MICROELECTRONIC TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER AT KNUST

Introduction

It is estimated that approximately 20,000 students graduate from the various tertiary institutions in Ghana every year. Less than half of these graduates got any shot at decent jobs after their mandatory one-year National Service.

The Unemployed Graduate Association of Ghana (UGAG) has become the rallying point for these disgruntled graduates who have staged several protests to hammer home their dilemma. Most of such graduates complain of not having enough practical experience especially for those who study engineering and computer science programs.

Experts at a recently held dialogue at the Institute for Democratic Governance-IDEG in Accra on 1^st September 2012 concluded that the increasing numbers of youth unemployment poses a threat to national security in the country.

Proposed Solution

A Microelectronics Training and Development Center-MTDC will seek to make practical the training in Information communication and Technology and the promotion of entrepreneurship. This will enable students to be job creators instead of job seekers. In partnership with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology-KNUST, an MTDC will be set up at the College of Engineering to initially seat 30 students.

MTDC will educate and train students, entrepreneurs and students in the exciting field of microelectronics, and its applications to agriculture, energy, manufacturing, telecommunications, information systems and foster opportunities not only for the acquisition of new knowledge, but also the production and application of new knowledge. It will open new vistas of opportunities for small and medium scale enterprise (SMEs) to differentiate their services and create new values in their product offerings. The centre will provide broad-based innovative training, which would enhance the quality of their business processes.

Trainees test codes on a PIC Microcontroller board at pilot training

Microelectronics presents an opportunity for students, entrepreneurs and hobbyists an opportunity to acquire skills previously not available in the country. The ICT and Telecommunications sector in Ghana has boomed with 98% penetration in mobile telephone access but the country still remains largely a consumer in the sector and not an inventor or creator. With this training targeted at tertiary students and graduates the aim is to enhance training, research and development.

Areas of focus

An embedded systems training for students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi has been undertaken to create awareness on microelectronics technology and on how to use the PIC micro-contoller to develop solutions and promote entrepreneurship. More such training will be held to deepen understanding and highlight embedded systems potential for students and faculty staff.

The next step is to set up an embedded systems lab and a microelectronics training and development center, such a center will help promote practical ICT learning and teaching, research and entrepreneurship. With this in place, students and entrepreneurs will be assisted to change perception as job creators from job seekers through the development of solutions to the myriad of developmental challenges faced in the country.

The third phase will be to train staff and faculty to manage the center and also promote international partnerships to continuously promote innovation and ideas sharing.

The Center will also promote solutions created by students and entrepreneurs and provide business development services to assist would-be entrepreneurs set up their own businesses.

–          Identified competitor

Our competitors are the various universities, polytechnics and tertiary educational institutions such as the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science-KNUST and Technology providing microelectronics training for students as part of their engineering, computer science and physics programs. Also the Kumasi Polytechnic has recently indicated venturing into the manufacture of electronic gadgets such as mobile phones, medical devices and television sets. All these mean an interest to make use of microelectronics technology, hence KCLL is in discussions with the Polytechnic to set up a similar center to assist in research, development and training.

However, our organization aims to partner with KNUST to enhance their programs instead of competing with them. We are working to present authorities of the university an opportunity to gain a competitive edge over their competitors in terms of providing public(government subsidized) higher education. The challenge posed will be when authorities become uncooperative which will stunt the growth of project, a more reason why a pilot project has begun to train students in creating awareness on campus.

–          Proposed impact and sustainability

We expect a change in the thinking of graduates from job seekers to job creators and an increase in the Small and Medium Scale Business creation, patents and publications within three years to add on to knowledge and also reduce the level of consumerism of technology products currently being experienced in the country.

Students and entrepreneurs should be able to fabricate at least 10 working chips in the second year of setting up the microelectronics center.

The value for us as an organization is being able to contribute meaningfully to a drastic decrease in graduate unemployment and also change mindsets of graduates looking up the government to provide jobs instead of being creators.

This will also be in fulfillment of our objectives at promoting entrepreneurship through skills training and also helping develop businesses.

Suame Magazine Fihankra Project

Introduction

Mechanics at Suame Magazine

Located in Kumasi, Suame Magazine is an industrial cluster of Micro-, Small- and Medium- Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) that specialise mainly in vehicular repairs and metal works. Its 20 square miles encompass an estimated 12,000 businesses and a working population of some 200,000. It is considered to be part of the informal sector of the economy, characterized by private, labour-intensive, largely unregulated and unregistered manufacturing and service enterprises. Linkages also exist between local artisans, such as garage and machine shop specialists, and engineering firms. Not only is Suame Magazine a major centre for vehicle repair that attracts both Ghanaian and international customers, it also plays a crucial role in capacity building in the local economy by providing practical training in vocational, technical and engineering skills.

The Fihankra project is an intervention towards capacity building with emphasis on technology skills acquisition and an awareness of the environment to ensure sustainable development. Small scale engineers, entrepreneurs, and students together with faculty from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology-KNUST will explore areas of enhancing business operations and instituting a hire purchase program for equipment and tools acquisition by workshop owners. A strategic partnership with the University and other relevant institutions and partners is an integral part of the project to ensure sustenance and continuous innovation.

Additionally, the project will seek to establish a centre for common learning and excellence in business service delivery in vehicular repair and spares parts sales. This will be modeled around a basic engineering workshop and machine tools sales program, to propel retooling and establishment of new light manufacturing and engineering workshops across Ghana beginning with Suame Magazine industrial cluster in Kumasi, Ashanti Region. Hence, the project initial use the Intermediary Technology Transfer Unit-ITTU set up by the Technology Consultancy Center-TCC of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi for training to promote innovation as well as create an opportunity for the university to become relevant in grassroots industrial development just as happened in the 1970’s and 1980’s but this time with enhanced technology and environment awareness. The project will be implemented by entrepreneurs of the Kumasi Center for Lifelong Learning with a combined work experience of 30 years in the areas of engineering, business, entrepreneurship and sustainable development

 Project Background

There are various challenges facing the project focus area (Suame Magazine) which have been highlighted in detail. Such challenges when dealt with will remove obstacles to innovation and job creation at the biggest industrial cluster in Ghana and arguably West Africa.

–          Technology

Along with advances in automotive technology, vehicular repairs have also become increasingly sophisticated – new equipment, software and techniques are needed to determine the root cause of failure for many components in modern vehicles. Unfortunately the application of new automobile technology to diagnosis of vehicle faults within the Suame Magazine is largely non-existent. The main reasons for this are:

• Lack of exposure and basic knowledge of ICT skills by operators
• Inadequate facilities available where artisans can learn ICT and auto diagnosis skills

One of the biggest challenges for this cluster is the increasing ICT-driven entry barrier in the global automobile industry which manually-based artisanal operations of the current cluster cannot keep pace with. This technological barrier affects not only the artisans, but also vehicle manufacturers, since customers are unable to secure quality support and servicing for modern vehicles. This leads to tarnishing of many vehicle brands, and creates an obstacle to newer vehicles entering the growing market in Ghana.

–          Literacy

Many of the residents and artisans in Suame Magazine have had very little formal education and literacy rates are low. This impedes business development, creating barriers to business management and growth which include difficulties in:

• Learning to use ICT
• Developing relationships with clients from outside Suame Magazine.
• Understanding and following clients’ requirements
• Establishing formal documents and business processes
• Maintaining business records and developing business plans
• Marketing products and services
• Legally registering businesses
• Gaining credibility for work

–          Business Development and the Formal Economy

Most of the MSMEs in Suame Magazine are currently working in the informal economy. Few businesses are registered and most are low-technology small-scale, family-based enterprises, many of which suffer from fluctuating production and have difficulty accessing capital and wider markets – All characteristics of the informal sector. Similarly, much of the employment in the Magazine is informal with work carried out by artisans on their own account or with no written contract and no employment benefits or legal protection. Internationally, low-skilled, manual employment in the informal sector is associated with low wages and poverty. Health and safety standards and other conditions of employment are generally low. Thus many of the artisans in the Magazine have a precarious existence with few buffers between themselves and poverty in the event of ill-health, adverse economic conditions or other misfortunes. This emphasises the need for businesses and individuals within Suame Magazine to gain enhanced ICT and business skills and hence access to the formal economy if they are to achieve growth, raise standards and improve livelihoods.

–          Environment, Health and Safety

The activities of many Suame Magazine artisans involve procedures such as metal cutting, grinding, drilling, welding, painting, and electrical repairs, which carry significant health and safety risks. However, with most local artisans operating in the informal sector and receiving limited training, the level of awareness and standards of health and safety achieved within the Magazine are substantially lower than would be expected in a modern engineering environment. This is an issue not only in terms of injuries and damage to the health of artisans and other Suame residents, but also in that it discourages formal-sector industrial customers from placing contracts with MSMEs in Suame Magazine, and thereby limits artisans’ access to the market for their products. While it is immediately apparent that health and safety standards in Suame Magazine are low, there is little data currently available to identify the highest priority areas of risk and the most cost-effective means of risk reduction. Businesses within Suame Magazine operate with considerably lower environmental standards than would be acceptable in modern industry – waste is burnt rather than being removed or recycled; oil is allowed to drain into the ground; and fumes are released unfiltered into the atmosphere. Not only does this degrade the environment for artisans and other residents of Suame Magazine, it also serves as a disincentive for customers. Many of the environmental issues relate to the context and infrastructure of the site, but there are also measures which could be taken by individual artisans to improve their environment. There is, however, little data currently available to identify the highest impact environmental issues and the most cost-effective means of impact reduction.

–          Quality of Artisanal Engineering

Most of the workshops in Suame Magazine are engaged in manufacturing engineering products where customers specify their requirements by means of engineering drawings. Many of the artisans, however, have no training in understanding such engineering drawings. As a result, customers’ requirements are misinterpreted, leaving them disappointed and so discouraged from placing repeat orders with Suame Magazine artisans. Similarly, many of the artisans in Suame Magazine are unaware of the standards of quality control expected by customers. Because of this, artisans do not always employ sufficient rigor in ensuring that customers’ requirements are followed with sufficient precision; or that the correct quality of materials and accuracy of measurement are used. This frequently results in disappointed customers or wasted work and higher costs for artisans.

Project Interventions

Small scale engineer at Suame Magazine interpreting drawings

To address the challenges outlined, a number of interventions have been outlined to build capacity, promote innovation and entrepreneurship, and create businesses and assist trainees retool workshops or acquire new ones.

The interventions are in ten parts comprehensively addressing the challenges from Adult Literacy, technical and technology skills acquisition, business development and environmental awareness.

–          Develop & Deliver Adult Literacy Program

The Adult Literacy Program will involve teaching basic literacy skills. Students will learn how to communicate in the business language in Ghana (English), working French, as well as reading, writing and numeracy. Already some 50 trainees have undertaken such program in collaboration with partners such as the West African Trade Consultancy based in Toronto and Abidjan.

–          ICT Program

The ICT program will involve three courses through which students (artisans) can learn how to use ICT, from a basic level to the more advanced use of data management and presentations oriented software. Students are also exposed to use of the internet, such as setting up email accounts and browsing through websites. The ICT program has since trained about 60 entrepreneurs who are yet to be taken through the auto diagnostic program but have been unable to do so due to lack of auto-diagnostic teaching tools and equipment and the absence of a strategic partner.

–          Develop & Implement Auto Diagnostics Program

The auto diagnostic program will teach youth, apprentices and master mechanics how to use industry specific ICT tools. Students will learn how to diagnose faults in cars, trucks and trailers and effectively repair vehicles.

–          Provide access to Internet facilities

This program will involve having internet enabled workstations to assist artisans make use of internet resources and also be taken through how to browse for industry specific information and the use of e-commerce resources.

–           Develop & Deliver Business Skills Program

The Business Skills Program will have two different levels. The first level will be for students who have low literacy skills, and will include topics such as keeping basic records in paper form. The second level will be for students with some knowledge of ICT and will include more advanced topics such as electronic recording of financial and other information, planning and budgeting, marketing, financial management and project management.

–          Establish Business Development Advisory Program

This program will involve having a business advisor available to residents and artisans in Suame Magazine. Through this service, participants would be able to receive customized business related advice, such as help with creating a business plan, which will enable them to manage their businesses more effectively and efficiently in the future. A pilot project with the National Board for Small Scale Industries-NBSSI, Ashanti Regional Office was implemented at the Suame Magazine Industrial Development-SMIDO offices at the industrial cluster. Two business advisors who happened to be National Service Personnel posted to NBSSI were seconded to the pilot project from where 100+ entrepreneurs received business advice and training ranging from business registration, inventory control, financial literacy, supply chain management and business profiling. The project was developed on the work of a research team led by IBM senior Manager from India, Subram Natarajan which also included Fihankra project team lead.

–          Develop Quality Management Training Program

A pilot project will be developed to convey to artisans the basic tenets of quality control and how they can be employed in the MSME environment. This program will raise awareness in MSMEs of the quality standards expected by customers and enable them to apply greater standards of precision and rigor in their operations. As a result, products manufactured or repaired in Suame Magazine would be of higher quality, giving rise to greater customer satisfaction, and manufacturing operations would be more efficient.

–          Develop Engineering Technology and Manufacturing Program

Courses in reading and interpreting engineering drawings and in precision use of modern machine tools and measurement techniques and instruments will be developed and delivered on a pilot basis. This will involve the establishment of a fully-equipped workshop within Suame Magazine where artisans can see modern techniques and standards demonstrated and can practice their use. Developing these skills will be enhance technical communication; provide MSMEs with a better understanding of the needs of external clients and partners; and give them the skills to more reliably translate this understanding into delivery of a satisfactory product. A hire purchase program for equipment and tools acquisition by workshop owners will be instituted to transfer innovation and job creation within the cluster

–          Develop Health and Safety Training Program

This program will involve assessing current health and safety practices in Suame Magazine, raising awareness of health and safety issues and running workshops to address different aspects of health and safety. Participating in this program will reduce participants’ risks of health and safety problems, and improved practices adopted by participants should reduce health and safety risks to others.

–          Develop Environmental Awareness Program

This program will involve assessing the effects of current practices on the environment in the Suame Magazine, raising awareness of environmental issues and holding a series of workshops addressing different aspects of environmental management for artisans. This program would result in decreased environmental damage caused by MSMEs in Suame Magazine.

 Action Plan

The Fihankra project team is seeking strategic partners to enhance project interventions and create opportunity for practical skills and equipment acquisition to boost light manufacturing and engineering in Ghana. To this end, partnerships will be pursued with local and international development agencies, private sector companies, academic/research institutions and government.

A proposal for the retooling of the ITTU, KNUST Center at Suame Magazine is a major step to ensuring that practical and modern technological training and harnessing of innovation takes place at the industrial cluster which will have a ripple effect within similar industrial centres across Ghana. It is expected that about 1000 entrepreneurs would have been fully equipped with relevant engineering, technology skills and environmental awareness with tools and equipment to work within 36 months of project roll out.