Yao Ababio – KNUST Alumni North America

Alumni Meeting in Houston – June 2025

Yao Ababio — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 01:58:49 +0000

Hotel Information

KNUST Alumni Association-North America Annual Conference

Reserve a room at our host hotel!
Crowne Plaza Houston Galleria
7611 Katy Fwy, Houston, TX 77024
Phone: (713) 680-2222 – Ask for the KNUST Alumni National Conference Rate
Rate: $119 plus tax for Standard King with Breakfast for 2 guests !

Last day to reserve a room for this rate is June 6, 2025

Please book early! There are only a limited number of rooms available for this rate.

Note: You can reserve rooms for Friday, June 20 to Sunday June 22, 2025.

Thank you

North America 2nd Black Tie and Dinner Dance – Houston TX.

Yao Ababio — Fri, 02 Aug 2019 03:53:25 +0000

The KNUST Alumni Association of North America met on June 22nd, 2019 at the Crowne Plaza Galleria in Houston, Texas to celebrate its 2nd Black Tie and Dinner Dance under the team, “A vested KNUST Alumnus”.

The objective of this event was strategize on doing something to improve the condition of the University’s central library to enhance learning on campus. This well attended event by alumni and non-alumni from places like Ghana, Canada and different parts of USA was a follow up to an earlier successful one that took place in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Master of Ceremony (MC), Dr Ken Barning welcomed the audience and formally opened the fund-raising event with a Prayer by Pastor Atta Koranteng (Snr). Dr. Barning then introduced Mr. Emmanuel Asante, the President of the Houston Chapter, who welcomed the audience and introduced the Houston Chapter Executives and the planning committee members. He thanked them for their service and the work they have done to make the event possible.

The National President, Dr Yao Ababio, welcomed the audience and introduced the members of the national executives. The gathering then sung the University Anthem_ Gaudeamus Igitur (So let us rejoice).

The Vice President, Dr. Leslie Mills gave an account of the black-tie event, with highlights on the USA alumni group in general and the journey thus far. ‘It is very important for all alumni to contribute to the LIBRARY PROJECT’ Dr. Leslie implied and urged all members to make the commitment to help make the project a success. We are hoping to see the implementation of the project before the end of the year 2019.

A video presentation “The State of the Prempeh II Library” documenting the deplorable state and condition of the Prempeh II library was showed to the audience featuring the University Librarian, Dr. Niikoi.

Participants as usual were treated to great dinner meals and danced the night away to some sweet melodies of hi-life music selection as well as hip-pop.

The executives of the KNUST-NA continues to work hard to ensure that the association can make a great impact on learning on campus by getting this project completed at the earliest possible time.

Altogether, $18,267 was received in donations excluding $5,350 in pledges. The cost summed up to $6,141 leaving a net of $12,126 (potentially $17,476 when all pledges are honored).

Meanwhile, alumni are encouraged to honor pledges and also encourage other alumni to donate to the course. We shall communicate as soon as donor list on the website is updated.

The donation modes are:

Through your Bank (zelle)- ef@knust-alum.org
Through PayPal – ef@knust-alum.org
Write check to KNUST-NA and/or deposit at Bank of America
– Acct # 3340-2641-8350, Routing # is 061-000-052
Website: https://knust-alum.org/event-registration

Checks may also be mailed to:
KNUST Alumni Treasurer
PO Box 940578
Houston, TX 77094

We thank all those who participated in the event. You are all very much appreciated.

KNUST-NA National Leadership

The list of donors for the Library Project may be viewed at

https://knust-alum.org/endowment-fund/library-project-donors/

Also, view some event pictures here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1N-ebtejdm76eTcTwAI1gA4nGeBhZQ44s

Dr. Sam Adunyah Honored

Yao Ababio — Sun, 13 Mar 2016 17:40:03 +0000

President Hildreth Hosts Reception to Recognize Researchers at Meharry

Friday, February 19, 2016:

Dr. Hildreth hosted a reception and awards ceremony for researchers that attended the retreat in October 2015. Individuals who had an investigator-initiated grant funded from January-December of 2015 were recognized at the event.

The following faculty members were recognized for investigator-initiated research grants in 2015: Dorin Bogdan Borza, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Microbiology; Robert L. Cooper, Ph.D, assistant professor, Family and Community Medicine; Eun-Sook Lee, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Physiology; Dana Marshall, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Pathology; Maureen Sanderson, Ph.D., professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine; Deok-Soo Son, Ph.D. associate professor, Department of Biochemistry and Cancer Biology; Hua Xie, D.D.S., Ph.D., professor, Department of Oral Biology; Hong Yang, Ph.D., professor, Department of Physiology.

This research represents $1.6 million in yearly funded grants.

A special presentation was made to Samuel E. Adunyah, Ph.D., chair and professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Cancer Biology. Dr. Adunyah has worked at Meharry for over 20 years. During that time he has served as the principal investigator for the Meharry-Vanderbilt Cancer Partnership and the Meharry Translational Research Grant. The Cancer Partnership grant was awarded in 2001 and has been continually renewed. Initially the grant included Meharry and Vanderbilt, however, over the years it has expanded to included Tennessee State University. Combined, Dr. Adunyah’s grants bring in over $4.2 million per year.

Ghana bottoms biggest global school rankings

Yao Ababio — Wed, 13 May 2015 06:01:21 +0000

By Sean Coughlan Education correspondent

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32608772

The biggest global school rankings have been published, with Asian countries in the top five spots and African countries at the bottom.

Singapore heads the table, followed by Hong Kong, with Ghana at the bottom.

The UK is in 20th place, among higher achieving European countries, with the US in 28th.

The OECD economic think tank says the comparisons – based on test scores in 76 countries – show the link between education and economic growth.

“This is the first time we have a truly global scale of the quality of education,” said the OECD’s education director, Andreas Schleicher.

“The idea is to give more countries, rich and poor, access to comparing themselves against the world’s education leaders, to discover their relative strengths and weaknesses, and to see what the long-term economic gains from improved quality in schooling could be for them,” he said.

The top performer, Singapore, had high levels of illiteracy into the 1960s, said Mr Schleicher, showing how much progress could be made.

In the UK, the study shows about one in five youngsters leave school without reaching a basic level of education – and the OECD says that reducing this number and improving skills could add trillions of dollars to the UK economy.

“I think it’s partly a mindset, an expectation. There are plenty of examples of schools that have raised the bar dramatically,” said education minister Lord Nash.

The analysis, based on test scores in maths and science, is a much wider global map of education standards than the OECD’s Pisa tests, which focus on more affluent industrialised countries.

Hi-tech vision of the future: Experimenting with technology in Singapore

This latest league table, ranking more than a third of the world’s nations, shows how countries such as Iran, South Africa, Peru and Thailand would appear on an international scale.

It shows once again the poor performance of the United States, slipping behind successful European countries and being overtaken by Vietnam. It also highlights the decline of Sweden, with the OECD warning last week that it had serious problems in its education system.

Figures mapped above show estimated growth in GDP over the lifetime of pupils. The figures assume that all pupils are enrolled in schools and that they achieve at least basic skills.

More stories from the BBC’s Knowledge economy series looking at education from a global perspective and how to get in touch

The rankings are based on an amalgamation of international tests taken in different regions, putting developed and developing countries on a single scale.

The findings will be formally presented at the World Education Forum in South Korea next week, where the United Nations is to convene a conference on targets for raising global education by 2030.

‘Every student to succeed’

The top five places are all taken by Asian countries – Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

The five lowest-ranked countries are Oman in 72nd, Morocco, Honduras, South Africa and Ghana in last spot.

“If you go to an Asian classroom you’ll find teachers who expect every student to succeed. There’s a lot of rigour, a lot of focus and coherence,” says Mr Schleicher.

Vietnam has overtaken the US: An Italian scooter company’s factory near Hanoi

“These countries are also very good at attracting the most talented teachers in the most challenging classrooms, so that every student has access to excellent teachers.”

The report, published by the OECD and written by Eric Hanushek from Stanford University and Ludger Woessmann from Munich University, argues that the standard of education is a “powerful predictor of the wealth that countries will produce in the long run”.

Take the test: How would your maths skills compare with the world’s teenagers?

“Poor education policies and practices leave many countries in what amounts to a permanent state of economic recession,” says the report.

Millennium targets

Improving education would produce “long-term economic gains that are going to be phenomenal”, says Mr Schleicher.

If Ghana, the lowest ranked country, achieved basic skills for all its 15-year-olds, the report says that it would expand its current GDP by 38 times, over the lifetime of today’s youngsters.

The first “truly global” measure of education standards, says the OECD’s Andreas Schleicher

The report will provide evidence for next week’s World Education Forum of how achieving education targets can deliver economic gains.

The milestone conference, under the auspices of the United Nations, will mark 15 years since the setting of education targets by world leaders.

These millennium targets for education, such as providing all children with a primary education, have not been fully achieved.

But the World Education Forum will set another round of global targets for the next 15 years.

Countries ranked on maths and science

1. Singapore
2. Hong Kong
3. South Korea
4. Japan (joint)
4. Taiwan (joint)
6. Finland
7. Estonia
8. Switzerland
9. Netherlands
10. Canada
11. Poland
12. Vietnam
13. Germany
14. Australia
15. Ireland
16. Belgium
17. New Zealand
18. Slovenia
19. Austria
20. United Kingdom
21. Czech Republic
22. Denmark
23. France
24. Latvia
25. Norway
26. Luxembourg
27. Spain
28. Italy (joint)
28. United States (joint)
30. Portugal
31. Lithuania
32. Hungary
33. Iceland
34. Russia
35. Sweden
36. Croatia
37. Slovak Republic
38. Ukraine
39. Israel
40. Greece
41. Turkey
42. Serbia
43. Bulgaria
44. Romania
45. UAE
46. Cyprus
47. Thailand
48. Chile
49. Kazakhstan
50. Armenia
51. Iran
52. Malaysia
53. Costa Rica
54. Mexico
55. Uruguay
56. Montenegro
57. Bahrain
58. Lebanon
59. Georgia
60. Brazil
61. Jordan
62. Argentina
63. Albania
64. Tunisia
65. Macedonia
66. Saudi Arabia
67. Colombia
68. Qatar
69. Indonesia
70. Botswana
71. Peru
72. Oman
73. Morocco
74. Honduras
75. South Africa
76. Ghana

Bullet Train in Ghana?

Yao Ababio — Sat, 09 May 2015 17:24:11 +0000

Government considers introduction of bullet trains
Source: Reuters
Date: 08-05-2015 Time: 04:05:57:pm

Government is putting in place plans to build a bullet train that will reduce transportation from Accra to Kumasi to 1.4 hours from station to station.

The Minister of Public Private Partnerships (PPP), Rashid Pelpuo, through the Office of the President has engaged a New York Investment bank Chesterfield Faring Ltd. (CFL) to devise a Request for Proposal (RFP).

The CEO of CFL Mr. Lawrence J. Selevan visited with the Honorable Dr. Pelpuo last week in Accra, Ghana.

During his stay, Mr. Selevan met with the Departments of Transportation, Housing, and Finance to coordinate the underwriting of the RFP.

In a quote from Mr. Selevan, “I believe that Ghana is ready for a state of the art mass transit system that will speed up the commute for millions of everyday citizens in both Accra and Kumasi”.

The plan is to build an elevated light rail mass transit commuter system linked to the Kotoka International Airport.

Initial estimates for Phase 1 of the RFP is USD $12 billion growing to USD $30 billion over the balance of the decade. Bids will be considered after the master plan of the rail and TOD are completed in the RFP.

“Also, the USD $30 billion should have a 3.0-3.5 multiplier effect increasing immediate economic activity to almost USD $100 billion before the end of the decade, as well as the aftermath of the investment; increasing GDP by almost 3% per annum, growing to over USD $2.0 billion annually”.

“The immediate impact will be apparent as vehicular congestion allows more access and an easier flow of traffic, both for commuters and freight transportation.”

The Honorable Dr. Pelpuo remarked, “We sought out the best firm with the greatest vision to improve the everyday lives of all of our citizens through an improved affordable transit system. We will be building beautiful sustainable ‘cities within our city’ that will be a model for all of Africa into the future.”

Mr. Earl N. Caldwell II and Mr. Kevin A. Copeland of The Catalyst Group, a Ghanaian based real estate developer, has provided local guidance to CFL to navigate the local markets, demand drivers, and interpreted the macro vision for the RFP.

The light rail mass transit commuter system will include trade zones, which will have shops, public and private parks and gardens, office towers, hotels and 1,000 unit residential towers.

Listen to audio
– See more at: http://www.myjoyonline.com/business/2015/May-8th/government-considering-introduction-of-bullet-trains.php#sthash.uj1mblfy.7xtfwOf2.dpuf