GhIE participates in the 11th UNESCO Africa Engineering Week in Uganda

Thirty-Nine (39) Ghanaian Engineers participated in the 11th UNESCO African Engineering Week and the 9th Africa Engineering Conference in Kampala, Uganda. South African delegates were 66 and Ghana had the second-largest number of international delegates. In all, there were 947 delegates, made up of 732 Ugandan Participants, 215 International Delegates and 25+ Countries Representatives. 

Ghana received 8 awards in all, comprising awards to individuals, Committees and Companies. The Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) is a member of The Federation of African Engineering Organizations (FAEO) and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO).

One highlight was the launching of a book titled “The Odyssey of Milestones and memories of FAEO: 1972 – 2024”. The foreword of this book was written by a Past President of GhIE, Ing Dr. Kwame Boakye and featured the legacy of FAEO’s Past Presidents, including Ghana’s Ing Carlien Bou-Chedid (First Female President of FAEO). Both personalities were honoured with citations.

Other awards were to the Academy Committee, headed by Ing Sophia Tijani (President-elect of GhIE), for being the Most Outstanding Committee, and a Corporate Award for Engineering Industry Sectors- Platinum to Constromart Africa.  

At the event, Ghanaian participants played key roles in the celebration of the Africa Engineering Week. They included:

• Ing Ludwig Annang Hesse, the President of GhIE, gave a keynote address at a session named “Ask the Expert”. Speaking on “Harnessing Science, Technology, and Multidisciplinary Engineering Innovations for Industrial Growth”, Ing Hesse mentioned institutionalizing ethical behaviour, investing heavily into training, research and development, and ended with his ‘tag-line’, “if we must engineer our future, we must commit to do it well and do it right.”
• Ing D.K. Nyante, a Past Executive Director of GhIE, an award winner and Session Chairperson for the discussion on “Strengthening Engineering Integrity: ADR, Policy, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Mechanism.”
• Ing Isaac Bedu, Registrar of the Ghana Engineering Council, was a keynote speaker during the session on “Strengthening Engineering Integrity” on the topic of “Ethics in Practice.”
• Ing Naa Lamkai Quaye-Ballard, Chairperson of FAEO’s Women in Engineering (WIE), together with her team hosted the 8^th African Women in Engineering Forum and Dinner, with Ing Sophia Tijani moderating a session on ‘Fireside chats’ during the forum.
• Ing Dr. Enyonam Kpekpena, the new Executive Director of GhIE, delivered a fraternal message as Chairperson of WFEO-WIE at the 8th Africa Women Engineers Forum.
• Ing. Carlien Bou-Chedid, a Past President of FAEO and GhIE, was responsible for the Awards for Past FAEO-WIE Chairs.
• Two staff of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Ing Alberta Amankwaa and Florence Nabila presented a paper on behalf of a team of 4 that worked on a “Dual-Mode Smart Waste Bin with Sensor-Based Sorting and Waste Compacting for Manual and Automatic Operation.”
• Ing Michael Botse-Baidoo participated in the CEOs forum on Water Utilities while Ing Sophia Tijani took part in the forum on Energy Utilities.

Commenting on the Conference, Ing Sophia Tijani said, “I totally enjoyed the discussion on decarbonization, regional integration, etc. and pointed out clearly that without ethical leadership, we risk losing huge investments and incur debts through poor management decisions.”