Zalerapi Chirwa Mhango is a Technology Transfer Officer at the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) under the Research and Outreach Directorate, where she also lectures in Technology Commercialisation, Entrepreneurship, Computer Science and Information Systems.

 

As a technology transfer officer and university patenting specialist, she manages collaborations between the  university space, investors and funding institutions with innovators, researchers, faculty, students  and community members to develop and commercialize technology. 

 

She works hand in hand with the European Patent Office (EPO) to establish a PATLIB centre in Malawi where she manages enrolment of staff, students and innovators into the Intellectual Property Basics for Innovators (IPBI), a special course tailor-made to support IP awareness among innovators.

 

She holds a Master of Science in Informatics and a Bachelor's degree in Technical Education. Zalerapi is passionate about the advancement of youth-led technologies.

 

Through her participation in the National Schools Science Fair, in which innovations from secondary schools across Malawi are showcased, she has gained university admissions and sponsorships for several patents by Press Trust, as well as facilitated  innovator collaborations with financing solutions for youth-led projects at the university aimed at solving community challenges.

 

In addition to her responsibilities, she holds public awareness initiatives in Intellectual Property Rights and has done various research in health technologies for low-resource settings.

 

 

 

 

 

Tel: +265999613385/+265888644686

Email: zmhango@must.ac.mw