Luanda — The president of American Chamber of Commerce in Angola (AMCHAM), Pedro Godinho, announced on Monday (10) in Luanda, that the country is set to produce drones in the near future for use in agriculture, mining, oil and gas, research, and other sectors.
The project is an initiative of AMCHAM, which invited American professor Hector Medina, from Liberty University, to work with students from Promotion, Development, Prosperity and Technology (PDPT) to achieve this goal.
According to Pedro Godinho, the start of drone production in Angola will depend on the dynamism and capabilities of financial resources, as well as national talent.
For this reason, he explained that the Chamber of Commerce brought Hector Medina to work with young Angolans in order to develop the national robotics industry, which will culminate in the production of drones in the country.
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He stated that the professor aims to structure the project by December of the current year.
"This means that in less than 12 months, we can have the structure of the robots we want to build," he emphasized.
Regarding raw materials, he said that the team will source them from the international market, given the scarcity of materials in Angola.
In turn, professor Hector Medina advocated for applied and elevated formal education for young Angolans, with a view to building their own advanced technology, such as drones, robots, and Artificial Intelligence.
According to the American, students must have the ability to build things and solve real problems, a fact that requires a highly structured, intentional, and applied mechatronics programme.
The professor has been working with various PDPT students for a week with the purpose of materializing the aforementioned project.
For Roberto Muqueba, a student at the Higher Polytechnic Institute of Technologies and Sciences (ISPTEC), professor Hector Medina's transmission of knowledge was enriching, as it fits within the pillars of the PDPT section.
He said that these pillars are related to connecting the student scientific community and young people in general to international challenges and scenarios.
"Working with professor Medina has been interesting because it is very stimulating," he expressed.
He noted that throughout the week, the American professor helped students develop critical thinking, drone production techniques, and other aspects.
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