A committee set up by the Dean of School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS) to develop and implement a school-level entrepreneurship programme for students in the School, organised a stakeholders’ forum on July 6, 2022. The purpose of the forum was to solicit ideas from relevant stakeholders for the entrepreneurship programme. This was in line with one of the committee’s Terms of Reference (ToR).

The committee was chaired by Dr. Yvonne Sena Loh, and the members were Dr. Richard K.B. Owoare (Department of Chemistry), Dr. George Acheampong (Department of Marketing & Entrepreneurship, UGBS), Dr. Joanna Modupeh Hodasi (Department of Physics), Dr. Isaac Wiafe (Department of Computer Science), Dr. Charlotte Chapman-Wardy     (Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science) and Ms. Mawuena Abortta (Office of the Dean, SPMS). Miss Judith Mensah-Sena assisted the committee with secretarial duties.

Group Photograph of SPMS with Stakeholders

Chairperson, Dr. Yvonne Sena Loh addressing the participants

The forum was attended by fourteen (14) resource persons from industry and academia, student representatives, Heads of Department from SPMS, and other members of the University community.

A cross-section of participants at the program

Resource persons running their own businesses provided brief backgrounds to how they started their businesses, while those involved in the development and running of entrepreneurship programmes spoke about how the programme can be instituted in SPMS. As key stakeholders, the forum sought the opinion of students on how the programme should be developed and run. The student representatives asked for a platform to be created for students to work with colleagues from other Departments within the School, and for more practical exercises to be given to help students to develop entrepreneurial skills and business ideas. They also asked that entrepreneurship courses should be introduced at level 100 so that students can be exposed to the idea early.

A resource person given a brief background

A representative from the Office of Research, Innovation and Development (ORID), Mrs. Diana Adobea Owusu Antwi spoke on resources available at the Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Services (TTIPS) unit of ORID, to assist students with their ideas and/or products. Some of the resources are assistance to student-entrepreneurs to protect their ideas, help for innovators to refine their ideas, and assistance to engage with the market to be sure that ideas and products are viable.

Mrs. Diana Adobea Owusu Antwi

In attendance were Dr. Mary A. Chama, Head of Department of Chemistry; Dr. Jamal-Deen Abdulai, Head of Department of Computer Science; Prof. Patrick Sakyi, Head of Department of Earth Science; Prof. Benoit Sehba, Head of Department of Mathematics; and Dr. Martin Egblewogbe, Head of Department of Physics.