Dr Thomas Mensah with some officials at the IBM headquarters in South Africa
World Renowned Fiber Optics Inventor and Innovator, Dr Thomas Mensah visited IBM headquarters in South Africa after delivering his speech at the Tech Innovation Center.
This is where he is launching the Silicon Valley of South Africa.
He wants to put the telemedicine node here so that doctors from South Africa can examine in real time difficult medical cases with doctors in several countries including Ghana, Mayo Clinic in the US and other European hospitals.
Dr. Thomas Mensah also discussed advanced technologies that can propel Gauteng and South Africa to the forefront of nanotechnology since there is considerable research already in this field.
In November Dr. Mensah published the International Text Book on Nanotechnology Commercialization which is used in major Universities around the world. South Africa has a research in this field at its CSIR and other Universities in South Africa.
Dr. Mensah wants South Africa to be the first country in the world to make nanotechnology batteries for cars, aeroplanes, cell phones and laptop computers. According to him cell phones will be charged once not every night and can last three days without charging using this technology.
Dr. Mensah wants South Africa to build factories to make such advanced nanotechnology batteries, putting South Africa on the map in this new field to compete with Silicon Valley in United States, China, Malaysia etc. and creating jobs in the country.
Dr. Mensah in a span of 7 days visited several innovation hubs in South Africa including Pretoria and Soweto where he gave lectures to SMEs, researchers, students and professors.
Dr. Mensah in discussing advanced technology, showcased a smartwatch he is co-invented which he said can be adapted to help mine workers in South Africa with safety and emergency issues. This hand gesture-based technology can be used efficiently to transmit emergency information to the outside in case there is a problem with the worker or his equipment. This innovation can improve mine efficiency and worker safety in South African mines.
The smartwatch also has applications for defence, where soldiers can use it to communicate in the theatre of war using only hand gestures.
He is also proposing a project that can transform plastic and solid waste to electricity in South Africa. This can help clean the environment and lead to sustainable energy development in South Africa.
South Africa has the largest research centre in Africa and its CSIR collects $300 million dollars in contracts around the World. Dr. Mensah intends to help South Africa’s CSIR run by Dr. Thulani Diamini, increase this research budget in many disciplines including; aerospace, space, logistics, ports, cybersecurity, satellite structures etc.
He spent three hours at the CSIR in South Africa with the CEO and the staff to define areas of collaboration.
