The death of Ghanaian American inventor, Dr. Thomas Mensah, known worldwide for his pioneering work in fiber optics was announced on Thursday, March 28, 2024.
Dr. Mensah’s death occurred on March 27, 2024, at the Kumasi Catholic Hope Exchange Hospital after a brief illness.
The world-renowned scientist’s death was confirmed by his family on Thursday.
Below is everything you need to know about him
Dr. Thomas Mensah (PhD and Professor) – Inventor Pioneer Commercialization of Fiber Optics and Nanotechnology, was the Founder and CEO of Georgia Aerospace in the United States of America. Dr. Thomas Mensah (PhD and Professor) was also the CEO of Silicon Valley Ghana, Silicon Valley is the world’s largest technology and innovation institution worldwide.
Dr. Thomas Mensah (PhD and Professor) was one of the most powerful inventors and chemical engineers who contributed to the construction of the world’s largest Drone. Dr. Thomas Mensah (PhD and Professor) was the only scientist whose invention of optical fiber technology also ushered planet Earth into the Global Industrial Revolution, which boosted the global economy with an increase in participation of over 85%. He served on the Board of Directors of MIT (Number one world ranking University) for five years. Worked with NASA – USA and championed STEM at NASA.
Dr. Thomas Mensah was born in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, Ghana. JK Mensah’s father, was a merchant who shipped cocoa products to chocolate manufacturers in France. Mensah was fluent in French and won the National French competition in Ghana at both Ordinary Level (1968) and Advanced Levels (1970) in Accra Ghana.
Mensah attended Adisadel College in Cape Coast, Ghana and completed his undergraduate studies at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He then received a French government scholarship to study at the University of Montpellier in France. While there, he took part in a program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and received a certificate in Chemical Process Modeling and Simulation from MIT in 1977. A year later he graduated with his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Montpellier.
Dr. Thomas Mensah worked at Air Products and Chemicals from 1980 to 1983. In 1983, Dr. Thomas Mensah joined Corning Glass Works, working in fiber optic research in Sullivan Park, New York. Researchers at Corning had previously developed optical fiber with loss below the critical attenuation limit of 20 dB/km, but the fibers could not be manufactured at rates higher than 2 meters per second.
Dr. Thomas Mensah improved the manufacturing process through a series of innovations, increasing the manufacturing speed to 20 meters per second by 1985. This made the cost of optical fibers comparable to traditional copper cables. Dr. Thomas Mensah received the Corning Glass Works Individual Outstanding Contributor Award for this work in 1985. His work eventually raised the manufacturing speed to over 50 meters per second.
In 1986, Dr. Thomas Mensah moved to Bell Laboratories, where he led a program to develop the first laser-guided weapons for the United States Department of Defense’s guided missile program. This program enabled the development of rockets that travel at the speed of sound.
Dr. Thomas Mensah is President and CEO of Georgia Aerospace Systems, which manufactures nanocomposite structures used in missiles and aircraft for the US Department of Defense. On February 24, 2017 CBS Television News aired a Black History Month segment with Dr. Thomas Mensah titled “The Engineer Who Revolutionized the Internet.” Dr. Thomas Mensah also served on the board of many organizations, including the AIChE National Board of Directors (1987 – 1990) and was a board trustee of the AIChE Foundation and a board member for the NASA Space Grant Consortium at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Dr. Thomas Mensah was elected a Fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors in 2014. He is also the President of Entertainment Arts Research Inc., a virtual reality and video game design company. Since the beginning of 2016, Dr. Thomas Mensah has been working to create a “Silicon Valley of the South” in Texas in the United States of America.
Dr. Thomas Mensah is the recipient of many awards including Turner’s Trumpet Award for Fiber Optics Innovation, Percy Julian Award, Golden Torch Award. the highest award from NSBE, the William Grimes Award and the Eminent Engineers award from AIChE 100. In December 2017, he received the Kwame Nkrumah Africa Genius Award in Science/Technology and Innovation in Ghana.
Dr Thomas Mensah delivered the 10th RP Baffour Lecture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology on 23rd November 2017 where he was awarded Honoraris Causa after the lecture. In November 2015, he received the International Business Leadership Award from African Leadership Magazin in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He has been profiled in the October 2008, March 2009, and March 2015 editions of Ebony Magazine. He served on the visiting committee in Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1988 to 1992.
Dr. Thomas Mensah has published more than four books, including Fiber Optics Engineering in 1987, Superconductor Engineering in 1992, his autobiography The Right Stuff Comes in Black Too in 2013, and Nanotechnology Commercialization in 2017.
In the first quarter of 2015, the US State Government of Georgia passed a House resolution to commend Dr. Thomas Mensah and his works.
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