Prof. Benjamin Agyei-Tuffour

Department’s Graduate Coordinator and Examinations Officer

Contact info bagyei-tuffour@ug.edu.gh

About

Professor Benjamin Agyei-Tuffour holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc-Hons) in Metallurgical Engineering (Minerals Processing and Extractive Metallurgy) from the Institute of Mining and Mineral Engineering, (IMME), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in 2004 and a Master's Degree (MSc.) in Materials Science and Engineering (Light Metals, Silicon and Solar Cell Technology) from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim-Norway in 2008. He enrolled as a PhD Student in 2012 in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, African University of Science and Technology (AUST). Dr. Agyei-Tuffour has won several scholarship awards including the Norwegian Government Scholarship in 2006, the University of Ghana-Carnegie Corporation New York scholarship in 2011, World Bank STEP-B scholarship in 2013, the African Capacity Building Foundation Scholarship in 2015 and the African Development Bank-AUST scholarship in 2016.

Prof. Agyei-Tuffour's PhD research was in Energy Materials Development with Professor Winston Wole Soboyejo of AUST, Princeton University and Worcester Polytechnique Institute as his PhD Advisor. Benjamin was also a Carnegie Corporation Visiting Research Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Materials, Devices and Nanotechnology (IAMDN) and Laboratory for Surface Modification (LSM), Rutgers University, New Jersey. He also conducted synchrotron experiments on Grazing Incidence Small and Wide-Angle X-ray Scatterings at the X9 Beamline, National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS), Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York. He participated in the Integrative Graduate Education Research and Training (IGERT) in Rutgers and Princeton Universities. Benjamin worked with other PhD and Post-Doctoral Fellows including Christopher Eugene Petoukhoff, Zeqing Shen, Binxing Yu and Ryan Thorpe under the coordination and supervision of Dr. Demien Voiry, Dr. Johanna Bernstein, Dr. Kevin Yager, Dr. Kenneth Evans-Lutterodt, Professor Deirdre O’Carroll, Professor Manish Chowolla, and Professor Eric Garfunkel during the IGERT programme in the United States.

Prof. Agyei-Tuffour is a great volunteer who led other students to install the first solar streetlights on AUST Campus and this brought great relief to life on campus in the evenings and during power outages. He was also the founding president of the African Materials Research Society, AUST Chapter and the President of the University Chapter of the Materials Research Society, USA. He again helped AMRS-AUST Chapter to establish a 24/7 Printing Center to support students’ academic work. During Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programmes, he coordinated AMRS-AUST members to demonstrate basic science and engineering concepts in solar energy generation, ceramic water purification and controlled drug delivery systems to junior and senior high schools students in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and the Alofos Foundation in Lagos, Nigeria. He was again among the facilitators for the New Jersey Governors School of Engineering and Technology Camp; mentoring high school students in Economic and Environmental Cost of Polymer optoelectronic devices, fabrication and testing. Last but not the least, he was also a facilitator of the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training Outreach programme on After School Science Hands-on projects for basic school pupils in Highland Park, New Jersey, USA.

Prof. Benjamin Agyei-Tuffour has many collaborators across industry, scientific and engineering sectors and has produced numerous scientific publications in highly reputable national and international journals. He has been an integral member in the organization of many local and international conferences and has attended same. He is currently the Local Organizing Secretary (LOC) for the Pan African International Conference on Crystallography  and the African Light Source Conference scheduled for January-February, 2019 having served in similar positions in 2015 for the 8th International Conference of the African Materials Research Society held in Accra, Ghana and the 9th edition in Gaborone, Botswana in 2017. In the area of workshops and seminars, he has assisted in the organization of the African Materials Science and Education Network (AMSEN), University of Ghana, 2017 and the UG-BAM-Germany Workshop on Knowledge Exchange for Young Scientists Workshop (KEYS), 2016.

Linkedin: https://gh.linkedin.com/in/agyeituffour-benjamin-phd-b8784bb

Education

PhD - Materials Science and Engineering, African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja.

MSc - Materials Science and Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim.

BSc (Hons) - Metallurgical Engineering (Minerals Processing and Extractive Metallurgy), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi.

Research Interest

  • Materials for Renewable Energy Generation and Storage.
  • Renewable Energy Systems Design.
  • Advanced composite materials for Energy, Structural, Aerospace and Medical Applications 
  • Computational Materials Modeling and Simulations. 
  • Recycling and Purification of Solar Grade Silicon and Metal Alloys.
  • Environmental Engineering and Waste Management Technologies.
  • Mining, Minerals Processing and Extractive Metallurgy of Precious and Industrial Minerals.

Keywords: Minerals, Silicon, Metal alloys, Conjugated polymers, Perovskite solar cells, Nano-/advanced Composites, Batteries & Supercapacitors.