A Ghanaian scientist and an alumnus of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr. Thomas O. Mensah, has been inducted into the United States National Academy of Inventors (NAI). According to NAI, its Fellows Program has 414 fellows worldwide representing more than 150 prestigious universities, governmental and non-profit research institutions.
Collectively, the Fellows hold nearly 14,000 U.S. issued patents. The House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in the United States of America (USA) by its Resolution 646 commended Dr. Mensah for his work.
Dr. Mensah is one of 3 black men among 167 inventors who were honoured by the NAI recently. The other two men are Dr. Mark E. Dean, formerly of IBM and now at the University of Tennessee and Dr. Babatunde Ayodeji Ogunnaike, Dean of the University of Delaware.
Dr. Mensah’s inventions have made tangible impact on the quality of life and have led to economic development and the improvement in the welfare of societies worldwide.
The most popular of the scientist’s inventions is in Fiber Optics and Nanotechnology which earned him 7 USA and worldwide patents over a period of six years, making him the first black man to attain such a feat. He has some 14 patents presently.
According to the NAI, “A researcher’s contribution reaches the benchmark of inventorship as recognized by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office because its discovery was not obvious to someone else skilled in the field, and had a specific use. Although every invention and every inventor is unique, some things are common to all. It takes imagination and ingenuity to be an inventor.”
His ingenious imagination, academic excellence and works as an inventor in the USA which is recognized both globally and by the United States Patent and Trademark Office earned him the NAI induction at the prestigious institution’s 4th annual conference that took place from March 19-20, 2015 at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California.
Dr. Mensah is presently the President and CEO of Georgia Aerospace Systems based in Georgia, United States. Dr. Mensah, who is passionate about green energy and sustainable development says he is “greatly humbled by my NAI Fellowship and recent induction and hope that it serves as an inspiration to young people worldwide, especially in Africa, that they can attain whatever they set themselves out to do provided they stay focused and dedicated to hard work.”
A former student of Adisadel College and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana, Dr. Mensah also holds a Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from Montpellier University in France and a Certificate in Modeling of Chemical Processes from the world acclaimed Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA.
On behalf of management, the University Relations Office congratulates Teknokrat Dr. Thomas O. Mensah.
