A new scholarship competition that will award as much as $40,000 to a grand prize winner is asking Michigan's students: How would you save the state's economy?

The Motivate Michigan scholarship contest will award 10 scholarships to students who come up with the most creative, viable ideas to help the economically-battered state recover.

"It's an opportunity to give people more hope, to rekindle the spirit in Michigan," said Armen Kabodian, vice president for development for Dearborn-based CIBER, Inc., the organizer of the competition.

Students 18 years or older should view contest rules and submit essay entries online at www.motivatemichigan.org by March 12, Kabodian said.

A five-person committee from CIBER, Inc. will select plans from 10 finalists. From the top 10, the public will whittle the list to five by voting online. Once the top five entries are chosen, a panel of judges from sponsoring organizations will view presentations from the finalists and rank the top submissions based on creativity, originality, practicality and the potential economic impact on the state. 

Overall, 10 scholarship winners will be announced.

In addition to CIBER, Inc., sponsors so far include: Comerica Bank, Meijer, Inc., the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and the non-profit Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan.

Fundraising for the competition is ongoing, Kabodian said, with a scholarship fund goal set at $100,000. All of the money raised will go to students, Kabodian said.

When the contest is over, CIBER, Inc., a global IT services and consulting company, will work with the grand prize winner to develop a feasibility analysis and implementation plan, and present it to the appropriate party.

Juliana Keeping covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at julianakeeping@annarbor.com or 734-623-2528. Follow Juliana Keeping on Twitter