August 21, 2018
Since 2012, we have held a variety of programs during school breaks, targeted at sharing our teaching and learning model with a broader community. Programs such as the Ashesi Robotic Experience and the Ashesi Junior Entrepreneurship Network enabled students to experience Ashesi, and gain broader perspectives on possible pathways they could follow when they graduated from high school.
However, the different organizing teams at Ashesi felt the need to create a more comprehensive program that would allow more students to better experience Ashesi’s multidisciplinary learning model.
“At Ashesi, you don’t just study courses related to one subject like computer science.” Said Ayorkor, head of Robotics. “You get a broad education. And so we thought, why don’t we combine the programs to touch on different things and give a fuller experience?”
The discussions led to the creation of the Ashesi Innovation Experience (AIX) in 2014, with significant support from the Mastercard Foundation; and with 2018 being the 5th year of AIX, the program continues to evolve and grow in reach.
“AIX was designed to engage students in a multidisciplinary curriculum that emphasizes leadership, teamwork, creativity and problem-solving. Students also get the chance to gain a deeper understanding in thematic areas of engineering, robotics, entrepreneurship or the creative arts.”
For AIX 2018, 127 students from 13 countries came to Ashesi’s campus to learn and collaborate. Speaking on his experiences, Chitundu Limbikani from Zambia, reflected on how AIX provided the perfect opportunity for him to engage out of his home country and experience Ghana.
“When I came to AIX, I thought I was going to feel out of place, but I actually found that everyone here is friendly. AIX has given me the privilege to experience diversity and learn about other cultures. The program has really helped me to gain new skills in leadership, and I now realize its importance in acquiring success.”
For the lead team behind the newly included Creative Arts theme for AIX, the addition brought a needed opportunity for students to identify how to build impactful careers in the arts.
“Although Ashesi doesn’t offer majors in the creative arts, a creative arts module made a lot of sense,” said Kobby Graham, faculty in Humanities and Social Sciences department at Ashesi. “Our liberal arts slant does offer opportunities to arts-leaning students to pair their interests with ideas from entrepreneurship and benefiting society as a whole. So students got to explore how art is not just useful to society but essential. Through interactive lectures, celebrity panels and creative activities, they learned how to expand their imaginations of what Africa could become.”
At this year’s open house, students demoed their ideas to families, friends, and partners who visited campus; with projects ranging from solutions in recreation, health care and transportation, to smart homes and automated factory systems.
The Ashesi Innovation Experience is subsidized for all students who attend, and half of the students who participate in the program receive scholarships, thanks to generous partners. This year’s program was supported by the Sahara Foundation, Pentair Foundation, Woodin, the IDP Rising Schools Program and the Harambe Entrepreneurship Alliance.
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