The President of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech), Dr. Stephen G. Wells, has called on the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Rita Akosua Dickson at the Council Chamber on March 14, 2023.
Other members of the team included Dr. David L. Greene - Vice President, Student Services; Dr. Robert Balch - Director, PRRC; Dr. Tan Nguyen - Professor of Petroleum Engineering; and Dr. William Ampomah - Professor, Petroleum Engineering/PRRC.
It would be revealed that KNUST signed an MOU with NMIMT in 2019 to facilitate the advancement of knowledge on the basis of reciprocity, best effort, mutual benefit. The MOU covers faculty and student exchange; co-operative in joint research programmes in areas of mutual interest; exchange information about teaching, student development, and research developments at each institution; provide joint tutoring and supervision by the academic staff in graduation projects and doctoral theses as deemed appropriate by both bodies. The purpose of the visit was to discuss progress of the MOU.
The Provost of the College of Engineering, Prof. Kwabena Britwum Nyarko, highlighted the progress made so far to include completion of all preparatory activities on 2 + 2 programme which should start earnestly with some scholarships to KNUST students, funding some research activities in the College of Engineering worth $10,000, and support of over 20 KNUST graduates with schlarships for postgraduate studies.
He added that the next steps include extending the cooperation to cover other departments/disciplines such as Mechanical, Computer, Chemical, Materials and Geological Engineering; faculty exchange for young faculty members, especially those who completed their PhDs at KNUST; and joint teaching and research, especially for the postgraduate students.
Confirming the progress made so far, President Wells was very excited about the collaboration and looked forward to working together with KNUST for our mutual benefit. He highlighted the exceptional qualities of KNUST graduates and looked forward to enhancing this partnership.
With a student population of 1,700 undergraduate and postgraduates, president wells indicated that New Mexico Tech was on track to be the smallest highly rated university in the USA. The team offered 2-4 PhD scholarships to KNUST staff to study at New Mexico Tech.
Prof. Dickson was very grateful and excited about how the partnership had progressed. She indicated that KNUST was willing and capable of working with New Mexico Tech to achieve our joint aims. She lauded the plan to have joint PhD programmes between the two institutions and the opportunity to train KNUST technicians at New Mexico Tech.
The Dean of International Programmes Office, Prof. Daniel Duah, added that KNUST has many partners and is this very experienced to receive students from New Mexico Tech for academic exchanges. He took the primary to invite them to KNUST highlighting some of the existing relationship with other universities that allowed these collaborations to broaden the mind of students.