Engr. (Dr.) Yusuf Olatunbosun Tafa was born on 24th July 1974 at Oyin-Akoko in Akoko North West Local Government Area of Ondo State to the family of Late Chief Odofin Nasiru Yusuf Akibon and Late Mrs Akibon Haulat. He had his elementary primary education at A.U.D Primary School Oyin-Akoko between 1976 and 1980 and later proceeded to Eyo-Oke Comprehensive High School, Oyin-Akoko between 1981 and 1986 for his secondary education, with Credits Grade in the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE), O Level in 1986. He proceeded to Ondo State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria (Now, Ekiti State University) for his Bachelor Degree (B.Eng) in Mechanical Engineering and passed out with a Second Class honour in 1997. After the mandatory service to Nigeria government under the scheme of National Youth Service Corps（NYSC）in 1998，he proceeded to University of Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria for his Master Degree (M.Sc.）also in Mechanical Engineering and graduated in 2001.
He joined Ondo State Teaching Service Commission in 2000, where he was deployed to Comprehensive High School, Erusu Akoko, Ondo State as a class teacher where he taught Mathematics and physics.
In 2003, he was employed as Engineer 1 at National Space Research and Development Agency in Abuja, under the Federal ministry of Science and Technology, where he is currently working till present.
In 2011, he went for his doctoral degree at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing, China. Where he obtained his Doctoral Degree (PhD) in Mechanical Engineering and Automation in 2014.
He attended some professional training and short courses:
⦁ In 2005-2007, he obtained certificate in communication Satellite engineering at China Academic Space of Technology, Shenzhou Institute, Beijing, China.
⦁ In 2007-2009, he proceeded to Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), Guildford, United Kingdom where he obtained certificate in Know-How Transfer & Training on Development & Launch of NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSatX Spacecrafts (Earth Observation Satellites).
⦁ In May 2013, he attended International Centre for Mechanical Sciences, Udine, Italy, for advanced study in Isogeometric Analysis for bridging CAD and CAE
⦁ Also, in June 2014, he went for advanced training in Communication Satellite Engineering at China Academic Space of Technology, Shenzhou Institute, Beijing, China, specialized in spacecraft Mechanical Design, Analysis and Simulation in support of National Space Research and Development Agency’s Design Centre (DC) and Assembly, Integration and Testing (AIT) facilities.
His research area of interest includes: Aerospace structural and computational mechanics, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Computer Aided Geometric Design (CAGD), Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) and modeling, and Advance Manufacturing- Additive manufacturing technology (3D Printing).
He’s presently a Deputy Director at Centre for Satellite Technology Development (CSTD), a Centre under National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Abuja and a part-time Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Achievers University, Owo, Ondo State. He is happily married with children