: NSMQ

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