A Ghanaian scientist, Dr. Thomas O. Mensah, has been inducted into the United States National Academy of Inventors (NAI).

He was inducted in March 2015.

He became a NAI Fellow in 2014 when his work was recognized and honored during his time at the Florida State University in the US.

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 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.”

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’s inventions 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.

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 in hard work.”

NAI says 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 issued U.S. patents. House Resolution 646 was reached by representatives in the government of the State of Georgia in the USA to commend Dr. Mensah and his works

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 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 recognized 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.