Students of the Accra Institute of Technology (AIT), have developed a number of projects to help in the development of the country, including a path following driverless vehicle system.

The system is developed to totally eliminate the driver, providing automated commuting from one point to another on a predefined path.

“This is achieved through a set of sensors which constantly provide information on the position of the vehicle in relation to a path. Computations made by a non-board processor instruct the drive system on how to steer the vehicle to its destination”, the student developers, stated at the institute’s 2nd edition of the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Expo and Exhibition at its Seaview Campus in Accra.

The annual AIT STI expo is one of the university’s ways of highlighting the practical aspects of the curricula and their relevance to industry’s problems.

The objective of the event, according to Dr. Benjamin Aggrey Ntim, Chairman of AIT STI expo is to exhibit selected final year projects in the three areas of Information Technology, Engineering and Business Administration which have been identified as potentially suitable for further development to adapt them for industrial applications at both national and international levels.

“The main objective of this expo is to exhibit developed insights, theories and tools to shape the future of science, technology and innovative thinking and action”, he added.

The chairman disclosed that AIT is primarily a technology based University and one that recognizes the need to be in constant collaboration with industry in order to bridge the industry-academia gap.

Other projects exhibited during the expo included: Power Harnessing Vehicle Speed Breaker, Solar Powered FM Transmitter for Remote Villages, Car battery Theft Prevention System, an Automated Power Phase Selector for Telecom Cell sites and a Train Accident Prevention System.

Students from AIT’s Advanced School of systems and Data Studies (ASSDAS) and Business School also exhibited their projects to a panel of judges and convinced them for a first place position.

Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, Minister for Communications, in a speech delivered on his behalf by Alexander Afful, Director Human Resource of the Ministry stressed that technology is regarded as the primary engine of every economic growth and provides the key to open a country’s potential.

He stated that the purpose of the event falls in line with the government’s commitment to place strong emphasis on how to use ICT to transform Ghana’s socio-economic development.

“I want to assure AIT of the Ministry’s readiness to receive the overall report of this Expo to add up to the stock of knowledge in the Ministry”, he assured.

The Minister therefore encouraged AIT to take more research works into STI/ICT to meet the facing challenges to promote the element of sustainable development in today’s competitive global economy.

“The Ministry is currently conducting a national baseline survey in STI and we hope that survey will guide your institutions in developing more programmes in STI where there is a deficit”, Adelaide Asante, Acting Director of the Science, Innovation Directorate at the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation said that on behalf of the Minister.