Ave Kludze

Ave K. P. Kludze Jr. is a Rocket Scientist, an African pioneer, U.S. Civil Servant, Complex Systems Engineering and Design Expert, and a senior NASA Spacecraft Systems Engineer.

Kludze was born in Hohoe, in the Volta Region of Ghana, the son of Anselmus Kludze, the legal reformer. He arrived in the United States in the late 1980s with only a High School diploma from the Adisadel College in Cape Coast, Ghana and 'A' levels from Swedru Secondary School . Shortly after his arrival in the United States, he enrolled at Rutgers University where he set out to pursue a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.

After graduation, he contemplated a return to Ghana to pursue an interest in the development of various solar gadgets and merchandize, including solar freezer, solar air conditioning, solar water heater, solar lamps, etc. He believed strongly that, for Africa to develop, it must utilize its natural resources and must incorporate technologies that benefits the continent. He considered the sun to be a natural resource and its harness and utilization may be of great benefit to the continent.

Kludze, who grew up in Dansoman-Sahara, a suburb of Accra, made a name for himself as a young genius, who was fascinated with science at an early age; he had a reputation for questioning almost everything, and also for his unusual “domestic scientific experiments” and thinking.

His love of science began at an early age; his parents once remarked that they were fearful to leave him at home in case he dismantled the radio. At friends’ houses, he would take apart their televisions to see how they worked. By his own admission, Kludze’s fascination with aviation began with a trip to the airport in Accra as a young boy. His father had intended him to become a lawyer but supported him regardless in his ambitions.

Kludze has held positions at various NASA Centers including the NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia and NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, where he became if not the first African, the first Ghanaian to ever fly (command and control) a Spacecraft in Orbit (including the ERBS and TRMM Spececrafts, etc. for NASA from a mission control center).

He designed the Human Locator System, which he called the "HuLos" in partial fulfillment of the requirements for his master's degree at the Johns Hopkins University. The HuLos uses nanotechnology (microscopic technology) and is intended to locate human beings anywhere on this planet using satellite communication, GPS and other technologies. What made the system unique at the time of its conception, though considered weird by even his advisor, were the miniaturized size and the concept of global location. The device is to be implanted under the human skull, skin bone or teeth and activated when required. The system as envisioned could be used e.g. in locating missing children, the elderly, stolen cars and hardened criminals. The thesis which contains the design is currently at the Applied Physics Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University.

...
Wikipedia