KNUST partners SMIDO to build engineering capacity of local artisans

The College of Engineering of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST) is establishing a unit to run research, training and certification programme for artisanal engineers in modern automobile engineering.

The initiative is under a partnership between the University and the Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organization (SMIDO).

The intervention is to support the Suame Magazine Automatics Technical Institute (SMATI), a project initiated by SMIDO to enhance skills formation and upgrading of artisan engineers in Ghana and the West African sub-region.

Vice-chancellor of KNUST, Prof William Otoo Ellis and President of SMIDO, Sarpong Boateng, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of both institutions.

“The historic partnership marks a significant milestone in the quest to arrest the imminent collapse of the artisanal engineering industry due to the conflict between current vehicular repair technology which is largely computer-based, and the existing manual vehicular repair skills which is phasing-out with new models of vehicles replacing the old models,” stated the Consultant to SMIDO, Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo.

According to him, the initiative will reform and formalize the traditional apprenticeship system and institutionalized under the SMATI establishment.

“Once you are trained at the SMATI which is an industry skill development, you end up at the College of Engineering within the artisanal engineering unit for a more formal training, examination and certification and that is intended to give professional legitimacy the actors within the industry so far as mainstream engineering practice is concerned”, Mr. Azongo explained.

The ultimate objective, he stated, is to build an Industry- Academia-Government tripartite model to drive Suame Magazine’s industrialization agenda and to build a local content model for the integration of Suame Magazine into the Mining, Oil and Gas industry for a more equity-based local content enterprise.

In another development, Mr. Azongo hinted that there has been a significant advance towards a major international partnership with the globally reputable Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC) in Malaysia, the first industry-led skills training centre set-up in Malaysia.

The PSDC provides invaluable advice and guidance on the latest industrial technological progress, along with up-to-date training and educational programs.

SMIDO President, Sarpong Boateng, has reiterated the needs for government to renew its pledge as captured in the Budget Statement to support the SMATI project.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh