The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind:
Elegant Design Out of Junk and Spare Parts
William KamkwambaRead about William on CNN's World
See William on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart-October 7th!
Wednesday, October 21
7:00pm
MIT: Room 6-120 — click here for map
Introduced by Amy Smith, founder of D-Lab, MIT
William Kamkwamba, is a senior at the African Leadership Academy, a pan-African high school in Johannesburg, South Africa. A 2007 and 2009 TEDGlobal Fellow, Kamkwamba has been profiled on the front page of the Wall Street Journal and his inventions have been displayed at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. He's often invited to tell his story at such venues as the World Economic Forum in Africa, CES, Aspen Ideas Festival, Maker Faire Africa and the African Economic Forum.
William Kamkwamba will share his story of how he achieved his dream of bringing electricity, light, and the promise of a better life to his family and his village. It started with a bicycle dynamo—simply a pedal-powered wheel that generated light. This taste of electricity (a luxury enjoyed by just two percent of Malawians) filled William with a desire to create. Before long, his scientific curiosity sent him on a quest to build a windmill. Besides dealing with financial obstacles and technical difficulties, William became a self-taught physicist, overcame local superstitions, and withstood being mocked for his “crazy” ideas.
For a full biography of William, please click here.
This program is co-sponsored with the Edgerton Center.
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