Melissa Tafadzwa Penyai, Class of 2022 and a beneficiary of Academic City’s Presidential Scholarship has gone on to achieve significant academic and professional success, showcasing the far-reaching impact of the scholarship initiative.

The alumni, who recently graduated with a Master’s degree, now serves as a Research Associate at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States. She acknowledged the impact of the Presidential scholarship and Academic City’s experience for setting her on the path to excellence.

She first learned about Academic City University during her Advanced Level studies at the African Science Academy in Ghana, during a school visit. It was during this engagement that she also learned about the Presidential Scholarship, an opportunity that would have a significant impact on her educational and career journey.

 “The admissions team came to our school and shared the vision of Academic City. Later, we visited the campus, met current students on the scholarship, and that gave me the confidence to apply,” she recounted.

“The scholarship made my journey financially bearable and gave me the peace of mind to focus fully on my studies,” she added.

She went on to excel in the university’s rigorous Electrical & Electronics Engineering programme, which she describes as instrumental in preparing her for graduate school.

“Academic City shaped my academic foundation. The design thinking skills I gained made tackling complex problems in graduate school far more manageable,” she noted.

Among the standout experiences that influenced her academic journey was a course in Technology and Society, taught by Dr. Lucy Agyepong, who she says transformed her understanding of engineering by tying it to societal relevance.

She explained that the course became the foundation of her engineering philosophy, teaching her not to design in isolation but to always consider how technology impacts and serves people.

Reflecting on the strong sense of community built at Academic City, Melissa remarked, “I met people who became family. We stood by each other through thick and thin. That taught me the power of community and collective empowerment.”

Now applying her knowledge to projects that address challenges in African societies, she is currently involved in building robotic solutions that assist persons with disabilities, marking the beginning of her Afrocentric innovation journey.

Her dream is to create models that speak directly to African needs and reflect our cultures.