Academic City University College, a premium Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics tertiary institution is set to become the first university in the country to run a Bachelor of Science Degree programme in Industrial and Systems Engineering.
The programme aims at equipping engineers to become effective leaders towards ensuring sustainable development in Africa.
In a statement, issued in Accra, and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), the University said: “Industrial and Systems engineers were crucial in this phase of the development of the continent in order to provide an integrated and dynamic system perspective to challenges faced by businesses in the automobile manufacturing, healthcare, finance, education among others.”
“It is in this endeavour that Academic City has launched its Industrial and Systems Engineering programme to nurture and equip the young generation with a broad-based engineering foundation, systems thinking perspective and strong data analysis skills to design, construct, optimize and administer efficient and complex modern production systems”.
The programme would, therefore, provide students with a ‘thorough understanding of the use of modern manufacturing systems and technologies, optimisations of complex systems, processes and organizations to gain production efficiencies, product quality and global leadership, the statement said.
“As the African continent gears toward industrializations for economic development, it has become necessary to make industrial and system engineering an integral part of the industrialization drive,” it stated
It said the innovative and demand-driven programme, scheduled to commence in September, 2020, had successfully received the necessary approval from the National Accreditation Board.
Professor Fred McBagonluri, President of Academic City, expressed delight at the commencement of the programme, which he described “as a key milestone in the history of the country’s tertiary education, and a follow up to the 2019 Peduase Declaration”.
He referred to a report by the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, as saying global employment of industrial and systems engineers was expected to grow steadily over the next decade, faster than the average for all occupations.
“As the world seeks engineers with analytical skills and strong systems perspective, Academic City is committed to nurturing students to become 21st engineering experts who can improve productivity and efficiency as well as improving existing systems and building dynamic modern systems for the continent,” Prof. McBagonluri said.
Industrial and Systems Engineering is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy, it said.
This draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the Mathematical, Physical, and Social Sciences, together with the principles and methods of Engineering analysis and design, to specify, predict, and evaluate the results to be obtained from such systems.
“As a forward-thinking educational institution, Academic City is on the verge of becoming the first university in Ghana to offer degrees in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Biomedica,” it said.
“We have submitted all the necessary documentations to University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa which is our affiliate for review.
Hopefully, we will get the approval from the National Accreditation Board on time to commence as soon as possible.
“At Academic City, innovation and entrepreneurial thinking are deemed core to a student’s foundational learning and development, and hence are designed into its programmes to create leaders of thought and initiators of ideas.
“It has one of the best equipped STEM workshops in Ghana, and is on track to open its second engineering workshop in September.
“Both workshops are furnished with real state of the art industry machinery and equipment to offer students a first-hand, practical experience of how these machines operate”.
