Sabastian “Saba” Abelezele ’20

Sabastian “Saba” Abelezele ’20
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Hometown: Winkogo, Ghana
Scholarship: Joseph C. Dimino Endowed Scholarship

“I chose the University of Rochester because of the freedom in the curriculum. Even though I will major in engineering, I will have the chance to explore other fields that I am interested in. For instance, I have a psychology minor. I really liked the psychology classes that I have taken so far and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to do them.

I also chose the University of Rochester because it has a very diverse international community, which makes me feel comfortable on campus. I am involved in Pan African Student Association, Baja Sae, Rights of Christian Initiation of Adult, Art of Science Competition, and I am a teaching assistant for chemistry.

With my profound interest in finding new and innovative technological skills to help improve the lives of people in my country, research is crucial. The University encourages and provides an enabling environment for people to do research.

As a result, I can easily pursue my research quest here. In fact, I am part of a research group studying the medieval Elmina Castle on the coast of Ghana. I spent five weeks of my summer doing this research along with Professor Michael Jarvis, Professor Renato Perucchio, and Professor Christopher Muir. I continued this research in the laboratory on campus throughout my sophomore fall semester.

This castle was built by the Portuguese in Ghana in 1482 and is still structurally very stable. Many have wondered what engineering and building techniques were used to build it. This project seeks to understand the building sequence by reconstructing a 3-D model and subjecting the model to different tests.

The project is multi-disciplinary and there are many aspects to it. For instance, I took measurements and surveyed the castle using many different techniques like laser scanning, photogrammetry, and transit (this is an instrument used in surveying to specify positions in space so that rooms can be placed relative to one another).

After graduation, I plan to work in the automobile or aerospace industry for two years. I will then go back to school and get my master’s, and maybe a PhD. After acquiring such knowledge and skills, I will go back to Ghana to apply them and help improve people’s lives by inventing and building new technologies. As of now, I am thinking of technologies like farm implements or machines that can help mechanize agriculture. The University has increased my love for engineering and has made me confident and optimistic about my future success and development.

Literally, my family just cannot afford my college education. My mother is a petty trader and the money from her business barely provides the family’s basic needs like food, water, and electricity. My father passed away in 2013. Scholarship support has meant so much to me and my family.”

—Story compiled by Kristine Thompson, with quotes and content provided by Saba Abelezele, April 2018