Seattle, WA— May 2, 2014 The Ashesi University Foundation announced it has received a $250,000 Cooperative Agreement from USAID, under the American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) program, to support the construction of a new engineering program at Ashesi University College in Ghana.
Ashesi broke ground in late November 2013, and is on schedule for a fall 2015 program launch. Ashesi’s engineering program will educate young Africans who will drive the important innovations that Africa needs. The curriculum is being developed in partnership with top universities in the United States and Canada and will be a model for engineering education across the continent.
USAID ASHA funding will contribute to the electrical, air-conditioning, and plumbing installation costs of construction. The new engineering building will house classrooms and labs designed for in-depth, hands-on learning in electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering, product design, and physics. Uniting traditional design by local architects, world class technology, and environmental best practices, the engineering building will complement the existing architecture of our campus.
The goal of Ashesi’s new engineering program is to provide a world class education to produce ethical leaders of exceptional professional ability for Africa. Ashesi will build a program from the ground up to train young Africans to think differently and examine problems in a new way. Another goal of Ashesi’s engineering program is to produce more women engineers. Through intensive recruiting, scholarships, and pre-college summer workshops, Ashesi will attract Africa’s brightest women and students from families in poverty to its engineering program.
Ashesi believes that a high quality science and engineering education, based on best practices from top American institutions, can have a long-term sustained impact in Africa. By producing graduates who can build critical infrastructure, start new businesses that create jobs, develop products designed to meet the needs of local communities, and manufacture products for export, we will help economies grow and improve lives.
Thank you USAID ASHA for your support! We look forward to working with you.