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First female professor of UMAT delivers inaugural lecture
Prof. Ofori-Sarpong delivering her inaugural lecture
The First Female Professor of Minerals Engineering in Ghana and currently the Dean of School of Postgraduate Studies at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa, in the Western Region, Prof. Grace Ofori-Sarpong, has delivered her first inaugural lecture which is also the seventh lecture of UMaT.
Her topic was “Mycohydrometallurgy; One-Pot Degradation of Double Refractory Gold Ores by Phanerochaete chrysosporium”.
She said “gold was not like a tree you could take and it would shoot up for you to come back and cut again but the moment gold was taken from the ground or soil that ended it except small particles that might be left or hidden.”
She said that technology needed to be developed in order to retrieve the hidden gold from the soil so her lecture was to get the hidden or leftover gold through the application she had researched into and developed.
Prof. Ofori-Sarpong said she was so honoured as a lady to be given the opportunity to showcase what a woman had gone through and brought to the public domain.
She said it was also a platform to tell her counterparts that they should aim high and be determined to reach the sky and surely they would get there.
She disclosed that she had a platform where she and her colleagues assisted the younger girls to aim high and use the sky as a spring board to get to the next level.
She said the gold in the hard rock needed to be broken into very smaller pieces before the gold could be obtained but some gold would still be hidden after breaking the rock so pretreatment was needed to get the rest of the gold out.
She said one way of getting gold was through burning but that method polluted the environment so microorganisms were used to extract the gold and by this method the environment would not be polluted.
The Dean said about a decade ago ‘mycohydrometallurgy’ was introduced into literature to define the application of fungi in hydrometallurgy and this brought to the fore exploration of a ‘one-pot’ transformation of carbonaceous matter (CM) and sulphidic minerals (SM).
The Chairman of the Inaugural Lecture, Vice Chancellor of UMaT, Prof. Richard Kwasi Amankwah said it was an important day in the UMaT Calendar to celebrate the first female professor to deliver her inaugural lecture.
He said as the first female Professor of UMaT all female students looked up to her as a role model for many to also climb the scaffold to greater heights.
From Peter Gbambila, Tarkwa.
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NHIA set to boost its cybersecurity and IT Infrastructure
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), in partnership with a leading private cybersecurity solutions provider in Ghana, CyberHawk Limited, is advancing the Authority’s digital infrastructure to ensure seamless operations.
This is to safeguard the Authority’s digital technologies and maintain the trust of active members of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
In this context, the NHIA Management Information System (MIS) Directorate in the Head Office, on February 11, 2024, launched a three-day brainstorming session on the organization’s cybersecurity enhancement agenda.
The MIS Directorate Ag. Director, Mr. Daniel Blankson explained that the collaborative meeting aimed to scrutinize the NHIA’s Information Technology architecture, identifying potential risks and gapsto enhance its cybersecurity posture.
“By leveraging CyberHawk Limited’s expertise, the NHIA seeks to fortify its defenses against cyber threats, protecting sensitive information and maintaining the trust of its members.”
Mr. Blankson applauded the synergy between the two organizations and underscored the Authority’s commitment to embracing cutting-edge technologies and innovative solutions to drive its mission forward.
The Head of Information Security and Standards Unit, in the MIS Directorate, Mr. Ebenezer Hooper, highlighted the Authority’s significant milestone on the digital transformation journey.
According to him, the NHIA is actively engaged in fully adopting and implementing modern digital systems to improve its operations.
He said, “The three-day brainstorming meeting will culminate in the development of a robust IT infrastructure, as well as strategic plans to translate security implementations into tangible IT cost savings for the organization.”
“There is the need to form a steering committee or IT advisory committee, operated under the Board, so that they can pay more attention in protecting the huge IT investment while ensuring cyber security-related policies are well protected,” he added.
The Project Manager of CyberHawk Limited, Mr. Chetan Narayana Murthy, lauded the collaboration and anticipated that it would empower the NHIA to implement comprehensive cybersecurity measures.
According to him, “This is a huge project that will greatly benefit the NHIA by implementing robust cybersecurity measures, safeguarding their systems, and ultimately protecting the sensitive information of NHIA members and healthcare providers.”
A Senior Manager of IT infrastructure, Mr. David Asare Addo, and his colleague, a Senior Manager of Applications, Mr. Enock Afanyi, with the MIS Directorate, gave an overview of the NHIA’s current technological landscape.
Present at the meeting were representatives from the Claims, Membership and Regional Operations (MRO), Research, Policy, Monitoring, and Evaluation (RPME), Corporate Affairs, the Audit, Administration, and Human Resource Directorates.
Story By : Vivian Arthur
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Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal
Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two
