Communication scholar leads team to top honors at Hacks for Humanity

When doctoral student Ebuka Okoli joined this year’s Hacks for Humanity competition, he was the only member of his team without a background in science or engineering. But as a communication scholar in the Arizona State University Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, he saw that as an advantage.

“I didn’t have a tech background, but I came in as a co-designer,” Okoli said. “I wanted to make sure our product reflected people’s real experiences, not just aesthetics.”

Okoli led a diverse team of six engineers to a top-three finish at the annual hackathon hosted by ASU's Project Humanities. The 36-hour competition challenges participants to use technology to promote social good. His team’s project used artificial intelligence to recommend multicultural healthy recipes based on users’ nutritional goals and cultural preferences.

The idea was born from research that found 1 in 5 Americans struggles with unhealthy eating habits and culturally diverse diets can help reduce deaths related to chronic disease.

“That was our lightbulb moment,” Okoli said. “We wanted to build something that celebrates food from around the world in a healthy way.”

Users build a profile in the app, swipe through culturally inspired meal options and ask a chatbot to create weekly meal plans. To make the platform more engaging, the team added a community feature where people can share healthy family recipes.

And Okoli’s influence event went beyond the product design. Drawing on his coursework in President’s Professor Pauline Hope Cheong’s "Communication Technology, Culture and Community Engagement Technology and Culture" graduate class, he guided the team on inclusive and ethical choices.

“We talked a lot in Dr. Cheong’s class about co-design, accessibility and ethics in technology,” he said. “I wanted our design to reflect that, to make it multicultural, accessible for people with disabilities, and free from the usual blind spots you find in tech development.”

“Principled innovation requires a deep understanding of cultural values and norms. Communication studies research as an interdisciplinary field is well poised to help technology designers and managers develop better applications to create positive change for humanity. I take great joy in this work,” said Cheong, who also serves as Okoli’s doctoral advisor.

Those insights helped the team stand out. The project earned second place overall, was named Best Website Design, and one of Okoli’s teammates received the event’s Most Helpful Participant Award.

Okoli’s experience as a teaching associate for public speaking also shaped the final pitch.

“Great ideas do not matter if you cannot communicate them. I used the same structure I teach my students: get attention, define the problem and show why it matters,” he said. “That approach made our presentation clear and compelling.”

The hackathon reinforced Okoli’s commitment to increasing diversity in technology spaces.

“I was the only communication scholar and Nigerian in the entire competition,” he said. “It reminded me why participation matters. We have to be in the room where global technologies are created.”

Looking ahead, Okoli plans to continue researching the intersection of communication, technology and ethics.

“Communication scholars should help design technology that reflects the world we live in,” he said. “That is where real innovation begins.”