Leonard

Leonard

Results-driven and detail-oriented data science graduate student with a strong foundation in data engineering, cloud computing, software engineering, and IT infrastructure. Passionate about applying AI to develop innovative, reliable, and user-focused solutions.

Professional Experience

Period: May 2025 to Present
Institution: Duke Rhodes Information Initiative
Position: Data Science Fellow (Graduate Assistant)

Worked at the Duke Marine Laboratory to build a data system for the Socio-Economic Mapping of Coastal Zones, gathering data from multiple sources, processing them in R, visualizing results with Shiny/leaflet for use by researchers, and increasing access to information for policy formulation. Worked with other team members, with direction from a project manager, during the summer break. I was also responsible for hosting the dashboard and continuing to work on this and related projects after the summer project was completed.


Period: February 2007 to July 2024
Institution: Buck Press Limited (Ghana and Liberia)
Position: Lead Software Engineer and Head of Information Technology

  • Recommended and reported on best IT practices and approaches to management and stakeholders for consideration and adoption.
  • Designed and led a team of 4 to develop a number of softwares and networks from scratch. The Software Suite of 9 different Biometric Passport multi-tiered softwares is currently being used for the data capture, analysis, processing, storage and personalisation of Ghanaian passports, Liberian passports, Ghana Refugee Board Travel Documents and others.
  • Did a system and database migration from a legacy passport system to our new passport system in Liberia.
  • For Liberia this suite is extended to 25 embassies and centers around the world for capturing of applicants’ data. The data is transferred via VPN to Monrovia for processing. In Ghana it’s deployed at 14 locations locally for the capturing of applicants’ data, all sending and receiving data to/from the head office system. There are a lot of mobile application units that I designed and assembled. Data enrolment is also done at 60 Ghanaian Embassies abroad, with vetting done in Ghana.
  • Determined the requisite range of hardware and software for passport projects worth hundred thousands of dollars and coordinated their purchase /delivery from multiple sources home and abroad. These are the complete sets of hardware and software for the projects in Ghana, Liberia and others.
  • Collaborated with multiple technology providers (mainly in Europe), experts, our clients and other non-technical partners in determining system requirements, design, implementation deployment and maintenance.
  • Coordinated the efforts of 5 other colleagues in the IT department. Together providing day to day system support to running databases, websites, servers and related software.
  • Provided usage tuition for most of the users of the Suite of Software from different backgrounds and levels in authority. By working closely with them, retraining is done when required before it’s requested.
  • Planed, recommended and implemented solutions to ensure minimum to as much as possible, no system downtime.
  • Conducted Factory and Site Acceptance Tests of various Hardware and Software components from our partners.
  • Conducted continuous evaluation and modifications of the features and use of the systems to ensure compliance with core aims of the systems. These adaptations / customisations of the systems also ensure evolving challenges and requirements of its users are taken care of.
  • Migrated Buck Press’s email system to Google Workspace for a more reliable and productive service.
  • Performed various managerial and administrative duties including ensuring outsourced services are executed according to Service Level Agreements.
  • Led the migration of Oracle database to new servers and the creation of an Oracle Standby database for data replication at a different site.
  • Worked with government agencies including auditors and security agencies for the continuous running of the projects.


Period: August 2006 to February 2007
Institution: Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT
Position: Software Engineer

  • Developed software in a team and was in charge of Agriculture and ICT.
  • Attended a number of workshops both technical and non-technical.


Period: July 2005 to August 2006
Institution: Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT
Position: National Service and Internship from Ronald Brown Institute

  • Started with a three-month USAID sponsored graduate internship after completing an entrepreneurial course and presenting a business plan.
  • Was retained to do my National Service after completing the internship.
  • Worked as a Software Developer, Teaching Assistant and a Teacher. Assisted in .Net Framework tuition and taught Fundamentals of Computing. Was employed after my National Service.


Period: University period 2001 – 2005
Institution: Various Organisations
Position: Internships

Volta River Authority (Ghana’s power generation entity), Akuse

  • Main knowledge acquired – Software development and networking

Busy Internet, Accra

  • Main knowledge acquired – Networking (LAN and WAN)

Maths Department, University College of Education

  • Main knowledge acquired – Microsoft Active Directory and ICT Tuition


Companies I have directly collaborated with on projects

  1. Innovatrics, Slovakia
  2. Diletta GmbH, Germany
  3. Muehlbauer AG, Germany
  4. Adaptive Recognition, Hungary
  5. OeSD, Austria
  6. Xinfotech Ltd, Latvia
  7. Cetis d.d., Slovania
  8. Masktech GmbH, Germany