KNUST Awards launched to encourage student entrepreneurship and career dev't

The first edition of KNUST Awards has been launched on Friday, 6 November, 2015 at the CCB (Central Classroom Block) Auditorium, KNUST.

Contemporary Ghanaian students are awakening to the culture of career-development and entrepreneurship. While some are using their talents to entertain and serve, others have setup their own businesses or ventured into innovation in a bid to help solve problems around them. These people (students) play a large role in making the social life on campus appealing to the larger crowd.

KNUST Award is to encourage students to develop their potentials while in school and pursue their passion. The event which comes off in April 2016 has five categories of awards with 21 awards in all.

The categories include:

Enterprises

Student Entrepreneur of the year

Start-up of the year

Event House of the year

Tech and Innovation

App Developer of the year

Student Innovation of the year

Art and Design

Fashion Designer of the year

Photographer of the year

Artist of the year

Graphic Design of the year

Media Category

Student journalist/blogger of the year

Social media influencer of the year

Entertainment

Event host/Presenter of the year

Spoken Word/Poet of the year

Best performing actor of the year

Model of the year

DJ of the year

Event of the year

Nominations will be open online on 1 December, 2015 for students to nominate and submit their works for review by a panel of judges who have excelled in their fields. Each category will be reviewed by three judges.

Shortlisted candidates will be announced in February 1, 2016 for voting online and through text by the students.

The award ceremony will be held on 8 April at the Central Classroom Block Auditorium. Award winners will be rewarded with cash prizes, internship positions, mentorship from seasoned business executives and job opportunities.

Speaking at the launch, event curator, Christian Junior Worgbah, observed that many students have dreams outside the lecture halls but the system doesn’t provide them opportunities to realise these dreams. KNUST Awards is a platform for people to make it even without grades. It is to reward potentials and not just credentials.

The night was graced with spoken word performances, comedy and live music by KNUST students and Nigerian superstar, Korede Bello.