Drones, clean water, and nine new businesses on a Virginia Tech team's path from Blacksburg to the United Nations
In Malawi, collecting water samples can kill you.
Schistosomiasis puts nearly half of Malawi’s population at risk, and the parasites that cause the disease don’t wait for permission. They pierce human skin on contact. For decades, researchers and health workers had no choice but to wade into contaminated waters, especially in reed-filled areas where the snails carrying the parasites thrive.
A team of Virginia Tech students developed a solution to that problem. Their drone hovers four feet above the water, drops a container that fills in about 10 seconds, and returns the sample to a safe location, geotagged to the exact collection point. No one touches the water. No one gets sick.
The technology caught the attention of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, earned the team a spot in an eight-month business incubator, and drew the attention of UNICEF to expanding the work across southern Africa. Along the way, it produced an outcome no one had planned: nine women in one of the world’s poorest countries started their own businesses.
From Classroom to Rome
Teresa Thornton, a Virginia Tech alumna who studied public health and agricultural economics, built the project around a question her coursework hadn’t asked: What happens to a country’s economy when its farmers and fishermen are too sick to work?
That question became the foundation for MadziTech, a venture pairing drone-based water sampling with educational programs designed to create jobs. Disease prevention is tied to agricultural productivity. When Thornton and her teammates presented the system at the 2024 World Food Forum, the FAO invited them into its Youth Food Lab, an incubator for food-system startups.
Among 11 teams in the program, MadziTech was the only one representing two countries. Their collaboration with Micromek, a Malawian social enterprise specializing in drone-based medical deliveries and STEM education, gave them partners on the ground who understood what communities needed.
“She took her two degrees, her public health degree and her economics, and made the leap that we can use this technology to mitigate the parasite, to educate the community, with the end product being more productive farmers and fishermen,” said Andre Muelenaer, professor of pediatrics at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and co-founder of TEAM Malawi. “That connection with the economy is a big win for the project.”
The eight-month incubation pushed the team beyond hardware. They conducted market research, secured a business mentor, and shaped the design of their drone system for public health and agricultural settings. Thornton carried much of the work alone at times, emerging with leadership skills she hadn’t expected.
“My mentors gave us so much creative freedom,” Thornton said. “They were never telling me, get this done, you have to do it this way. I grew a lot in learning how to build a team and building something from scratch.”
In October 2025, the team returned to Rome for the World Food Forum’s flagship event. The forum’s Advancing Innovation in Water Management and Agriculture Youth Vision report cited MadziTech as a cost-effective, scalable solution that enhances environmental safety, public health, and long-term water governance.
The conversations that mattered most happened in the hallways. Representatives from UNICEF Africa approached the team about expanding their work to South Africa, Botswana, and neighboring countries. The interest wasn’t just in drones.
“They seem very interested in the development of training programs with certifications that would permit these youth to have jobs,” Muelenaer said.
Nine Women, Nine Businesses
Virginia Tech students developed a curriculum teaching young Malawian women about drone operations, One Health principles, and entrepreneurship. The team expected to share knowledge. They didn’t expect what would come back.
Of 21 women who completed the training, nine started their own businesses. All received legal certification in drone operations and building.
Enitta Tembo had never touched a drone before the program. Today, she works as a project officer and youth mentor at Community Focus Organization, a job she traces directly to her training. She learned to build drones from scratch, fly them, and deploy them to solve problems on the ground: delivering medication, collecting water samples from remote areas, and supporting agricultural operations. She helped start a hair salon. She’s pursuing certificates in drone technology and project management.
“The drone experience landed me in the position that I hold now,” Tembo said.
“I don’t think we anticipated other women to start businesses from it,” Thornton said. “They got officially certified in drone operations and building. A legal certification. They’re now legally certified in flying and operating a drone.”
Undergraduate students from Virginia Tech had built educational modules, carried them to Malawi, and produced jobs and businesses for women. No one had written that into the project plan. Therese Osborn, a public health student who graduated in December, helped develop the curriculum that produced those results. She never traveled to Malawi.
“You can do global health work and not go global in terms of the travel,” Muelenaer said. “The students are really motivated when they can see real people and that they are affecting a real problem. It’s not just an abstract concept.”
Thornton is now an affiliate at Virginia Tech’s Center for International Research, Education, and Development. New students are being recruited to carry MadziTech forward. Discussions are underway about establishing a World Food Forum North America Chapter at Virginia Tech.
Yuba Gautam, collegiate associate professor of public health at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, sees the project’s continuity as its greatest strength.
“One person graduated, and it’s not going to die down,” Gautam said. “They will carry it over.”
