ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Mychal Amoafo Excels to New Heights
Mychal Amoafo BSEngSci ‘23 sets his sight on MIT this fall as a GEM PhD Engineering and Science Fellow
Above: Mychal Amoafo (center) with Professor Paul Ohodnicki (far left); his father, Michael Amoafo (middle left); Assistant Professor Nikhil Bajaj (middle right); and Associate Professor John Whitefoot.
Mychal Amoafo didn’t always want to be an engineer.
A student of many interests, from neuroscience to English and history, Amoafo knew he wanted to create a positive impact through whatever career path he pursued. After weighing the potential of neurosurgery or corporate law, Amoafo instead decided on an engineering degree at the University of Pittsburgh.
His motivation to make a positive impact through engineering paid dividends in less time than the traditional engineering student. Beginning this fall, Amoafo will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a GEM PhD Engineering and Science Fellow focusing on novel problems in control theory. GEM is designed for underrepresented students who have completed, are currently enrolled in, or have received admittance into a PhD program directly from a bachelor’s program.
“What’s stopping you from what you want to accomplish today?” Amoafo asked. “A lot of times, people make an excuse or say they’re busy, but truthfully there’s nothing stopping you. You just need the will to work and get it done.”
Amoafo graduated in December 2023 from Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering with a bachelor's degree in engineering science, concentration in engineering mechanics, and an honors degree from the David C. Frederick Honors College. He leaves an incredible legacy of academic excellence, community service, and an intellectual curiosity that shows he’s always challenging himself – in and out of the classroom.
“From the day Mychal first stepped into my office, he had a clear vision of what he wanted to accomplish,” said Paul Ohodnicki, associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and director of the engineering science program. “He exhibited key success factors that allowed him to excel in his studies, even beyond the classroom. He was organized and focused on what he needed to do in order to accomplish his goals. He ended up graduating in three and a half years, which is rare for an undergraduate at our school.”
Amoafo explains that he models the behavior he wants to see from his engineering peers. If others see him working hard, he hopes it inspires them to put in the same amount of effort. He believes it is critical for engineers to stay curious about the world outside of engineering while possessing a strong technical background and knowledge base.
Learning to Control Complicated Systems
For Amoafo, curiosity about human interaction with each other and technology is critical in ensuring his work benefits people. He seeks to understand why these interactions make the systems he works with amorphous and complicated.
“I’m not the kind of mechanical engineer people typically think of,” Amoafo said. “I’m interested in the theory side of control, and my Bachelor’s of Philosophy dissertation was on applied control and well-understood approaches, like a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control or a Bang-Bang control, which are straightforward and easy to deploy in industry applications.”
At MIT, he plans to pivot from classical control techniques and explore more innovative and exciting pathways like statistics and machine learning to more accurately model systems in real time and develop more robust controllers.
“We have so much new computing power and machine learning techniques that aren’t being deployed in distributed and industrial systems because they’re not straightforward systems,” Amoafo said. “I’m trying to understand from a theory perspective how we can develop more straightforward proofs of stability and how to best help assist people in deploying these controllers in very complicated systems, like integrated energy systems.”
Breaking the Financial Barriers
As Amoafo steps into the first year of his PhD program, he won’t have to stress about where he gets his funding as a PhD student. The GEM Fellowship includes full tuition and fees through the fifth year; a $16,000 stipend during the first year with additional stipend support from the GEM Member University to match the stipend amount of other funded PhD students in that department; and a minimum of one paid summer internship with a GEM Employer Member. He’s grateful for the freedom and control he has to complete his PhD program the way he sees best.
“I have no doubt that Mychal will thrive as a GEM Fellow,” said Yvette Moore, Director of Pitt’s EXCEL and Equity and Inclusion for Undergraduate Strategic Initiatives. “He’s so intelligent, giving, caring, and humble. He doesn’t flaunt these things. He didn’t just do a lot in the classroom, but in the community, too.”
Keeping the Community Strong
Amoafo’s calling goes beyond school and engineering.
“How can I make the world better?” Amoafo asked. “How can I set others up to succeed when I’m gone?”
He knew the first step to make the world a better place starts within his own community.
As the treasurer for Pitt’s National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Amoafo was key helping the organization navigate the COVID-19 pandemic as it functioned in hybrid, remote, and in-person settings. The pandemic made him reevaluate the chapter’s annual budget depending on the setting.
“When we shifted back to in-person, we were spending more money, so I focused on increasing our revenue and decreasing operational costs,” Amoafo explained. “I wanted to make sure that even if we don’t bring in the same amount of sponsorships on a yearly basis, the future of our chapter would be secure.”
Establishing a solid foundation for NSBE wasn’t Amoafo’s only accomplishment as a student leader. During his last semester at Pitt, Amoafo served as the co-chair for the Student Advisory Board (SAB) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Material Science. There he established the foundation for a more vibrant and dynamic environment by cultivating long term, effective communication between students and faculty.
As co-chair, Amoafo viewed the department as if it were a company which exports a product – in this instance, according to Amoafo – its students, curriculum, and opportunities for incoming faculty members. He also utilized Pitt EXCEL - an undergraduate program within the Swanson School committed to the recruitment, development, and graduation of historically underrepresented scholars - to speak with faculty and students about their experiences.
Exposing the Next Generation to a Future of Possibilities
Throughout his undergraduate career, Amoafo volunteered with Pitt’s Community Engagement Center (CEC) in the city’s Hill District to help develop summer STEM programs for students. During his time with the CEC, he became familiar with Hill District residents by regularly attending volunteer events. Through CEC Saturday community service events he nurtured STEM interest in many younger students.
Amoafo believes it’s a disservice to push young students toward a certain career since not everyone shares the same passions, but exposure to different fields can benefit them in the future. He believes STEM influences the way people think, so even if children and adolescents don’t grow up to pursue a science or engineering career, they’ll have a broader base of knowledge and improved critical thinking skills.
“When I see the future of Pitt EXCEL, I look at Mychal as an example,” Moore said. “His goal with the CEC was to be present in the community so kids could see someone who looked like them, and maybe that would influence them to work hard and do something they never thought they could do. He was like that with the young students in his volunteer work and even with his peers at Pitt. All he wants to do is raise others up.”
Once Amoafo settles at MIT, he hopes to continue his community service work. This summer he plans to explore subjects he didn’t have the time to learn while at Pitt, like electrical engineering and chemical engineering, and how these can be applied to sustainable energy systems for emerging market regions around the world.
“Obviously my life in four months will focus on my PhD program until I graduate,” Amoafo said. “But I want to learn as much as possible until it starts.”