Students at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) are being exposed to the business of engineering through their involvement in the ‘Makers Faire 2.0’ competition.

The initiative offers a platform for students to exhibit their engineering creativity and ingenuity in solving industrial and environmental problems in society.

Project Founder, George Appiah says the key objective is to encourage innovative teams in design process, technology development and establishment of ventures for job creation.

“Most of these students have wonderful ideas that can be scaled up for businesses,” he noted. “In this programme, there is a part in which they are sent through entrepreneurship and business development, in which they are also required to draw a business plan for their project.”

The competition, which started in 2013, is organized by the Ghana Engineering Students Association with the support of the College of Engineering, KNUST.

Selected projects in the current competition attempts to solve some problems faced by the country – including a smart thrash bin to separate and recycle waste products; a smoke detection gadget to fight fire outbreaks in markets; and a portable biogas system that transforms waste into energy.

“What the students intend doing is to turn the challenges into prototypes,” explained Dr.  George Obeng, Director of the Technology Consultancy Centre (TCC), KNUST.

According to him, the best prototypes would be turned into products of commercial value with the support of the TCC and other partners.

“These products can turn into ventures or enterprises to create jobs in our society,” said Dr. Obeng.

An exhibition of the projects is scheduled for next month.