William Kamkwamba
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| William Kamkwamba | |
|---|---|
 William Kamkwamba at TED in 2007 |
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| Born | August 5, 1987 [1] Dowa, Malawi |
| Nationality |  Malawi |
| Occupation | Inventor |
William Kamkwamba (born August 5, 1987) is a Malawian secondary school student and inventor. He gained fame in his country when, in 2002, he built a windmill, to power a few electrical appliances in his family's house in Masitala, using blue gum trees, bicycle parts, and materials collected in a local scrapyard. Since then, he has built a solar-powered water pump that supplies the first drinking water in his village, and two other windmills (the tallest standing at 39 feet) and is planning two more, including one in Lilongwe.
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[edit] Life and career
After leaving school due to his family not being able to afford the tuition (~80USD), he took up self-education by going to his village's library. There, he found the book Using Energy and in it discovered a picture and explanation of windmills.
His story is told in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, written with journalist Bryan Mealer and published in 2009. Kamkwamba took part in the first event celebrating his particular type of ingenuity, called Maker Faire Africa, in Ghana in August 2009. [2]
[edit] International fame
When the Daily Times newspaper in Blantyre wrote a story on Kamkwamba's windmills in November 2006, the story circulated through the blogosphere,[3] and TED conference director Emeka Okafor invited Kamkwamba to speak at TEDGlobal 2007 in Arusha, Tanzania as a guest.[4] His speech moved the audience, and several venture capitalists at the conference pledged to help finance his secondary education. His story was covered by Sarah Childress for the Wall Street Journal.[5] He became a student at African Bible College Christian Academy in Lilongwe, but is now on a scholarship at the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa.[6]
Among other appearances, Kamkwamba was interviewed on The Daily Show on October 7, 2009[7] and by social news website Reddit.[8][9]
[edit] References
- ^ William Kamkwamba's blog, "Biography"
- ^ "Technology & Culture Forum - The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind". MIT TechTV. http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/4282. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
- ^ "Hacktivate - ''Malawian windmill''". Vdomck.org. http://www.vdomck.org/2006/11/23/malawian-windmill/. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
- ^ "TED Talks: William Kamkwamba on building a windmill". Ted.com. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/153. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
- ^ "A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill, Electrifying a Nation", by Sarah Childress, Wall Street Journal, December 12, 2007
- ^ Jude Sheerin (2009-10-01). "Malawi windmill boy with big fans". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8257153.stm. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
- ^ The Daily Show, October 7, 2009: William Kamkwamba.
- ^ Posted by alexis [kn0thing] (2009-07-27). "Reddit blog: announcement and collection of questions for William Kamkwamba's interview". Blog.reddit.com. http://blog.reddit.com/2009/07/interview-young-man-who-built-his-own.html. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
- ^ Posted by alexis [kn0thing] (2009-10-12). "Reddit blog: interview of William Kamkwamba". Blog.reddit.com. http://blog.reddit.com/2009/10/reddit-interviews-boy-who-harnessed.html. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: William Kamkwamba |
- William Kamkwamba's blog
- The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind : Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
- Kamkwamba's appearance at TED
- William Kamkwamba talks at MIT
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