Master of Engineering student Godswisdom Ogbonna speaking at a University of Windsor event. (GODSWISDOM OGBONNA/ University of Windsor)
By Lindsay Charlton
If you had $1 million to solve a problem, what would you choose? And how?
When Master of Engineering student Godswisdom Ogbonna came to the University of Windsor, he set up a booth in the CAW Student Centre asking students that very question.
An international student from Nigeria, Ogbonna said when he first came to the city, he was caught in a cycle — class, study, sleep, repeat.
“In my second semester, I told myself I was going to attend more events and meet more people,” he said.
“Everything I see on Brightspace, I try to attend. Not because I know exactly what’s happening there, but because I see it as a point of networking.”
Eventually, Ogbonna became involved in the former Venture U program, which hosted a pitch competition for future entrepreneurs.
“I met a lot of students from across programs, and so many had wonderful ideas,” Ogbonna said.
“It was a great experience that made me think, ‘Now that I’ve seen what these students can offer, what can I do to help put them out there on the global map?’”
Ogbonna wasn’t just asking a hypothetical question that day in the CAW Student Centre; he was encouraging students to share ideas at UWindsor’s first Hult Prize competition.
“I was there for a couple of hours during Clubs Day when one undergraduate student walked up and said he had a solution, but didn’t know if it was worth solving,” he said.
“He had a great idea for sustainable stickers, but played it down, thinking it wasn’t good enough to pitch for $1 million. I told him, ‘What we’re building with Hult Prize is simple. We want you to be solving a problem that affects not only yourself, but also your community. Your idea considers affordability and environmental impact.'”
Master of Engineering student Godswisdom Ogbonna is the University of Windsor’s first Hult Prize campus director. (GODSWISDOM OGBONNA/ University of Windsor)
The inaugural Hult Prize on-campus finals took place in February, with six teams pitching their plans to judges. Team 100% Fish took home first place with a concept to transform discarded Lake Erie fish byproducts into dog treats.
Both the first- and second-placed teams were invited to compete in Montreal this month for nationals, representing the university and moving them closer to the global Hult Prize competition, where teams vie for a $1 million prize.
Competing against 28 of Canada’s most innovative student start-ups, Team 100% Fish advanced to the national finals, placing eighth in the country.
The team pitched alongside ventures from the University of Waterloo, McGill University, York University, Wilfrid Laurier University and Toronto Metropolitan University, before a panel of judges that included leaders from XPRIZE, BKR Capital and Impact Hub New York.
Ogbonna was instrumental in bringing this opportunity to students on campus. He participated during his undergraduate studies in Nigeria and saw how valuable it was.
“After competing and seeing firsthand what the Hult Prize did for me, I looked into how I could bring it to the University of Windsor. I researched other Canadian schools that participate and what students have gone on to achieve, then began the application and interview process to become the university’s first Hult Prize campus director.”
He then began recruiting students to pitch their ideas, sharing what the competition did for him, as well as other stories he discovered while researching.
“A few years ago, a team from the University of Toronto made it to the global finals, and while they didn’t win, from what they built through networking and meeting partners during the rounds, they’ve been able to raise more than $3 million in seed funding and grow their team from three to 50 people,” Ogbonna said.
Ogbonna said the Hult Prize is picking up steam at UWindsor. Since it started, they have been able to raise about $8,000 toward their events and to help send the winning teams to nationals.
“It’s just been pitching to people, telling them about what we’re building, how it affects students and how they can be involved,” he said.
Ogbonna will graduate from the Faculty of Engineering this year and plans to pursue opportunities in program management and strategic partnerships. He said a contingency plan is in place to ensure the campus pitch competition continues.
“It’s just such a great opportunity for not only students but the community as well. If we have teams or student start-ups from here competing and getting exposure, guess what? They will hire people from UWindsor because that’s where they started from,” he said.