Integrating Local Environmental Conditions In An Engineering Program Towards Globalization

Abstract

Technological advancements in the present age have assumed such proportions that all activities are being driven by technology in one form or another. Such is the case in this information age where it can be considered that effective dissemination of information can accelerate the learning process and therefore the choice of technology for the dissemination has some importance. On a national scale, the target group may be in urban or rural areas, or in both urban and rural areas. At the present, the choice of technology for this purpose is the Internet. This is because it combines the speed of transmitting information and the multitasking functionality of computers hence different sources of information can be accessed quickly. Computers also provide access to a vast resource of educational materials. The added advantage of having global connectivity will enable the user in a developing nation to access developmental information from other nations. To people in developing countries like Ghana, the process will improve the knowledge base of Ghanaians, and hence the country’s developmental progress. Dissemination of information may be a problem even in urban areas in a third world country such as Ghana. It is therefore needful to find a means of communication that is effective as well as relatively inexpensive that can reach people in both urban and rural areas. The technology of choice for this purpose is Broadband Powerline Communication (BPL). The BPL technology combines transmission of power and data along the power line and that makes the line behave as a traveling wave antenna. The engineers and technicians who will work on the system will need to be updated in topics that relate to the system. These are power transmission, data transmission, antenna theory, and electromagnetic radiation through the radio space. This paper discusses the cooperative effort between Penn State WilkesBarre and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana in incorporating local environmental conditions in a telecommunications program at the baccalaureate level through a student project.