Five women out of seven graduands received Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) with 20 others graduating with M.Phil.

Addressing the graduands, the Vice Chancellor of UMaT, Prof. Richard Kwasi Amankwah remarked “This is the highest female PhD graduands UMaT has ever produced at a single congregation and this is an indication that we are on course with the gender mainstreaming agenda in UMaT.”

He added “Your toil and efforts have not been in vain. Your degree is a valuable asset. Remember that research at the postgraduate level is about either solving a problem or adding new concepts to existing knowledge. I believe that some of the research questions that you have answered can solve problems in the work place and in society.”

Prof. Amankwah told the graduands to team up and create tangible benefits that would make society a better place, assuring that the Incubation Hub would work with those who wanted to turn innovations into viable ventures.

“As you transition to the next stages of your lives, please do well to project the values of Knowledge, Truth and Excellence and contribute to the development of your alma mater. Though you are leaving school, I would like to say dare to know through continuous learning,” he advised.

On accommodation, the Vice Chancellor reported that, there was a high interest in the programmes run by UMaT and that, an increase student population in UMaT had resulted in an urgent need to make more accommodation available to students.

Due to this, Prof.  Amakwah said, UMaT, had introduced another aspect of Private-Public-Partnership referred to as Build-Own-Operate-Maintain (BOOM) as the new model for development of hostels in UMaT.

Again, UMaT, he said, was taking some bold steps to commercialise research and that it had signed a joint venture agreement with Zaacoal Ltd, a charcoal production company in Accra, to expand the coconut shell value-chain by producing activated carbon for use by gold mining industry.

The activated carbon import budget is estimated at US$9.0 million per annum and this venture will contribute immensely to national value addition, Prof. Amankwah said.

He said “As service to the community, UMaT volunteered to conduct all geotechnical surveys towards the construction of the village free of charge as our contribution towards the reconstruction of Appiatse community which suffered an explosion on January  20, this year,  leading to the loss of 13 lives.”

Meanwhile, at the ceremony, UMaT honoured some past Principal Officers including the last Principal, the only Provost and Foundation Vice Chancellor, Prof. Daniel Mireku-Gyimah; the foundation Pro- Vice Chancellor, Prof. Newton Atta Amegbey, and the Foundation Registrar, Mr Emmanuel Kweku Bedai, for their hard work and commitment in advancing the cause of this institution.