The award was in recognition of the significant impact made towards alleviating the social issues in developing countries through the SmartWorld project http://www.computing.northampton.ac.uk/~michael/SmartWorld/index.html.
Michael is the founder of the SmartWorld initiative, an international collaborative project that uses technology, particularly Internet-of-Things (IoT), to provide solutions to the potential crisis in developing countries.
Through the SmartWorld initiative, Michael has put new technology methods in place to produce a real-world practical solution to these issues in the form of projects, dissertations and research. In addition, the project has attracted externally funded international students to the University of Northampton. Michael continues to inspire students with his ambitious tenacity that highlights the multidisciplinary benefits of using computing to improve health and well-being on a global scale.