Nigerian Student Wins Microsoft Social Good Contest

The votes are in for Microsoft’s 2015 Youth Spark Challenge for Change, a contest that asked young people from around the world to submit an idea to address a social issue through technology in their communities.

Recently, Microsoft announced this year’s grand prize winners, representing youth from Chile, Ecuador, Greece, India, Nepal, Nigeria, United States, and Uruguay.

Saviour Okusenogu of Nigeria wants to spark an interest science and engineering in more kids in developing countries.

He plans to bring fun and interactive science experiments and other projects to secondary schools with hopes that they will get kids far more excited than the abstract, conceptual ways many kids learn about those topics now.

Okusenogu, the 17-year-old hopes to expand his “Become Inspired in Science and Engineering Technology” program throughout his country and other African nations.

He said he’s delighted to know that now “many people around the world will know about my project and what I’m trying to do in my community.”

“It’s a very great opportunity for students like me, and for people who want to change their communities with science and technology,” he says.

This year’s winners created compelling solutions to help their community spanning a variety of social issues including education, computer science and digital literacy.

Later this year, these winners will travel to the Nicaragua to learn about social entrepreneurship and development issues.

Microsoft is also outfitting each winner with a $2,500 cash grant, and a Microsoft technology bundle (Surface Pro3, Windows Phone, and Office 365) to help them develop their projects further.