Three lecturers from a team of five at the College of Engineering, KNUST, participated in a five-day kick-off workshop at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, from September 16 to September 21, 2024. The full team includes Professor Francis Kemausuor, Dr. Enoch Bessah, Professor Kwadwo Mensah-Darkwa, Dr. Frank Ofori Agyemang, and the team lead, Dr. Bennetta Koomson. The latter three members attended the kick-off meeting.
The workshop aimed to establish a Membranes Knowledge Hub with the African academic partners of the project in Egypt, Ghana, and Morocco. This initiative seeks to leverage the expertise and resources of Germany and other partners while fostering collaboration and integration with both local and international industries.
The project is titled “Membrane Knowledge Hub: A University-Industry Platform Towards Sustainable Water and Energy Management in Africa (WEAfrica),” and is focused on promoting sustainable water and energy management across the continent.
Following the kick-off meeting, the main project will begin in Ghana with an entrepreneurship workshop titled “WE-AFRICA BOOST PROGRAM” from Monday, October 28, 2024, to Friday, November 1, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. daily.
The facilitator will be Zsolt Gemesi, who is a research and innovation professional at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London, with a focus on clean tech, energy, smart cities, and health.
The workshop schedule is as follows:
- Day 1 kicks off with Introduction to the workshop, team roles session, team-building exercises, Business Model Canvas, and Lean Startup Methodology sessions.
- Day 2 will continue with Business Model Canvas and delve into its completion, testing and validation, as well as customer discovery and financial planning.
- Day 3 will kick off with B2B marketing, followed by Go-To-Market strategy, business planning basics, and roadmapping.
- Day 4 sessions will include Competitive landscape analysis, IP management, and Pitch Deck structure.
- Day 5 will end the entire workshop with Pitch training, dry runs, and mentor feedback.
Students, lecturers, and researchers interested in building startups and acquiring entrepreneurial skills are encouraged to register and participate in this all-important workshop.
