January 29, 2016 - In a stirring lecture, Professor Osseo-Asare from the Penn State University, USA, shared lessons on engineering for development within the African context. He touched on history, engineering, leadership and politics, as a foundation for understanding how to go beyond the status quo.
“I hope that you pioneering engineering students of Ashesi will all be comfortable with developmental engineering,” he said. “This means that you’re not always trying to solve other people's problems elsewhere, but those within your own environment. I guarantee you that every time you solve a problem arriving from the African context you’re solving a problem that is of interest to the rest of the world. Once you solve that local problem, you gain a solution for the whole world.”
“Don’t let what your professors tell you limit you,” he added. “Their lessons should become a foundation for you, and you should master the foundation so you can build on it. That’s part of the gift you’re going to receive from Ashesi, and you in turn will give that gift back [to Africa]. And in giving back, you learn how to use your brain and how to break rules.”
He closed with a directive drawn from a quote from Chinua Achebe. “Don’t just try to copy what is happening in the US, or UK or Japan,” he said. “We need to discover the African gate. The world is waiting for our contributions.”
Professor Osseo-Asare is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering and the Department of Energy & Mineral Engineering at the Penn State University, USA. He is also a member of the United States National Academy of Engineering. Professor Osseo-Asare’s bio.