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Monday, 6th August 2012 - As part of helping the students understand and learn more about what they could do with Computer Science, five Ashesi alumni came to campus to share their experiences with the group. The alumni, Kwei Quaye-Foli ’09, Regina Agyare ’05, Wilhelm Hesse ’10, Julia Appiah ’10 and Samuel Asumadu ’08, shared great stories from their own high school period.

Each alumni panel memeber explained how they connected their experiences in high school with studying Computer Science and Management Information systems at Ashesi, and how their degrees have been useful for them in their careers and workplaces.

The alumni panel helped the ARX students understand that they could study Computer Science (and engage with technology) regardless of what they study or engage in during high school.

“Even though you may not necessarily study Computer Science (or Management Information Systems) you should always maintain an interest in technology,” Samuel remarked. “Technology is a part of everything we do today, and it will be even more so for you when you start your careers.”

From left: Regina Agyare ’05 is CEO and founder of Soronko Solutions, a social enterprise based here in Ghana. Samuel Asumadu ’08 works as Transaction Banking Officer at Fidelity Bank. Kwei Quaye-Foli ’09 is CEO and co-founder of Sci-Fi Web Technologies, a web development company. Wilhelm Hesse ’10 is a web developer, and also works as a freelance filmmaker and photographer. Julia Appiah ’10 works with KPMG Ghana.

Got news? We want to hear it! Whether it’s a new job, family additions, interesting projects, reunions with classmates — or any life events in between — share it with the alumni community. We can’t wait to hear from you! Email us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Abdul-Latif Issahaku '05
joined Millicom (Tigo) in April this year. In his new role, he drives the internal obligations of Millicom in a partnership with Helios Towers to create value for Millicom as well as monitor the performance of Helios Towers.

 


Regina Agyare ’05 worked at Rancard Solutions after graduation, went on to work as Product Manager for E-business Applications at Zenith Bank in 2006, and joined Fidelity Bank in 2008 as MIS and Research Supervisor.

In March 2012 Regina started her own technology firm, Soronko Solutions, which works with individuals, Small-Medium Enterprises and communities to identify ways in which technology can be used to create social change. Soronko Solutions also provides affordable technology solutions across channels such as web, mobile, Point of Sale devices and ATMs.

“I feel we need to push to be at par with the rest of the world,” says Regina. “People need to drive their businesses online, and automate manual tasks to work more efficiently. Innovations in social development could be powered by mobile and web solutions. I hope Soronko Solutions becomes synonymous with providing technology solutions first in Ghana, and then in other emerging markets.” (Click here to visit Regina's personal website)



Obinna Chuku ’06
has worked at Publicis West Africa since April 2009, and was recently promoted to Regional Creative Director. “It is a huge role to have because it means you have to step up and actually play the game,” says Obinna. “One of my mentors once said ‘if the role you're taking doesn't scare you a bit, then it's not challenging enough.’ So I just think about that and tackle each day head-on. I think the best description of my role here is ‘problem solver’.”



Debbie Antiaye-Godson ’06
and Kingsley Ajei-Godson ’05 welcomed their first daughter, Karis, to the Godson family. Congratulations Debbie and Kingsley!




Yawa Hansen-Quao ’07 and Fred Deegbe ’06 spoke at this year’s World Economic Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Fred is profiled in the July edition of the Ashesi Bulletin. Yawa is founder of the Leading Ladies Network, which brought “Miss Representation”, the award-winning documentary on the media’s role in creating stereotypes of women to West Africa for the first time in June 2012. Yawa says she’s “dedicated to helping people improve their lives through leadership and personal development training.”


Anita Ayamgha ‘07 worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers as an auditor for 3 years before heading to the UK for her postgraduate studies. She is currently doing her Masters in International Business.

Anita recently joined Victoria’s Secret in London, and works as a Sales Associate. Speaking about her new job Anita says that she enjoys working in the retail environment. “It’s lively, constantly changing, exciting and many here seem to love their jobs. I am still in the early stages though and I believe I have so many options in terms of career paths that I can explore between now and the time I complete my Masters. I have not yet been assigned to a specific department yet so there is so much more to explore and work out.”


Sarah Mills ’07, former Alumni Relations Officer at Ashesi, who joined Vodafone as an Internal Engagement Consultant mid-December last year recently took another position as a Brand and Marketing Communications Specialist.

She says of her new role: “I’m excited about this position because it allows me to be my best – organised and creative, while lifting some heavy weights too. I get to be fierce about different things concerning Vodafone’s brand. It is a high privilege to work with a globally recognized company as Vodafone. It opens you up to new learning and challenges.”


The Ashesi alumni community in Nigeria, led by Zubair Abubakar ’08, Ada Ojukwu ’05, Daniel Aduodeh ’10 and Bolaji Buremoh ’10, played host to a team from the Ashesi admissions office that visited Nigeria to speak with schools and prospective students about applying to Ashesi. They showed the admissions team around parts of Nigeria, shared their experience at Ashesi with high school students, and helped Ashesi’s admissions team plan its trips to Nigeria.


Eyako Koku Kumodzie '08 worked with Teligent Wireless (Osu, Ghana) after graduation for two years then went to England to do a Masters in Economics and Business at the University of Hull.

Eyako now works with Deloitte UK as a Junior Case Handler.

“Working here has been exciting,” he says. “There is always something new we have to learn and that keeps us on our toes. I am working on my third project since joining and there hasn't been a dull moment yet. We put in long hours each day but enjoy working here. I have learnt so many new things and it gives me confidence for the future. Looking to the future, there are many career options I can explore and that makes me excited; but in the mean time I am enjoying one day at a time.”


Paul-Davide Arde-Acquah ’09 has joined Vodafone Ghana Limited as a Human Resource Officer. He works with Resourcing and Talent Management.




Anita Frimpong ’09
married Samuel Dankyi last month, June 2012. Congratulations Anita!

 

 


David Agbenyega ’09 moved from application programming at Corenett, a software development firm, to join Stanbic Bank in January this year as an E-Commerce Officer. In his new role, David oversees ATMs, Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, E-Zwich and Mobile Money operations. He also provides case analysis and proposals for Branch and ATM Network Distribution and directs technical support for the customer care center of the Bank.

Speaking about his new role, David says he’s thrilled to be given the opportunity to make high level decisions that drive business growth in terms of volume and value of electronic transactions. “I’m constantly humbled by the trust invested in me and opportunity to influence and change the status quo across the Stanbic Branch network. I’m also given room to enhance the customer experience with electronic self-service channels!” He adds, “my team received recognition when a country initiative was circulated as an example for replication across the Standard Bank Group. How cool is that?”


Oyindoubara T. Eporwei ’09 recently completed her postgraduate studies at the University of Michigan and received a MSc. in Computer Science & Information Systems. Oyindoubara currently works with the Academic Enrichment Centre at University of Michigan, and is also a freelance app developer. She runs a great blogs about MacOSx, iOS and Apple (click here to read blog), and is also a fashion accessory design hobbyist. (Click here to see photos of her fashion accessories)


Kwame S. Ofosuhene ’10 joined Tullow Oil Ghana Limited in May this year, as a member of the Finance team at the organisation. Kwame, who was previously at Baker Hughes Ghana Limited, says that “I love the environment here at Tullow. The team here is the biggest I have been in, and there is a lot of diversity in the experience of the people I work with. The community here is highly engaging, and I am learning a lot really fast.”

Kwame hopes to take a Chartered Institute of Management Accountants certification exam later this year, and is excited about working in the Oil and Gas industry.


Herbert Topoh ’10 married Poleynoh Sebo in April this year. Herbert returned to his home country Liberia after graduation, and is currently working as I.T & Database Support Specialist for USAID’s Liberia Monitoring & Evaluation Program. Herbert has been a voice for Ashesi in Liberia, and has been a volunteer for the Ashesi Admissions Office, speaking to prospective students in Liberia about Ashesi and helping Ashesi identify which schools in Liberia to recruit from.


While at Ashesi Sebastian Apau ’11 was mentored by Mr. Baffour Boakye (of AngloGold Ashanti) as part of the Ashesi Career Service Mentorship program. After graduation he was invited to join AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, Obuasi. Sebastian is just about to complete his National Service Programme, and looks forward to staying on at AngloGold Ashanti Limited as a full time Senior Cost Accountant. In his months at AngloGold, Sebastian has developed a Microsoft Excel based program currently saves the budget department close to 45 minutes in report generation.

“AngloGold gives you the opportunity to learn and explore while giving back to the company,” says Sebastian. “I love the work culture and the diversity. Ashesi provided me with lots of experiences, and it has helped me a lot on the job.”

Sebastian is also Co-Founder of Sesol Hire Purchase Limited, an Asset Finance Company.


Jason Nicco-Annan ’11 recently joined the team of Dust Magazine as Associate Editor. Jason met Dust editor Kobina Graham, who is now a Faculty member at Ashesi, at a concert in 2011, and contributed his first story to Dust nine months ago. Five issues later, Jason was moved from a contributor of the quarterly magazine to an Associate Editor.

“It's an incredibly rewarding opportunity to be part of a team like Dust,” says Jason. “Dust is definitely dedicated to creatively documenting culture in Ghana, be it politics, sex, popular culture or art. And as much as it’s cool, it’s also a conscious, informative medium. Our magazine definitely is at the forefront of creating original and appealing content and I’m happy to be a part of that.”

Jason also works as a freelance Graphic Designer and photographer, and is an avid creative. Jason tweets from @jayenayy


Andria Abraham ’11 completed her National Service Programme at Ashesi in June this year, and has now joined AI Energy Group as Business Analyst. "What I like about AI is that the work culture here is great," says Andria. "The management has a great relationship with all the employees, and it's a warm environment. At AI also, challenges are seen as an opportunity for excellence."

In her new role Andria will be helping AI expand across Ghana, and she is “excited to take on the challenges of working in the energy industry.”


Linda Laryea ’11 also completed her National Service Programme at Ashesi in May, and is now manager at Red Chilli Restaurant, Osu.


Rebecca Inkumsah ’12 joined Goldman Sachs, London, in June 2012 as a summer intern. Rebecca was invited for the summer program after her internship at Goldman Sachs last year, 2011.


Festus Agoabasa ’12, was profiled in the Globe Newspaper in July 2012, sharing the story of how he went from being an Ashesi janitor to an Ashesi graduate. Festus is currently working as a Programs Assistant at DAI.


Dennis Asamoah Owusu ’12 and Alberta Boateng ’12, Ashesi’s 2012/2013 Dalai Lama Fellows, joined other Fellows from around the world for the Dalai Lama Fellows Ethical Leadership Assembly in California in June 2012.

“The Ethical Leadership Assembly inspired a lot of hope in us,” say Dennis and Alberta. “It was wonderful to see that there were people all over the world committed to making positive change.”


Toure Abdourahmane ’12 and Lady-Asaph Lamptey ’12, recent graduates at Ashesi, tell us about their senior year projects which were aimed at expanding interest in programming by creating Twi and French programming languages for Ghana and Francophone countries in Africa.

Toure Abdourahmane ’12 and Lady-Asaph Lamptey ’12In his second semester at Ashesi in 2009, Toure Abdourahmane '12 took his first programming class. According to him, he had an initial struggle with the class, not because he had never programmed before, but because he had to do all his programming in English – a language that he was still learning. “Coming from a Francophone country, I found that I learned programming slower than most of my classmates because I was not as comfortable with English as they were.”

So when Toure had to start a project for his senior year at Ashesi, he decided to focus on a project that would help solve the problem he had in his freshman year – he would recreate an entire programming language in French. “Where most students elsewhere are able to learn programming really early, we are not able to because we have to first learn to read and write in English. But I do not think that language should be a barrier for programmers.”

Toure teamed up with one of his classmates, Lady-Asaph Lamptey ’12, to create a French version of the Java programming language – one that would serve as a model for creating French versions of several other programming languages in the future. But when their project supervisor suggested they include an indigenous language, Lady and Toure decided to not only do a French version, but a Twi one as well.

“We learned that Unicode Standards for the Twi language had already been created, and so we could easily work with it,” Lady said. But while the French version would be Java-based, the Twi version, they discovered, would be a lot easier to develop on Python. “Python is a lot more readable than most of its alternatives, meaning translating it into Twi would be easier. So it was the best language to use for our Twi experiment.”

Now, one year on, Lady and Toure are thinking of ways to test and expand their project. Toure plans to return to Guinea this year and work with high schools in developing the project. Lady also plans to engage with the students in Berekuso, where Ashesi’s new home is, to see how a Twi programming language can boost interest in and teach skills for learning computer science.Toure Abdourahmane ’12 and Lady-Asaph Lamptey ’12

“Programming is a sure way to sharpen your problem solving skills, and we think it would be a huge advantage for students if they can learn programming early,” say Lady and Toure. “We hope that without the language barrier, more students can engage with programming, and all the excitement it comes with. As we expand this project over time, many more Africans will hopefully develop an interest in programming and computer science.”

Employers join Ashesi alumni for networking eveningThe Career Services Center, in partnership with the Alumni Relations Office, organised a networking evening for Ashesi alumni and employers at the Coconut Grove Hotel on Friday 29th June 2012. The programme, sponsored by General Electric (GE) and Unilever Ghana Limited, was one of several being organised this year that are aimed at providing alumni with more avenues to explore career growth opportunities and build stronger networks. It was an engaging evening, with lots of frank exchange between employers and alumni.

Organised around panel sessions, employers present spoke about career trends in the industries they operated in, and shared insights about which areas had the most potential for growth. Many also shared some of the challenges and pitfalls in each of their industries, and gave tips and ideas on how to overcome and work through them. Human Resource Manager at Ashesi, Mr. Alex Baah-Inkoom, moderated the panel discussions. It was a highly interactive session, with alumni indicating some of their misgivings and getting strong feedback from their peers and the employers present. In turn, employers gave candid feedback on Ashesi alumni they had worked with, highlighting both their strengths and weaknesses.

“I think Ashesi should have more of these events for alumni,” said Debbie Adjei-Godson ’06. “It is good to be able to have such engagement, and we are able to reconnect with peers in the alumni community and build new relationships.” Assistant Director of Career Services, Abigail Lartey, also explained that “there was a lot of feedback from organisations present on areas that Ashesi alumni and students needed to improve on. It is information that helps us prepare our students for their careers, and gives us insights on which discussions we need to be having with both them and our alumni.”

Four industries, Energy/Oil and Gas, ICT, Media & Advertising and Manufacturing, were represented at the event. Organisations that attended included General Electric (GE), Unilever Ghana, Tullow Oil, Arkon Marketing Services, AI Energy Group, Axis Human Capital, International Business Machines (IBM), Kosmos Energy, Ogilvy Ghana, PZ Cussons, Rancard Solutions and Vodafone. General Electric and Unilever Ghana Limited sponsored the event.

Ashesi alumni and employers' networking event

iSTEP TechBridgeWorld Ashesi-CMU team

DreamOval Limited and Sci-Fi Web Technologies, businesses started by Ashesi alumni, are helping sponsor a team from the university to work on the development of IT-based systems to monitor and manage water usage and waste generation on the Ashesi campus. The projects are being conducted in collaboration with a team of students from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) under the iSTEP summer internship program organized by the TechBridgeWorld research group at CMU.

The Ashesi research team members are Sonia Adda ’12, Diana Dayaka Osei ’12, Nii Adjetey Sowah ’12, Selase Attah Kwamuar ’13, Juliana Esi T. Botsio ’12, Maame Abena Owusua Owusu-Acheaw ’12 and Kanba Daniel Tapang ’11. The CMU research team is made up of Scott Andes, Corinne Clinch, Julie Mallis, Ronnell Perry and Sandeep Reddy Munnangi.

As Ashesi expands its infrastructure and enrolls more students, there is a need to better manage resources like water and to monitor the university’s generation and disposal of waste that could harm our environment. The CMU-Ashesi team will be conducting thorough background research and needs assessment during the first few weeks of the project and their findings will be used to develop solutions to suit the campus’ needs.

In addition, the team will provide suggestions on how these solutions can be incorporated into future phases of campus construction. The technology solutions that come out of this project will be open sourced for the benefit of the global community. The team keeps a very lively online journal of their experiences working on the project on their blog: http://istep2012.techbridgeworld.org.

The Ashesi alumni organisations decided to sponsor the project because they believe that it will serve “to build capacity in the students and encourage initiatives that go to improve lives of community members and improve the general living conditions on campus”.

A big “thank you” to our alumni at DreamOval and Sci-Fi Web Technologies!

iSTEP TechBridgeWorld Ashesi-CMU team