About UPERCRETs

The Brew-Hammond Energy Centre, TBHEC, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, KNUST, and her partners in Norway, the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), and The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, Alesund, are undertaking a project dubbed, Upgrading Education and Research Capacity in Renewable Energy Technologies (UPERCRETs). The project is hosted by KNUST, and was lunched on the 24th of July, 2015, by the then Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, Professor Willian-Otoo Ellis. The project is managed by Dr. Lena Dzifa Mensah, a Fellow of TBHEC and a Lecturer of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Objectives

Enhance Female Participation in Renewable Energy Technologies.

Develop Capacity of KNUST Staff in Renewable Energy Technologies.

Training More PhD Students to help Improve Research Capabilities.

The overall objective of the project is to develop the capacity of KNUST staff to sustain the current masters programme in Renewable Energy Technologies, hosted by the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

As part of project activities to enhance the relevance of the programme content to industrial needs, a seven-member Advisory Team has been instituted comprising members from different segments of the energy sector value chain, who will meet once a year to review programme content, and make an input into research topics.

Funding

The UPERC-RETs project is funded by the Norwegian Development Cooperation Agency (NORAD), under its initiative for collaboration in Energy and Petroleum (EnPe) education and research and it’s valued at NOK 8.5 million (approximately US$ 1.3 million).