Academic City University, a premium science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics tertiary institution, has announced the introduction of two new degree programmes in BSc. Biomedical Engineering and Ghana’s first ever BSc. Robotics Engineering.
The aim of the BSc in Robotics Engineering programme is to employ grounded pillars including experimental, contextual, unified and extensional learning, to train students on the principles and practices of robotics to enable them design, deploy and maintain technological solutions to help solve societal challenges in areas of health, agriculture, and mining.
According to management of the institution, all the necessary accreditations and approvals for the programmes have been granted by the National Accreditation Board and admission is currently ongoing for commencement in February 2021.
President of Academic City, Dr. Fred McBagonluri, stated that robots are the future of industry and business and are shaping the economy and society, therefore the need to begin training the next generation of leaders in robotics as a nation is now, in order not to be left behind.
“We live in very challenging times and if you look at the quantum of care in many hospitals around the world now, robots are deployed to help cater for sick people, bringing them food, and doctors monitor patients from a distance with the assistance of robots, among other complex processes.
I think we need to develop those capabilities locally which is one reason why we developed the robotic programme but if you look around the world, the area of biomedicals is also evolving so fast. People trying to live longer, replacing organs in their body, to walk better, act faster, among others which are all longevity journey that humans have been struggling with for centuries and now beginning to find solutions in biomedical engineering.
So, we think that if we start developing students who have these skills set now, they will be able to deliver tailor-made solutions that are adoptable to our society,” he said.
Touching on the potential of the nation in terms of producing robotic engineers, he emphasized that at the basic and second cycle levels, robotic clubs are springing up with the students participating in even global competitions and winning some of them, hence the talents are available and the need for degree programmes in such fields to harness their talents or risk losing them to brain drain schemes.
Dr McBagonluri, noted that with the three distinct facets of robotics: hardware, software and connectivity, Academic City is capable of running the country’s first ever robotics programme under the supervision of University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) and will be running the programme in partnership with Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), an institution with 30-year experience in robotics and research.
Senior Lecturer & Head of Faculty, Academic City, Dr. Lucy Agyepong, reiterated that the ethos employed by her institution, which are holistic student development, innovation and student-centric, will ensure that at the end of the four-year programme, students will be able to design tailor-made robots in collaboration with student from other fields to solve specific problems in our society
