The University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) in Tarkwa has organized its maiden innovation fair dubbed “Think smart, be innovative-2015”

The fair, which was sponsored by the Legacy Financial Services and Class Lane Computers was aimed at bringing together engineers, researchers, students, consultants, business executives, service providers and all those who were interested in innovation.

The fair show case projects in renewable energy, computer-aided design, bio technology, Information and Communication Technology, mining and mineral processing, salt, fuel and energy as well as mechanical modeling.

In a speech read on his behalf, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Jerry Kuma said the fair was to afford students the opportunity to showcase their innovations and creativity through science and technology driven projects applications and to strengthen the research capabilities of the University.

He said as an engineering and technology driven institution, the University believes in creating an environment where students could transform what they study into feasible and scalable projects that impacted positively on their communities and the nation at large.

The Vice Chancellor said the fair outlined the tenets of the University’s vision and mission and the vision of the University was to become a Center of Excellence in Ghana and Africa for producing world-class professionals in the fields of mining, technology and related discipline.

Professor Kuma said that over the years, the institution has tried to achieve this mandate through a series of innovative and transformational process in teaching and learning to enable them turn out graduates whose high quality out match those of their competitors trained elsewhere in the world.

He expressed gratitude to their sponsors for partnering with the University to come out with this all important progamme and asked other organizations to come on board in the subsequent editions so that they could unearth untapped and latent potentials in their students to benefit the society.

The Vice Chancellor asked the students to think through what could be done to improve lives and living standards of the society by coming out with relevant innovations for the second fair come 2016.

In an address read on his behalf, the President of the Student Representative Council (SRC), Mr. Enock Oteng Amponsah said that the fair formed part of the activities marking the SRC week celebration.

He urged the students to find new ways of doing things and solving problems to make the world a better place for all.