Ave Kludze Jr.
Born in Hohoe, in the Volta region of Ghana in 1966
As a young boy Ave Kludze was interested in the workings of the world around him. Throughout his childhood Ave’s father, Anselmus Kludze, was afraid to leave him home alone because he would dismantle the radio and lay out the components for inspection. Trying to keep his electronics from being taken apart Ave would be left with friends or relatives, which usually resulted in Ave taking apart their television sets. This fascination was an integral part of Ave’s pursue of science. The biggest turning point however was when Ave found himself at the airport in Accra. It was there he saw an airplane for the first time and decided he wanted to be a pilot. From then on he filtered his curiosity through textbooks and scientific literature.
As Ave continued his scientific studies he started to find himself in a predicament. Text was becoming harder to read with long hours of study and he came to conclusion that glasses were in his future. Considering his mother and brother’s own visual disadvantages Ave had hoped this would not be case, but with his new frames his dream of being a pilot was dashed. With aeronautics out of his future Ave started to focus on solar energy. He began studying engineering at Rutgers University, in New Jersey and started developing his solar energy ideas. Ave thought harnessing the free power of the sun would be the best resource for poorer countries and hoped to spread science and technology back to his african roots. With his work in solar technology, NASA contacted him to pursue a new research project.
Before NASA contacted him, Ave had witnessed the Challenger incident and had written to NASA about the complications he saw. They responded in kind by sending him schematics and photographs of the incident which after his research responses they contacted him for an opportunity. At NASA Ave worked at the Washington headquarters as a requirements manager where he was part of the strategic coordinations of research and space projects. During this time Ave also created an Infrared scanner to detect cracks in the thermal paneling in spacecrafts, to prevent heat explosions that ended the Challenger’s voyage. He is also heading up the communications research to transmit live video and audio from space, moon, and mars travel. In addition to these projects Ave is the first African to pilot a spacecraft, although since his glasses prevent him from actual piloting he has flown unmanned satellites and spacecrafts like the Calypso satellite. Currently Ave continues to explore what is possible with scientific involvement and volunteers with the Young Einstein project to help young african children pursue the arts and sciences. Ave hopes that with his involvement and passions he will get the United States back to the moon by 2020 with prospects of Mars and beyond!
