| Dr. Frank Yeboah of North Carolina A&T State University has received a Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship to travel to Ghana to work on a multi-faceted energy research project.
Yeboah will work on energy and environmental sustainability this summer at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi. He is an associate professor in the department of built environment. He will collaborate with Professor Samuel Ampadu, provost of the College of Engineering at Kwame Nkrumah, and the college’s Energy Centre.
The fellowship program facilitates engagement between scholars in Africa and African-born scholars now based in the United States. It is funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Yeboah’s project is one of 17 that will pair African diaspora scholars with higher education institutions in Africa to collaborate on curriculum co-development, research, graduate teaching, training and mentoring.
“I will help develop a roadmap for energy security and independence to help Ghana deal with its current energy crisis,” Yeboah says. “I’ll also work on curriculum in energy engineering and forecasting to address key challenges in the energy sector of the country’s economy.”
Among the nation’s energy problems are lack of access to inexpensive and reliable energy sources, including gas for cooking and electricity. As a result, residents of rural areas rely heavily on biomass for cooking and heating. Traditional biomass is mined unsustainably. Its smoke damages human health, causing more deaths than malaria or tuberculosis. It also is a major cause of deforestation in many parts of the developing world.
Yeboah notes that his work will benefit N.C. A&T as well as Ghana. It will help broaden the university’s relationships and research collaborations with international institutions, a goal of the Preeminence 2020 strategic plan.
Yeboah holds a doctoral degree in earth and environmental engineering, with specialization in energy economics, from Columbia University in New York City. He received a master of engineering degree in mining engineering, with a concentration in mining and mineral economics, from the Technical University of Clausthal, Germany.
His research expertise includes application of machine learning techniques for predicting renewable energy resources, energy and environmental sustainability, and energy independence and security. |
