The College Principal, Malawi Institute of Engineers and the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering attended the lecture.

Speaking at the event the dean of Engineering, Dr Theresa Mkandawire said that science and technology is needed for Africa to develop. She further commended the College principal for development he has made to the field of engineering at Polytechnic since he started working for the college.

On the other hand, the college principal Professor Grant Kululanga thanked the American embassy and national commission for science and technology for organizing Melvin Leland lecture to Engineering students. However, he also commended National Commission for Science and Technology for the help that it is making in some of the project that are going on at the polytechnic.

The main speaker at the event Melvin Leland who is former NASA astronaut stressed on the establishment of NASA academy for all students studying science courses in Africa. “Many people come from different background and it’s not the background you come from that matters but it’s what in your head that matters,” said Leland. 

He further said that student who has access to the Internet; Massa chutes Institute of Technology, Harvard and Stamford have their classes online for free. “If someone is willing to pull their sleeves up and work hard they can overcome any obstacle they face and having access to that information is so important to everyone.

Leland continued inspiring Engineering students that they can achieve anything in life despite the fact that they are coming from poor background. “ If you have knowledge in your head that people want,” if you understand math, Science you can help in solving problems and people will pay you for that, said Leland.

On the part of Engineering students, Leland informed them about internship and fellowship programs for all students around the world in United States of America. He added that NASA education has a website that talks about international internships for students all over the world. This was the first time for NASA astronaut to hold public lecture at the polytechnic.