Hie,My name is Wilson Alvin Kalambo, aged 23 and am an Electronics & Computer Engineering graduate of the University of Malawi, The Polytechnic. I am one of the 6 Malawian students participating in this years SEED program.

The very first week has been fun, mostly spending time in team building exercises. Got to know the people from rice university, both the students and the professors, they are really nice people i must say. I also had the chance of getting to know their country and different cultures they have much as i tried to shed more light on my very own culture.On a more serious note, i got the introduction to the engineering design process,got my Rice ID sorted out and took a quiz on the safety guidelines on the use of various tools in the OEDK,which i passed by the way.

Also, i visited the Houston zoo,where we (the entire team) where tasked with a project which aims at designing an enrichment feeding device for an obese pig and that’s what the entire team is working on at the moment. The project should be done by next Wednesday and so far, its going great.After the Zoo visit,the entire team had lunch together and had some staff members of the OEDK as our guests and this was a nice activity since we got to know the fellows a bit more.

In addition, i have met new people and learnt a whole lot with the state of art technologies the kitchen has and these are things that have left a smile on me and am looking forward to learning even more. I hope and believe by the end of summer,i would have expanded my social capital base and increased my knowledge regarding engineering design and life as a whole.

The First Week In Pictures: