July 27 – July 28 – The Association of Researchers in Construction Management (ARCOM) held a two-day doctoral workshop at Ashesi. Hosted by the Engineering School, the workshop on the theme Sustainable Infrastructural delivery for Economic Growth on the Continent provided a platform for participating doctoral students to share empirical insights into the link between infrastructure delivery and economic growth.
The workshop explored topics in the areas of financing infrastructure delivery in Africa, public-private partnerships and infrastructure delivery, procuring infrastructure in Africa, infrastructure maintenance and facilities and also presentation skills. Participants, who included doctoral students, researches, academicians and professionals in the area of construction managements and other professional fields, had the opportunity to network, and learn through a series of presentations and exercises to help guide them through their work.
“ARCOM workshops provide a way to share knowledge, network, discuss issues based on their research, and share ways to take their research forward,” said Dr. Chika Udaeja of the University of Salford and workshop convener. “Participants learn about something they don’t have or may not have thought about, and get new insights into their work. Essentially, ARCOM helps provide a friendly environment for this to happen.”
The workshop also gave faculty members at Ashesi the opportunity to engage with colleagues from other universities and professionals in related fields. “ARCOM was important for Ashesi particularly because of the sustainable environment Ashesi has,” said Ashesi lecturer, Dr. Sena Agyapong, who was also a convener for the workshop. “The mechanical engineers have a role to play in the mechanical systems of buildings, the electrical engineers have a role to play in putting together the whole electronics infrastructure, while the computer engineers have a role in the intelligent systems of structures. The workshop will also help us grow our clout and build exposure for our engineering program beyond Ghana and the United States so people in different parts of the world are exposed to our kind of engineering we do here.”