Albert Okrah, a KNUST College of Engineering Alumnus was awarded the Wendi H. Weimar Doctoral Research Award by the Biomechanics Interest Group of the Southeast Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine. Albert has currently taken his research to Greenville, South Carolina, in February, supported by the award.
He is currently a third-year student in the Applied Health Sciences PhD program within the School of Public Health at Augusta University.
Okrah shares, “I have long been interested in solving health-related problems. In Ghana, that interest is often assumed to mean medicine, which I was also drawn to. However, I equally enjoyed mathematics and physics, and biomedical engineering provided a space to integrate medicine, mathematics, physics, and engineering.”
His interest deepened through internships and coursework. In final year, he focused on biomechanics. He later served as a research and teaching assistant for the biomechanics and biomaterials courses during his National Service. The experience sparked his interest in mobility assessments, which ultimately shaped his decision to pursue a PhD.
Albert shares that it was not all book in school, he knew how to balance the “equation” too. Outside the classroom. He was involved in AIESEC, a student-led leadership organisation he says strengthened his presentation and communication skills. He also competed in several inter-program football competitions with his course mates, a hobby he still engages in at his current school.
