Chairman of the Mechanical/Agriculture/Marine Division (MAM) of the Ghana Institution of Engineers (GhIE), Ing. Michael Dedey, has hinted that over 300 delegates are expected to attend this year’s MAM Conference scheduled to take place on Thursday, August 3, 2017 at the Engineers Centre.
Briefing the media about the upcoming conference, Ing. Dedey said, “One of the engineering disciplines most affected by the decline in the manufacturing/processing industries are mechanical engineers. The collapse and/or decline of many mines, factories, the dry dock, railways, car assembly plant, Tema Oil Refinery, Valco, Ghana Airways, etc, are typical examples.”
He continued… “On the other hand, the emergence of thermal plants and the oil & gas industry has opened up other opportunities no matter how limited. As a division of the Ghana Institution of Engineers, we have scheduled a conference to take stock and redirect our members towards other opportunities for mechanical engineering practitioners.”
The President of Ghana Institution of Engineers (GhIE), Ing. Carlien Bou-Chedid, explained that “mechanical engineering is the broadest of all the engineering disciplines. I.e. the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) identifies over 36 specialisations within this discipline. Although our universities in Ghana do not have many of these specialisations, the basic degree makes mechanical engineers one of the most versatile of engineers.
The practice of mechanical engineering deals with all manufacturing processes, machinery under the ground, on land, sea, air and in space. Basically, mechanical engineering has to do with any equipment that has moving parts.
The conference will, therefore, highlight some of the opportunities available to the younger practitioners and to help them identify these opportunities early enough in order to improve the practice and help accelerate development in Ghana.