The Technology Consultancy Centre (TCC) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has won a grant of £200,000 from the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE), UK, to support industry-relevant capacity building in tertiary institutions for a two-year period.
TCC in collaboration with RAE inaugurated the project dubbed ‘A Manufacturing Hub for closing the skills gap between academia and industry’ at the Amonoo Neizer Conference Centre. A key component of the project will focus on student capstone projects which involves the design and manufacture of agriculture-related tools and equipment.
The Director of TCC, Professor Samuel Sackey, giving the overview said KNUST will partner Ho, Cape Coast, Koforidua and Kumasi Technical Universities to embark on innovative projects with the potential of developing domestic engineering capabilities.
Professor Sackey explained that KNUST as well as the Technical Universities would each present four Engineering students to form four groups of five with two supervisors for the project.
Professor Samuel I. K. Ampadu in a speech read on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kwasi Obiri-Danso mentioned that the objectives of RAE are in line with vision and mission of KNUST which include providing an environment for teaching, research and entrepreneurship in Science and Technology.
According to Professor Obiri-Danso, the project would lead to increased collaborative research and consequent joint publication among academic staff of KNUST and the Technical Universities.
Professor Kwasi Obiri-Danso thanked the RAE for making funds available to support the project. Desert Lion International, SAYeTech Company, QueenTech Initiative and DENCO Foundry are partners of the project.