Dr. Tomás Okafor, PhD

Physicist specializing in classical mechanics, bringing 17 years of research and applied dynamics expertise to every calculator he reviews.

Dr. Tomás Okafor is an Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Lagos, where his research centers on rigid-body dynamics, multi-body mechanical systems, and the computational modeling of motion in constrained environments. He received his doctorate from Imperial College London, where his dissertation examined numerical integration methods for stiff mechanical systems, work that informed simulation tools used in structural dynamics studies across West Africa. Over a career spanning seventeen years, he has authored more than thirty peer-reviewed papers on topics ranging from projectile motion in variable-density atmospheres to energy dissipation in inelastic collisions.

At the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Dr. Okafor led curriculum development for mechanics and mathematical physics courses aimed at graduate students from across the continent, an experience that sharpened his ability to translate rigorous physical theory into accessible, accurate instructional material. He applies that same discipline to the calculators he authors and reviews for OnlyCalculators, ensuring that every formula, unit conversion, and edge-case assumption reflects established physics rather than convenient approximation. His tools covering kinematics, dynamics, and energy and work are built from first principles, with documented derivations and explicit statements of the physical assumptions under which each result is valid.

Dr. Okafor is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Physics and a Member of the Institute of Physics in the United Kingdom. He has served on the editorial boards of two African physics journals and regularly advises the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Education on secondary-school physics curriculum standards. Beyond his academic work, he consults for engineering firms in Lagos on problems involving load dynamics and mechanical failure analysis, keeping his theoretical expertise grounded in the material demands of real infrastructure.