Ragtag Cinema Columbia, MO
Dr. Neil Fox
Professor of Atmospheric Science in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Missouri
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind— Weird weather: Harnessing the wind
Program Description
Dr. Neil Fox will talk about why wind power is good, but why there are places where it is better than others. He'll discuss the requirements and restrictions on wind power development and energy use in Malawi.
Presented At
Ragtag Cinema Columbia, MO
Film Synopsis
A boy in Malawi helps save his village from famine by building a wind turbine after reading about them in a library book.
Young William Kamkwamba lives with his family in rural Malawi, where he attends school regularly and shows great aptitude for his studies. Yet after land development and poor weather lead to a meager harvest, famine strikes the village, alarming the community and forcing William to drop out of school when his father (Chiwetel Ejiofor) can no longer afford the fees. Determined to find a way out of the life-threatening situation his family is facing, William sneaks into the school library to research—and soon conspires to build a windmill pump to irrigate the land. Caught between his father’s close-minded skepticism and the difficulty of creating a machine out of bicycle parts and scrap materials, William races against the clock to fight for his community’s survival. This inspiring true story about the powers of science, engineering, ingenuity, and determination is based on Kamkwamba's 2009 memoir of the same name.
Banner image courtesy of PHOTOFEST
About the Speaker
Neil Fox is a Professor of Atmospheric Science in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Missouri, where he has taught many meteorology related classes, including Radar Meteorology, Physical Meteorology, and Wind Power. Although his primary interest is in rain (particularly the use of weather radar in rainfall observation and forecasting), he has a secondary line of research in Wind Power. Some years ago, Neil conducted a study of wind energy resources in Missouri and hopes that the work he did contributed a little to the expansion of wind farm development in the State.