Hie Y’all, sorry am posting my first week blog in my third week. But hgave fun reading 🙂

Alexander DC Mtambo is a year 23 year old young man who just graduated with an Honors Degree in Electronics and Computer Engineering at the University of Malawi, The Polytechnic in March 2019.

He is an entrepreneur and a passionate leader and has recently co-founded a Tech company “ACE Engineering Group” ( www.ace-mw.com ) which is into software development and infrastructural designs . In 2017 Alexander was shortlisted among the top 25 Malawi government youth stakeholders in youth employment which gave him an opportunity to be trained by the Chinese government’s ministry of commerce in global youth entrepreneurship in Fujian province in China.

As a fourth year student Alexander was approached to work with African Union Southern Africa Regional office under the leadership of Dr Auguste Ngomo as the first chairperson of African Union Youth Club (AUYC) towards the implementation of Africa’s 50 year plan known as Agenda 2063. During his two year term, Alexander worked with other delegates from 13 African countries to ensure that the youth actively participate continental development.

Upon finishing my undergraduate studies at the University of Malawi, I have seen the biomedical engineering field to be a virgin land which needs 100% concentration both at national and continental level. In Malawi people are dying untimely to conditions that would have been cured if there were enough resources. As someone who cares about the well being of human being, I am interested in taking part in alleviating health problems especially among neonates and women. This area is so personal to me as i once lost a young brother due to pneumonia and i know that he would have been alive if certain things were set inorder at the hospitals in Malawi. this is one of the main reasons i applied for the internship at RICE; so i can gain skills which if implemented can save lives. I do not want to be a spectator as far as health issues are concerned, I WANT TO BE INVOLVED.

As my topic leads, my coming to RICE is a life changing one because research has proven that RICE university is the best place to study not just in the United States but in the world at large. Intend to make my country proud.

I have been at RICE for about four days now but its been an amazing experience.Dr Veronica Leautaud and Georgia Jenkins have made our trip both before coming until now very easy. Dr Leautaud is friendly and very hospitable, she literally is our mother here. Our day to day professor Dr Deirdre Hunter  is amazing, she has a very unique skill of communicating stuff. She literally makes everything so easy to understand the very first time she says it. Our TA’s Grant Anderson and Adulfo Amador are quite spectacular, they are young people but they are very professional, I like how they are able control time per activity, i am really learning a lot from them. My fellow interns from the states are very caring and friendly, they have been very helpful at every point For our Zoo project, my teammates have been Dylan Rivera and Alexus Arizola; the guys are wonderful, i wouldn’t mind mind having them as project partners for our next project 🙂

By the time ENGI210 is coming to an end, I would love to have become a master in Solid-works. I love that software.

In terms of fun, Houston Zoo is my favorite as of now, but i know there is so much I am yet to experience.