Prof. Kwadwo Adinkra-Appiah becomes first VC of Sunyani Technical University

Renowned Civil Engineer and erudite scholar, Prof. Kwadwo Adinkra-Appiah has become the first-ever substantive Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the Sunyani Technical University formerly known as Sunyani Polytechnic. Mypurefmonline.com reports.

At an investiture ceremony held on December 14, 2019, and covered by Mypurefmonline.com at the University’s K. Nsiah-Gyabaah auditorium, the Governing Council of the Varsity noted that it accepted at its sitting on September 26, 2019, the recommendations of the ‘Search Committee’ set up by the Council and unanimously agreed to make Prof. Adinkra-Appiah as the School’s first-ever VC with effect from September 1, 2019.

The ardent member of various Professional Associations including the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), the American Concrete Institution (ACI) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) prior to his appointment was the interim Vice-Chancellor of the Institution, having been appointed as such in September 2016.

Born at Atuna in the Jama South District of the Bono Region of Ghana, Prof. Ing Kwadwo Adinkra-Appiah has served in various management positions at the Sunyani Technical University including Acting Head of Building Technology Department (2007-2009), Acting Dean of School of Engineering (2009-2012), Vice-Rector (2013-2016), Rector (2016) and Interim Vice-Chancellor (2016-2019).

Starting his basic school education at the Roman Catholic Primary school in the Jama South District, Prof. Ing Kwadwo Adinkra-Appiah graduated from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, in 1998 and 2006 with degrees in B.Sc Engineering and later MPhil Civil Engineering respectively.

He obtained a PhD as Civil Engineer in Structural modelling at the RISA Technologies in California, USA, in 2006.

Prof. Ing Kwadwo Adinkra-Appiah has authored several research publications receiving several laurels of which prominent amongst them is being crowned as the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) Excellence Award winner in 2016 as the ‘Most Innovative Researcher of the Year.’

His research works has led to the introduction of an innovative building block in the Ghanaian construction industry dubbed ‘Salamorete building block’ for sustainable construction.

Prof. Adinkra-Appiah research areas include shear strengths reinforced palm kernel shell concrete deep beams, Vulnerability of building structures in the seismic zones of Ghana, the use of waste materials as aggregate for concrete and building block production for sustainable construction and building block production and economic cost of road accidents in Ghana.

The Sunyani Technical University (formally known as Sunyani Polytechnic) is a public tertiary institution in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana.

It was established as a Technical Institute in 1967, as a non-tertiary institution, under the Ghana Education Service and was subsequently upgraded to a Polytechnic in 1997, following the passage of the Polytechnic Law of 1992 (P.N.D.C. Law 321), by the Government of Ghana, as a Tertiary Educational Institution to run Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes.

The Polytechnics Act, 2007 (Act, 745), which was an amendment of the P. N. D. C. Law 321, subsequently mandated the Polytechnics in Ghana to run and award Higher National Diploma (HND) Certificates, Diplomas and other higher degrees, subject to the approval of the Polytechnic Councils.