Dr. Richard Opoku is a senior lecturer at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, KNUST. He has over 12 years of post-BSc and 10 years of post-MSc experience as mechanical engineer, energy auditor, energy efficiency advisor and solar PV system design and installation advisor. He is an energy consultant with a lot of experience in research and development (R&D) of projects in energy efficiency, renewable energy (solar energy) for irrigation, refrigeration and air-conditioning systems, solar energy for cooling applications and food preservation, solar crop drying and solar water pumping. Dr. Richard Opoku also has over 10 years of professional experience in capacity building and training including training of facility managers on energy efficiency and renewable energy under DENG Institutional Capacity Building Project; training on operation and maintenance of refrigeration systems under Ghana Energy Commission Project in 2007, etc.

In the area of research, his interest is the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning in improving energy use in buildings, as well as in mechanical and industrial processes.