KEEP Advisory Board Members Visit KNUST

Group Photograph of KEEP Management and Advisory Board Members with the Vice-Chancellor, KNUST (middle)

Prof. Jerry John Kponyo, Project Lead for the KNUST Engineering Education Project (KEEP), announced that KEEP, an African Center of Excellence (ACE) Impact Project in the College of Engineering, is one of the best ACEs among all the 53 Impact Projects, with a Disbursement Linked Result of 96% as per performance statistics according to a report released by the World Bank at the 10th ACE Regional Workshop in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

He said this during the courtesy call on the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Rita Akosua Dickson, by the KEEP Industry Advisory Board and the International Scientific Advisory Board members on 23rd November 2023. The KEEP Advisory Board members visited to discuss the project implementation progress and for a joint Advisory Board meeting.  

Prof. Kponyo indicated in his remarks that this is the first time in the project's history that all the Board members are meeting in person, and the visit also coincides with the 57th congregation ceremony of the university.

In her remarks, Prof. Dickson appreciated the support of the advisory board members and said that with guidance and mentorship, one makes significant progress in life.

“Appreciation is always followed by application, and as we show our appreciation, we will continue to ask for more support and guidance from you. Also, the University's Council has given her blessing to all the colleges to establish their endowment fund, of which the College of Engineering Endowment fund is leading in terms of monies received,” she divulged.

Following the courtesy call, the team held their first joint in-person meeting at the KEEP Board Room. In his opening remarks, Prof. Johnson Asumadu, Chairman of ISAB, said the advisory board is glad to meet in person and will continue to guide and advise the project team. He said the team is committed to urging the College to forge on with the good works for success now and in the future. He added that there are about 85,000 ideas in students' minds, which must be tapped into and utilised for the benefit of the College and University.

Prof. Kponyo presented the current implementation status of the project and highlighted that the project seeks to conduct research that transforms society rather than gathering dust on the self.

“The project's vision is to generate new knowledge to address the problems faced by Ghana and the subregion by offering state-of-the-art doctoral programs and undertaking collaborative projects for long-term interaction between academia and industry.”

He mentioned that, with the inception of KEEP, there has been a quantum jump in the enrolment of postgraduate students in the College. KEEP has exceeded the target for master’s enrollment by 500% and PhD enrollment by 200%.

The team visited the Responsible AI Lab (RAIL), the Renewable Energy Lab, the Power Systems Lab, the College of Engineering Innovation Centre, the Dipper Lab and the Cybersecurity Lab to interact with the students and faculty working on groundbreaking research that solves societal problems.

The Advisory Board members present at the meeting were Ing. Frederick Asare-Yeboah, Ing. William Amuna, Nana Joe Mensah, Dr. Kwaku Aning, Ing. Mrs. Nana Akua Brenyah Boateng, Prof. Johnson Asumadu, Prof. Muyiwa Sam Adaramola, Dr. Victor Atiemo-Obeng, Dr. Joseph Odartey Chruickshank, Dr. Richard Okine and Dr. Chux Daniels.