He gained renown in his country in 2001 when he built a wind turbine to power multiple electrical appliances in his family's house in Wimbe, 23 kilometres (14 mi) east of Kasungu, using blue gum trees, bicycle parts, and materials collected in a local scrapyard.

In a desperate attempt to retain his education, Kamkwamba began to frequent the local school library; it was there that he discovered his love for electronics.

He experimented with a small model using a cheap dynamo and eventually made a functioning wind turbine that powered his dad's radio, Local farmers and journalists investigated the spinning device and Kamkwamba's fame in international news skyrocketed.

A blog about his accomplishments was written on Hacktivate and Kamkwamba took part in the first event celebrating his particular type of ingenuity called Maker Faire Africa in Ghana in August 2009.

With the grant, Kamkwamba held workshops in his home village, teaching youths to make wind turbines and repair water pumps.

[12] Among other appearances, Kamkwamba was interviewed on The Daily Show on 7 October 2009 (during which he was playfully compared to the fictional hero Angus MacGyver for his impressive scientific ingenuity).

The Primary Goal of the Moving Windmills Project is to be able to provide basic needs such as clean water, have proper learning materials and facilities within schools, and sustainable farming, nutrition, and community programs to ensure a famine will never happen again or as severe as it was when William Kamkwamba endured the 2002 Malawi Famine.

[22][23] In 2014, Kamkwamba received a bachelor of arts degree in environmental studies from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire[24] where he was elected to the Sphinx Senior Honor Society.