Meet The First African To Be Inducted Into American National Academy of Inventors

Ghanaian Scientist Dr. Thomas O. Mensah inducted into American National Academy of Inventors

Dr. Thomas Mensah is one of the greatest minds of the 21st century. Dr. Thomas Mensah is an internationally recognized authority in Fiber Optics and Nanotechnology and also a renowned Scientist and Inventor with 7 USA and worldwide Patents in over a period of six years. He has at least 25 Issued and pending patents to his name in general. He is the first black person to receive such number of patents in a short number of years, and was elected to the rank of Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in the USA.

Dr. Thomas Mensah is one of the leaders in advanced materials that find applications in Aerospace, High Speed Rail, Windmill blade structures, and highly efficient cars. His current work in nano technology will revolutionize next generation batteries for electric vehicles and laptop computers. Dr. Mensah is one of the early proponents of High Speed Rail in America that integrates seamlessly with other modes of transportation to reduce green house effects. Dr. Mensah was named 100 engineers of the Modern Era, selected out of 1000 leading engineers by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

According to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI): “A researcher’s contribution reaches the benchmark of inventorship as recognized by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office because its discovery had no significant prior art, 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.”

Inventions of Dr. Mensah have made tangible impacts 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 today.

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 in hard work.”

The US-trained Ghanaian Scientist and inventor, who is also fluent in the French language is a former student of Adisadel College in Cape Coast and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, both elite educational institutions in Ghana. He 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.

Dr. Mensah is one of only 3 black men among 167 Inventors that were recognised by the NAI recently, the other two men are Dr. Mark E. Dean, formerly of IBM and now at University of Tennessee and Babatunde Ayodeji Ogunnaike, Dean of University of Delaware.

Thomas O. Mensah (Dr.) was born in 1950 in Kumasi, Ghana. He is a chemical engineer and inventor. His works are in fields relating to the developments in Fiber Optics and Nanotechnology. He was awarded 7 USA and worldwide patents in Fiber Optics within a period of six years. In all, he has some 14 patents to his name. On March 20, 2015 Thomas was inducted into the USA National Academy of Inventors at their 4th annual conference held at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

After completing his undergraduate studies in Ghana at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Chemical Engineering he received a French government fellowship to study in at Montpellier University in France. Prior to that, he attended Adisadel College in Cape Coast Ghana. As a result of his fluency in French, he won the National French competition in Ghana, both at the Ordinary Levels (1968) and Advanced Levels 1970 in Accra Ghana.

While at Montpellier University in France he took part in a program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and received a certificate in Modeling and Simulation of Chemical Processes from MIT in 1977. A year later, he graduated with a PhD.