Accra: Quiz mistress of the National Science and Maths Quiz, Professor Elsie Effah Kaufmann, has recounted how she helped establish biomedical engineering at the University of Ghana (UG) during a period when the course was virtually non-existent in the country.
According to Ghana Web, Prof Kaufmann, who is also the Dean of the School of Engineering Sciences at the University of Ghana, shared her journey on Today's Woman on TV3. She returned to Ghana in 2001 after completing her engineering education abroad and was employed by the University of Ghana to help set up engineering programmes. The initiative was spearheaded by the then Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ivan Addae-Mensah, who was keen on introducing engineering courses at the university.
By 2001, a committee had been established, and Prof Kaufmann was tasked with developing engineering programmes. She focused on creating two programmes: biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering. Despite the challenge, she ensured that biomedical engineering was included, given its absence as an undergraduate programme in Ghana at the time.
The programme received approval in 2003, and the first cohort of students was admitted in 2004, graduating in 2008. Prof Kaufmann highlighted the absence of undergraduate-level biomedical engineering programmes across most of Africa, with only Egypt and South Africa offering graduate-level courses at the time.
The early years were marked by limited staffing, with only two lecturers teaching all courses. This situation led to students being taught multiple subjects by the same lecturers. Prof Kaufmann described the effort as "performing miracles," given the constraints they faced.
She emphasized the challenges of running an engineering programme at a public university with limited financial and human resources. Students paid less than $300 annually for tuition, and the university's status as a government institution restricted the department's ability to recruit staff or raise fees independently.
Prof Kaufmann expressed her desire for more resources, faculty, and improved facilities for training students. Despite these constraints, she acknowledged the impressive performance of graduates from the programme, attributing their success to the dedication of both students and lecturers working within limited means.