Pelkins is an entrepreneur and inventor. He was born in Limbe, Cameroon and graduated from high school with the highest score in the country in the Advanced Level. Afterwards, he immigrated to the US where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2018. In his junior year at MIT, Pelkins founded CassVita, a tech-enabled agribusiness that invented a novel technology for increasing the shelf-life of cassava – a highly nutritive but rapidly deteriorating tropical root vegetable – from 3 days to 18 months, effectively providing sustainable livelihoods to 500 farmers. Pelkins is an innovator at heart. In addition to founding CassVita, he developed several solutions for multinationals including Microsoft, McKinsey & Company, and General Motors, where he patented novel technologies for self-driving cars. His work has been recognized with multiple awards including Albert G. Hill Prize (at MIT), Suzanne Berger Award for Future Global Leaders (at MIT), Harvard Innovation Labs Social Impact Fellowship Fund, Harvard Social Impact and Change Initiative (Cheng Fellowship), the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, as well as by multiple institutions including the New York Times, MIT School of Engineering, Harvard School of Engineering, and the European Union. Pelkins is currently pursuing a dual MS/MBA degree from Harvard School of Engineering and Harvard Business School. 

CassVita Inc. is a tech-enabled CPG business that has invented a novel technology for increasing the shelf-life of cassava – a highly nutritive but rapidly deteriorating tropical root vegetable – from 3 days to 18 months.

Provided forward-thinking and integrated perspective aimed at helping industry leaders and policy makers lead change and navigate an increasingly autonomous, connected, electrified, and shared future.

The Africa Learning Circle (ALC) is the innovation and entrepreneurship arm of MIT's African Students' Association devoted to principled entrepreneurship with a rigorous study of the African continent. The ALC boasts of three companies/organizations operating in Cameroon, Nigeria, the US, and Ghana. 

The Global Shapers Community is an initiative of the World Economic Forum. The ecosystem of extraordinary young people under 30 was launched in 2011 in response to the absence of young peoples' voices in global decision-making.

Patented a novel methodology for calibrating radars for self-driving cars which remarkably reduced calibration time from 8 hours to under 10 minutes

• Cheng Fellowship | Harvard University

• Harvard Innovation Labs Social Impact Fellowship Fund | Harvard University

• Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans

• ​Albert G. Hill Prize | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Suzanne Berger Award for Future Global Leaders | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• International Soft Robotics Design Competition First Prize | Harvard University John A. Paulson School 

• Guistwhite Scholar | Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society

• National Best Student | Cameroon General Certificate of Education Advanced Level