FST participates in the College of Science OPEN DAY for SHS students
The Department of Food Science and Technology played a critical role in the success of the College of Science OPEN DAY program for Senior High School (SHS) students in the Ashanti Region, held on the 22nd of June 2024. The Head of Department, Prof. (Mrs.) Faustina Dufie Wireko-Manu graced the event with her presence and interactions with the students and their teachers.
The event hosted close to 600 SHS students from about 12 different High Schools in the Ashanti Region. All the students visited the Food Science and Technology laboratory (GF14) in batches, to learn more about Food Science.
For each batch, Dr. John-Lewis Zinia Zaukuu (Departmental Committee Member for the event), made a 5 minutes presentation about the importance of Food Science in academia and industry while highlighting the requirements of admission into the program at KNUST and job prospects upon completion of the undergraduate degree.
A demonstration was then performed by the laboratory team: Mr. Mighty Akley, Mr. Redeemer Agbolegbe, Mr. Justice Opoku and Mr. Gerald Dartey. The demonstration was to educate the students about all the purpose and use of the instruments in the Food Science laboratory and their importance for Food Analysis.
Mr. Redeemer Agbolegbe presented on the use of the analytical balance, oven, driers and centrifuge, while Mr. Mighty Akley presented on the use of the soxhlet aparatus, fume chamber, water baths and other instruments. Mr. Gerald Dartey and Mr. Justice Opoku presented on the use of the ultraviolet visible range spectrophotometer, rheometer, vortex, rapid visco analyser, automatic titrator, pH meter and de-ionising chamber.
The students asked multiple questions about the instruments, their use and also, cut-offs, core and elective course requirements for the program. The questions were all answered to their satisfaction. Most of the students showed interest in Food Science as a career path after understanding more about the program. They were encouraged to study hard and excel in their exams in order to be able to gain admission into the highly competitive Food Science program at KNUST.
The event which started at 9am finally came to a close at 5:30pm.
The Department is immensely grateful to the laboratory team for their time and support and also, expresses it's appreciation to the research and teaching assistants, Patricia Korneh and Nelson Attipoe for their support during the set-up for the event.
