School of Engineering and Applied Science faculty and students have received a $1.12 million grant of Hewlett-Packard equipment to help improve the information and communication infrastructure in Ghana.
A team of Engineering students will travel to Ghana this summer in order to offer a training program in systems administration, as well as computer repair and maintenance. This effort, referred to as the "train the trainer" program, will be offered to 100 local citizens, who will in turn share their knowledge with thousands of others throughout the nation.
The program's goal is to help bridge the "digital divide" that exists between the world's most and least technologically advanced countries. As technology accelerates, wealthy nations further surpass those nations with fewer technological resources, contributing to the problem.
Engineering students and faculty have done their part to help eliminate this gap in technological advancement. Over the past three years, Penn students and faculty created computer laboratories and technology programs in such developing countries as Ecuador, India and Mali.
Now, the Penn representatives are partnering with a West African university to take their knowledge to yet another exotic location.
Kwame Obeng, an alumnus of Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, has a special stake in the project. When his son, an Engineering sophomore, first began studying at Penn, Obeng decided to facilitate the collaboration between the University and Ghana.
"I feel like it is a contribution I can make to Ghana," Obeng said. "It's an opportunity for students in the U.S. and Ghana to have student exchanges, as well as cross-cultural exchanges."
Obeng said he is confident that this gift of technology will have far wider implications. He added that he hopes the influx of technological resources will help train the unemployed in Ghana while simultaneously promoting awareness of diseases such as AIDS.
The HP grant is the largest gift given to Engineering students and faculty in this program to date. But it does not stand alone.
Last July, Engineering School Academic Affairs Director Joseph Sun and his team collected donations of used computers and other high-tech equipment from various community businesses.
Sun lauds the initiatives taken by the people who offer donations, not only in their contribution to the local citizens of Ghana, but to the Engineering students as well.
The projects "enable our students to take a cross-cultural experience and use their training and technology," Sun said.
The summer experience will supplement an Engineering class. The team of engineers will have coursework involving their trip when they return in the fall.
Obeng recently visited Ghana with his son in order to help maintain communication between Penn and the University of Science and Technology in Ghana. He hopes that the team of Penn students and faculty will follow up their summer efforts through constant contact and upgrades of the software.
"Additional funds will be needed for our future plans to have about 50 or so community technology centers," Obeng said.
