From left to right: Patience, Tamanda, Dominic and Gerald

1. Tamanda Champiti, Team Captain 

I am a student at The University of Malawi, Polytechnic, doing engineering in my first year. I do not know much about robotics but I think it is fairly interesting to learn about. 

My hope for the future is to become a person that is influential and can help people grow and live to their full potential. My favorite subject is chemistry. My personal hero is my father because he believes in me and has always been my personal cheerleader. During my free time I love spending time with my friends and enjoy music but I also like to have quiet times. 

What is unique about me
What makes me unique is that I’m willing to learn and that when I put my heart to something, I can devote myself to it and see it through. I am excited to be part of this team and I look forward to learning more.

2. Dominic Mtunduwatha, Programmer

I am interested in robotics because I find it interesting in how the robots function and how they are programmed and manufactured to perform their tasks.

I hope that in the future robotics will be the key to make life simpler in terms of travel, industry and simplification of homework, introduction to advance robotics will lead to high rate of technological advancement and high economic growth in a country.

My favourite subject is Physics. Personal Hero is Henry ford, due to his greats achievements in the automotive industry which is still advancing till today.

What is unique about me
The way I view things is quite different in the way that I apply newly learnt skills.
I am a fast learner and eager to learn new things.

3. Patience Mwayi Muhunya, Planner

I am a first year student in energy engineering at the Malawi University of Polytechnic. As much as I don’t know alot about robotics but it sounds interesting and I wish to know more about it. I hope for the brighter days where life will be made easier with the development of new technologies that is worldwide regardless of the race. My Favourite subject is physics. This is so because   it’s full of discoveries. In my spare time I like reading novels and playing games. 

What is unique about me
I work hard until I achieve what I want.

4. Gerald Magaleta, Driver

I am a first year student at University of Malawi-The Polytechnic. I am studying Electronics and Electrical Engineering. My favorite subject is Mathematics. After am done with my studies in Electronics and Electrical Engineering at the Polytechnic I want to major in production. In my spare time I like to read novels, solve mathematics and play basketball.

What is unique about me
I am a fast learner.

MOTIVATION

We are really excited to be part of this competition because it would be a new experience for us and an opportunity for us to learn more about energy and how we can use it. It is also a chance for us to visit new places and interact with other people from different countries as get to know the people in our teams.

In our every life we need energy to do all kinds of activities. Almost every work to be done it requires energy (electricity). Hence energy is very important to us. To begin with, energy helps in economic growth. For example for the industrial sector to function there is a need of energy for the production or manufacturing of their products. The energy needed in this sector is mainly electrical energy and mechanical. The industries also use energy in the transportation of products throughout the country. Energy in this case electricity is mainly used in our residential areas. We depend mostly in on electricity for task to be completed easily and efficiently, for example ironing , cooking and so on, we also use energy to use our gadgets, for example our mobile phones ,PCs and TV just to mention a few. We also use energy in our agricultural sector when planting our crops and also in harvesting crops and crop processing. It also used in animal production and also in processing animal products.

The most important energy source in our country as of now is hydro-electric power. The main source is a waterfall named Nkula Falls. Recently there have been problems in in the supply of power due to effects of global warming among other factors. Our country uses hydro-electric power because water is a renewable resource and its use for energy production has minimal effect on the environment. Water as a source of energy might be dependent on weather but it is not toxic.

Our country also uses hydro-electric power because other sources of energy like uranium and coal are scarce in the country and so hydro-electric power is mainly relied on. Solar is also not mainly relied on because the use of solar panels to power the whole country would be more costly than the use of hydro-electric power. The country has been facing high load-shedding hours due to lowering of water levels in Lake Malawi as a result of climate change.