When Lily Akosua Afriyie Kyei-Baffour M’25 set out to pursue a master’s degree in engineering, she was looking for a program that would deepen her interest in automation and sustainable energy systems. At the same time, she wanted a program that would equip her to build practical solutions for impact.
“I explored several options, including a few admissions offers that did not come with funding,” she recalls. “Then my brother-in-law told me about Ashesi’s Master’s in Mechatronic Engineering program.”
As she explored the opportunity, one detail stood out: the program is delivered in partnership with faculty from ETH Zurich, an institution she had long admired. For Kyei-Baffour, it was the combination of global collaboration and the African relevance that made Ashesi the right fit.
Months later, she joined the program as a Cartier Philanthropy Scholar, stepping into a learning environment that shaped her in ways she had not anticipated. Ashesi complemented its technical instruction with a diverse community of learners who provided many opportunities for cross-learning.
For her master’s thesis, Kyei-Baffour focused on the electrification of Ashesi’s shuttle bus fleet, exploring how renewable energy and electric mobility systems can work together to enable cleaner, more sustainable transportation. As part of this project, she collaborated with researchers at ETH Zurich’s Automatic Control Laboratory while engaging with advanced sustainable energy systems research. She also visited the Next Evolution in Sustainable Building Technologies (NEST) facility and other experimental platforms, where she gained direct insight into sustainable building technologies and applied research environments.
“Seeing how research institutions use their campuses as testing grounds for sustainable solutions broadened my perspective on how similar ideas could be applied in African contexts,” she says.
As Battery Management Technician at ARC Ride Global, Kyei-Baffour contributes to Africa’s growing electric mobility ecosystem by supporting systems behind electric motorcycles and battery-swapping networks.
“It is high time we concentrate on renewable, sustainable ways of doing things,” she says. “And for me, working at ARC Ride feels like contributing to that future.”
