College Park Resident Wants to Help Relieve Energy Crisis in Benin

Carlos Biaou grew up in Benin, West Africa, where the power at his home was sporadic.

Benin had—and still has—an energy crisis, that causes the government to schedule energy shutoffs and look to neighboring nations for power supply, Biaou said.

“Sometimes we would be out of energy for five hours, sometimes for half a day, sometimes for a whole day, sometimes for five days … It was quite random,” said Biaou, who now lives in north College Park with his two sisters.

The scheduled power outages would often occur during nighttime, but that forced students like Biaou to study in the later hours by candlelight.

He might have had an easier time of it than his peers—his dad bought a generator—but the experience led him to a career that could reverse the crisis in Benin.

“I felt that I could help the country if I put myself on the path of becoming an electrical engineer,” he said.

Biaou moved to College Park in 2009 and commuted to Prince George’s Community College in Largo, pursuing an associate of science degree in electrical engineering. After graduating next week, he’ll continue his education at the and expects to obtain his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering within two years.

In the meantime, though, Biaou will spend his summer interning at the University of Pennsylvania, building devices that help the blind regain their sight.

Fortunately for him, Biaou is receiving a bit of help, too.

The 19-year-old honors student was selected for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. For each year that he’s pursuing his bachelor’s degree at UMd., he’ll receive up to $30,000 for tuition, living expenses, books and fees.

Nominated by PGCC, he is one of about 60 community college students in the country selected this year for the scholarship, based on academic achievement and critical thinking ability, financial need, will to succeed, and breadth of interest and activities, according to the website.

Between classes and charity work—like helping with autism awareness and funding events—and dabbling in nanotechnology, Biaou hangs out with friends at in College Park.

Right now he lives on Edgewood Road with his two older sisters, Angela and Lynda, but he says eventually he’ll take his education to Africa to help Benin and other countries, so they no longer have to rely on other nations for energy.

“A partnership was built with Ghana since the ’70s to meet the demand [in Benin] and, more recently, Nigeria became a close partner for the country as well," Biaou wrote in an email. "However, these partnerships still don't totally meet the demand, and the situation is worse whenever there are instabilities with our partners,” he said.

This story has been updated to reflect that 60 community college students were selected for this scholarship, according to information from the Prince George's Community College communications office.