New Vice-Chancellor Inducted Into Office At Kumasi Technical University (KsTU)
An investiture has been organised to induct into office the newly appointed Vice-Chancellor Ing. Prof. Nana Osei-Wusu Achaw at the Kumasi Technical University (KsTU). He thus, becomes the first substantive Vice-Chancellor of the University after its conversion from polytechnic to technical university. The Chemical Engineer has had 24 years of continuous service of lecturing in the University.
In his address to the gathering during the investiture, the new Vice - Chancellor pledged to make KsTU a world class university to ensure that the churned out products will be comparable to those from any institution in the world.
In his welcome address, the Chairman of the Governing Council of KsTU Prof. Dr. Ben Baffoe-Bonnie advised the Vice-Chancellor to adopt an open door policy and strongly team up with all staff to deliver on their mandate as a technical university.
Ing. Prof. Osei-Wusu Achaw is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at KsTU. Between December, 2018 and May, 2019, he served as the Acting Vice-Chancellor of Cape Coast Technical University (CCTU). For six (6) years, Prof. Achaw was the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology of KsTU, having previously served for 14 years as the Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering of the University. He also served as the Director of the School of Graduate Studies, Research and Innovation (SGSRI) of KsTU. This year, 2020 marks his 24th year of distinguished, committed and uninterrupted service to technical education in Ghana.
Ing. Prof. Osei-Wusu Achaw was born at Ankaase (Lake Side) in the Bosome-Freho District of the Ashanti region where he had his elementary education. He obtained his ’O’ and ‘A’ Level certificates in Toase Secondary School and Sunyani Secondary School respectively. In 1987, he completed a programme of study leading to the award of a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University of Budapest, Budapest, Hungary. In 1989, Prof. Osei-Wusu Achaw completed his MSc in Chemical Engineering from the same University. From 1990 to 1996, he studied and worked in the University of Akron, Akron, Ohio, USA and subsequently in Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, variously as a Graduate Assistant and as a Teaching Assistant. In 2005, he completed a course of study leading to the award of a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Chemical Engineering from the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
Prof Osei-Wusu Achaw joined the Kumasi Technical University (then Kumasi Polytechnic) in 1996 as the founding lecturer of the Department of Chemical Engineering. Between 1997 and 2008, he served as the Head of the Department. From 2002 to 2008, he was the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology. In the period 2011 to 2013, he held the position of the Director of SGSRI. In 2008, he was promoted to the Senior Lecturer rank (the first in the Institution to be so promoted since its establishment as a tertiary institution) and was promoted to Associate Professor in April, 2014.
He is a professional engineer, an accomplished academic, researcher and administrator with both local and international experience. Between 2014 and 2018, he served as the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) and a member of the Governing Council of the Institution. His entrepreneurial prowess is unblemished. He is the Sole Proprietor of OWACH Process Solution – a consultancy firm engaged in trouble-shooting and providing engineering solutions to chemical processing industries.
Prof. Osei-Wusu Achaw has served on almost all the key Standing Committees of KsTU including the Executive Committee, Academic Board, the Development Committee, the Research and Conferences Committee, the Appointments and Promotions Committee, and the Scholarship and Staff Development Committee. As the Acting Vice Chancellor of CCTU, Prof. Osei-Wusu Achaw served on the Governing Council of the Institution and on almost all its sub-committees as well as chairing the Academic Board of that Institution.
As an academic, Ing. Prof. Nana Osei-Wusu Achaw has researched extensively and published close to forty (40) peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed articles. He has also supervised close to 50 Higher National Diploma (HND), BTech and PhD thesis. He has served as the external examiner of graduate examinations in a number of Institutions. He chaired the development of HND, BTech, MTech and DTech curricula in Chemical Engineering at KsTU. His commitment to the cause of KsTU goes beyond academic issues. Prof Osei-Wusu Achaw helped to generate income for the University both directly and indirectly. Directly, he single-handedly wrote proposals that brought close to $500,000.00 (five hundred thousand dollars) to the University. Indirectly, he has contributed a lot more to the University. For instance, as the Campus Coordinator of the Teaching and Learning Innovation Fund (TALIF), he was instrumental in facilitating proposals that fetched close to $1,500.000.00 (One million and five Hundred Thousand US dollars) to the University.
As the Chairman of GhIE in the Ashanti Region, he championed Engineering education in the Region. Among the key contributions in that direction are the fact that in 2016, he led a team of engineers to raise close to Ghc100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis) to organize workshops to encourage young girls to take up Engineering as a career choice. Also, in the year 2017, he led a similar team to raise Ghc210,000.00 (Two Hundred and Ten thousand Ghana Cedis) to organise an engineering project competition for the youth. Importantly, he was instrumental in setting up a branch office of the Institution in Kumasi in Ashanti region, the only region outside of Accra where the Institution has an office. He has further contributed to community and national development.
He is currently the Ankobeahene of Kokofu-Penanko. In that capacity, the quinquagenarian has contributed immensely to the development of the community, key among which is being the Chairman of the biennial Opemsuo Festival of that community – an international festival that draws visitors from all over the world to Kokofu and Ghana. He has also chaired, for six (6) years running, the annual Easter Meet-Me-There programme committee at Ankaase (Lake Side) to organise Easter festivities for holiday makers. Ing. Prof. Nana Osei-Wusu Achaw is a member of the Advisory Board of the Kokofu General Hospital. He previously served on the Board of Governors of Toase Senior High School and presently, he is the Chairman of the Board of Governors of Oppon Memorial Senior High School in Kokofu, Ashanti Region. Ing. Prof. Nana Osei-Wusu Achaw is happily married to Mrs. Afia Serwaa Anima Owusu Achaw and they are blessed with three children, namely: Afia Ntiriwaa Owusu Achaw, Kwame Osei Owusu Achaw, and Kwaku Owusu Achaw.
