Personality of The Week: Mr Asare Bediako

Asare Bediako - POTW

On today's Personality Dialogue train we meet a very fine gentleman who is also the Rep for  his class - Metallurgical Engineering 1. He shares with us his knowledge and experience. Kindly enjoy the interaction.

Who is Mr Asare Bediako? 
Asare Bediako is a positive young gentleman who is self-motivated and passionately aspires to make a change in society. He is strongly interested in Youth Activism, Entrepreneurship and Leadership.

What was your experience like in secondary school?
I attended Adventist SHS in Bantama. It was a great and quite an interesting place to be. I was famously tagged "The king of Latin," because I always loved and used Latin quotes in all formal speeches I made.

Metallurgical Engineering. Were you given the programme or you really wanted to do it? What informed your decision if you chose it?
My dream program was Pharm D. I was not interested in metallurgy when it was first offered me; I had no passion to offer this program until I was introduced to the value of being a metallurgist.
I was briefed on how metallurgists would be needed in some years to come by a cousin who's a Professor. I don't and will never regret reading metallurgy because I now know my value as a metallurgist.

How has the programme been so far?
The program has been very interesting but stressful.

Why did you choose KNUST among all the other institutions in the country and beyond?
KNUST has always been the only Tertiary institution I admired and wanted. My mentors and seniors in SHS who studied in KNUST whetted my interest and love for KNUST by informing me of how fascinating and proud it is to be in such a great institution.
Nevertheless I felt that KNUST, as a science and technology institution, would be the best and right place to read any  related program.

How has first year been until now?
So far, it’s been cool as I've been able to adapt to campus life and academic life.

Has there been any challenge pertaining to Metallurgical Engineering?
No please

What position (s) have you held so far in your academic life?
I've held many positions from JHS through to SHS. To mention a few:
Head prefect- Maranatha School Complex
SRC Executive without Portfolio - Adventist SHS, Bantama (First Year)
Assistant AYs Chaolain-Asvebtuat SHS, Bantama
Senior Prefect/ SRC President -Adventist SHS, Bantam
Regional SRC Trustee One/Zone one President

Representative for your class, how has the work been all this while?
It’s been a pleasure serving my class; I have been exposed to many experiences. The work has been cool though, but hectic at times.
Our major problem as a class has been with the size of  lecture rooms allocated to us for class. They are too small to contain our large class size.

The worse experience is always when we have a combined Algebra class with the our colleague materials engineering students at the Petroleum Building.
Most students fail to join the class because it’s able to occupy only a few students of our large number.

Moreover, lecturers are unable to speak to the hearing of the class in such situations. Most classes within which combined classes are held have no microphones; and those with microphones are also  not in good working conditions.

I would advise that the Department should kindly consider our class size before allocating to us the various lecture rooms. Also good and working microphones  should be provided in classrooms where combined classes are scheduled to take place.

Please tell us how you are able to manage social and academic responsibilities.
Blending social and academic responsibilities is never easy but with proper planning, it's been cool on my side.


What or who inspires you?
I am inspired by my father (Nana Kwabena Anni) , my mentor (Mr. Osborn Opoku Kantanka) and my lovely sister (Cinderella).

Which extracurricular activities do usually engage in?
I love and play football; and swimming too. I watch wrestling shows sometimes.

How do you see the Department so far? Are there any improvements you would want to see?
From my experience so far, I believe the Department is gradually developing. The current executives are selflessly doing their best.

 Big-ups to the editorial board and the academic board for a very  positive initiative: uploading all relevant course  materials (lecture notes, assignments, past questions, solution manuals, etc.) for every semester online for students at zero cost.


When it comes to Metallurgical Engineering, what field are you particularly interested in and why?
Mineral Processing. It basically involves the extraction, separation and concentration of metals of interests from ores/minerals.

With the knowledge I acquire in this field, I would love to help process Ghana’s substantial mineral resources into finished products to greatly contribute to the economic development of the country.

What do you think about the way we are taught here in the university? Is it helpful especially for your program of study?
It’s simply not the best. There must be a massive improvement of the teaching and learning system.

We have to  in innovative ways, as a science and technology institution, shift from the theoretical style of teaching and learning  and focus much on the practical aspects.

Lecture notes should be periodically revised and simplified to suit the criteria at which exams questions are set.


The Core of Engineering Technology is MATESA’s motto, what does this mean to you?
It simply means, we're the pivot of engineering and technology.

Are there any improvements you would want to see in MATESA?
Absolutely yes! I wish the department improves at all of its diverse fields to stand out as the best among all the rest.

Do you think the world out there needs Materials and Metallurgical Engineers?
Certainly. We live in a material world; it is the role of the materials or metallurgical engineer to study, design, develop, and operate processes to transform raw materials into useful engineering products intended to improve the quality of our lives.

We are also the backbone of engineering. Without us, engineering is nothing and without engineering, development in the country or world at large is hampered.

Any message for the government and other stakeholders regarding Materials and Metallurgical Engineering? 
From research, it is widely believed that the economic and technical progress into the 21st century will largely depend on advances in metal and mineral technology. One cannot envision a life in which electronics, transportation system, buildings and machines are not part of our daily life.

Metals have become the foundation of our modern society. Hence, it draws attention to the need for metallurgists to  extract and process metals from their raw ores.

The government  and stakeholders should ensure recognized tertiary institutions have appropriate numbers of academic staff and learning facilities to be able to provide expert metallurgy learning at undergraduate and post-graduate levels.

They should also provide funding to sustain undergraduate and post-graduate process metallurgy programs and acknowledge a proactive industry support for metallurgical and materials engineering education.

What should we expect from you in the next few years?
Something beyond mediocre.

Please share with us your last words.
Hello world, there are two kinds of people: those who remember names and those whose names are remembered. The choice is yours.
Thank you.

Thank you too Mr Asare for having time to share with us your knowledge and experience.

Dear reader, we hope your time was well served. Kindly anticipate our next Personality!