Prof Acakpovi, aspiring Evangelist leading ATU’s transformation drive

 Since his appointment as Acting Vice-Chancellor of the Accra Technical University (ATU) in July 2023, Engr. Prof Amevi Acakpovi has set out on a transformative agenda geared at making the institution one of the best on the continent and the world.

His vision was to consolidate ATU’s position as the premier technical university in Ghana and brand it as the topmost technical university in Africa.

To achieve that, he has initiated processes to support human capacity development, seeking grants to re-tool lab­oratories, workshops and the library.

He is also working towards the establishment of a vibrant and dynamic graduate school at ATU.

Backed by a strong international network, his ambition is to promote national and international partner­ships for increased visibility and promote stronger collaborations between the university and its key stakeholders.

Also with his Information Commu­nication and Technology (ICT) back­ground, Prof Acakpovi has shown keen interest in building a strong educa­tional resilience in ATU by integrating sustainable virtual learning modules, with his research aspirations focused on making the university a technolo­gy hub; using applied research of all kinds and solving societal problems.

Engr. Prof Amevi Acakpovi is a Gha­naian citizen, a Professor in Electrical and Energy Systems Engineering. He is a Fellow Professional Engineer from the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Ghana and a Senior Mem­ber of the Institute of Electrical and Electron­ics Engineers (IEEE).

He received a Bach­elor of Science De­gree in Com­puter and Electrical Engi­neering from the Lokossa In­stitute of Technology (Republic of Benin) in 2006, a Masters’ Degree in Electrical Engineering from the Abom­ey-Calavi Univer­sity (Re­public of Benin) in 2009 and a PhD in Energy Systems Engineering from a joint collaboration between Accra Institute of Technology and the Open University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2017.

Additionally, Prof Acakpovi holds a Certificate in Doctoral Supervision at African Universities from the Stel­lenbosch University in South Africa in 2019 and a Postgraduate Certificate in International Higher Education with Distinction from the Coventry Univer­sity, UK in 2018.

Prof Amevi Acakpovi has served in many prominent positions in ATU including, Head of Electrical/ Electronics Engineering Department (2012- 2018), Dean of the Faculty of Engineering (2018-2020) and the Pro Vice-Chancellor from 2020 till date.

Originally from the field of Elec­trical, Electronic and Energy Systems Engineering, Prof Acakpovi’s areas of research include Hybrid Energy Systems, Mini and Microgrid Optimiza­tion, Smart Grid Modelling and Optimization, Solar and Wind Energy Modelling and Optimi­zation, Artificial Intelligence in Energy Sys­tems and Recommender Systems.

He is the author of more than 120 publications in International Journals including IEEE conferences, and trans­actions as well as other SCI-Indexed and EIIndexed journals.

He has experience in teaching and learning at the Graduate and un­dergraduate levels. He has taught extensively Masters’ level courses and super­vised more than 50 MSc. thesis, and five PhD thesis from various rec­ognized Univer­sities.

He has con­sistently acted as an external PhD thesis reviewer/ assessor in his field of studies at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, the KNUST, UENR in Ghana, and the Uni­versity of Abomey-Calavi in Benin.

He was recently honoured as an international tutor for the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST) owing to his re­markable contributions in cosupervis­ing PhD students and leading them to publications in top journals.

Prof Acakpovi was a recipient of many awards and laurels in­cluding the award of Excellence in Research and Development Leadership by the Solar quarter Grandmaster Award in February 2023; the award of the De­cade Researcher at the Applied Research Conference in Africa (ARCA) in August 2021 and the Stairs’ Award of Distin­guished Professor in Electrical Engi­neering, at Pune, India in December 2021.

He received in 2018, the Best Paper Award at the 7th IEEE International Conference on Adaptive Science and Technology and subse­quently the Best Track Paper Award in project manage­ment at the IEOM conference in South Africa in 2018. He has won many grants in his areas of study.

He successfully led a team to establish the ATU’s Sustainable Energy Service Centre with a grant by MIDA under the auspices of the Energy Com­mission.

The Centre is currently running and offering Energy Audit and Energy Performance Certification courses; He has also won twice the Ghana Skill Development Fund grant, thrice the Carnegie African Diasporan Fellowship Programmes to mention but a few.

Prof Acakpovi has a vast interna­tional exposure through his atten­dances of multiple conferences in countries including Germa­ny, France, USA, China, Russia and Egypt.

Prof Acakpovi is a Christian and happily married with five chil­dren. He is a God-fearing person and an aspiring Evan­gelist

 By Michael D. Abayateye