Dr Akyana Britwum is a solid-state physicist with expertise in low-cost optical sensing, electronic instrumentation for low-resourced environments and laboratories, and thin-film synthesis for photovoltaics. He joined KNUST as a lecturer in 2015 after completing his PhD, and he holds a BSc, MSc, and PhD in Physics — all from KNUST.

He is Principal Investigator of the Ghana Photonics and Optics Laboratory (GPOL), where he leads the development of photonics research and education infrastructure in West Africa. He also leads efforts to apply generative AI to strengthen research capacity in Ghana.

A globally recognised leader in STEM outreach and education, he has a strong record of securing grants, building academic collaborations, and mentoring emerging scientists.