FACULTY MEMBERS FROM UNIVERSITÉ D’ABOMEY – CALAVI, BENIN PAY A WORKING VISIT TO KNUST

Group photograph of team from Benin paying a courtesy call on the Provost, College of Engineering, KNUST

Seven faculty members from the College of Engineering, Université D’Abomey – Calavi, Benin (CoE, EIE) paid a one week working visit to the College of Engineering, KNUST from 27th August to 2nd September 2022 to study best academic and administrative practices of KNUST.

The Benin team paid a courtesy call on the Provost of the College of Engineering, Prof. Mark Adom Asamoah as their first activity.  The team comprised of the Director of Ecole Polytechnique D’Abomey – Calavi / CoE-EIE Coordinator, Prof. Alitonou Guy Alain, the CoE-EIE Deputy Coordinator, Prof. Fifatin François-Xavier, the Training Manager, Dr. Houanou K. Agapi, the Corporate Relations Officer, Prof. Oumorou Aliou A. Madjidou, the Research Officer, Prof. Tchobo Fidèle Paul, the Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, Dr. Chetangny Patrice Koffi and the Bilingual Administrative Assistant, Mrs. Kpoglo Clotilde.

Provost welcomed the team to Ghana and to KNUST. As part of his welcome address, he noted that, KNUST has been ranked as the premiere university in Africa and the 14th globally in delivering quality education by Times Higher Education World University Impact Ranking.

Both parties gave a brief history of their Universities and Colleges of Engineering as well as the activities both teams partake in. Both Colleges of Engineering agreed to collaborate in research areas through the West Africa Sustainable Engineering Network for Development (WASEND) and to revive the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between both universities some years back.

To ascertain and properly understand how KNUST functions and the role it plays in teaching and learning activities, the Benin team toured the KNUST main library, the Quality Assurance and Planning Office (QAPO), the Photocopy Unit, the International Programmes Office (IPO) and the College of Engineering Innovation Center.

Group photograph with Mrs. Gladys A. Addai, Senior Assistant Registrar, International Programmes Office, KNUST (middle)

They also toured the laboratories in the College of Engineering, KNUST and met with the Head of Department, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Prof. Emmanuel Frimpong for more insight on the structure of academic programmes in his department.

Mandela Toku (in mask), the Lab Manager at RWESCK explaining a point to the delegation

The Benin team had a meeting with the management of the KNUST Engineering Education Project (KEEP), led by Prof. Kwabena Biritwum Nyarko. Both African Centers of Excellence (ACE) Impact Projects presented on their project phases and what has been achieved so far. Both teams agreed to collaborate more, especially in areas of research supervision and publications.

As part of their visit, the Benin team toured the facilities and laboratories of the Transport Research and Education Centre, Kumasi (TRECK) and the Regional Water and Environmental Sanitation Centre, Kumasi (RWESCK). They also visited the College of Engineering Postgraduate Building (KEEP building).

Kwadwo Nyantakyi Marfo, the Project Manager of KEEP explaining a point to the delegation on the Digital Development Technologies Thematic Lab in the KEEP building

The team from Benin expressed their gratitude to the Provost of the College of Engineering and his team for the warm reception and great hospitality during their visit and emphasized on the need to renew the MoU between both universities for further research and collaborative activities. The Provost informed the Benin team that an Institutional students’ visit can be organized to make the CoE laboratories accessible for use by their students. He emphasized that the MoU will go through the legal processes and it will be signed by the Vice Chancellor of KNUST, Prof. Mrs. Rita Akosua Dickson. He thanked the team for visiting no other university but KNUST and the College of Engineering. He wished them a safe travel back to Benin and he hoped for a deeper relationship between both universities.