By KENNEDY MUPESENI –
THE Engineering Institution of Zambia (EIZ) has called for   an engineering  and innovation driven economy  to sustain  the country’s economic growth.
EIZ council representative Lillian Muwina said  EIZ  would  continue promoting engineering projects to create a knowledge economy  thereby enhancing sustainable  growth.
Colonel  Muwina  said this during the opening of the  EIZ paperate Competition in Kitwe which gave an opportunity to more than 10 students from the Copperbelt University (CBU) and the University of Zambia(UNZA)  to present study projects.
She said robust engineering educational study projects to find economic solutions were needed to turnaround the economy.
“EIZ would continue supporting educational projects by student engineers that contribute to the economic development of the country,” She said.
Col Muwina said EIZ recently  inked an agreement with the Higher Education Authority (HEA) to improve the education standards in engineering to contribute to  improving the economy.
“We would like to see an economy driven by excellence in science which will lead to improved capacity to innovate,” she said.
EIZ registrar and chief executive officer Newton Zulu said EIZ would continue with such  initiatives to promote science and technology in the country to overcome engineering problem.
“We will continue promoting such initiatives to promote research and innovation in engineering fields in the country as part of our core mandate,” Mr Zulu said
The paperate  competition was scooped by CBU students Luhanga Mbela  and Kelvin Chongo who successfully defended fabrication of the grain sieving machine design and table top wind tunnel design respectively.
Two projects from UNZA shared the third position, with Francis Chewe showcasing his  determination of total heat load when mining the deep section below 1457 meter level at Mufulira mine.
The other one was the design and implementation of a micro hydro power station on Lusaka’s Ngwerere waste water stream by Wamundila Akabombo.