Samsung Solve for Tomorrow and the Samsung Innovation Campus not only help students across the world – including in the U.K., Vietnam and Turkey – gain more advantages in terms of job opportunities and career paths, but they also combine the efforts of participants in order to harness their skills and solve social issues. Samsung Newsroom heard from some of the young people who are creating a better future through Samsung’s programs.

Alec Conway’s Project Dignity Digital Lockers Help the Homeless Reintegrate Into Society

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is an education program in which young people utilize their knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math to solve regional issues and further develop their problem-solving skills. The program, which began in the U.S. in 2010, is now present in more than 30 countries. It is comprised of three steps: identifying an issue, coming up with a solution and making that idea a reality. Samsung employees act as mentors for participating teams, providing them with support throughout the process. The winning team is chosen based on contestants’ presentations and the final products.

Through Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, Alec Conway from the U.K. not only developed a novel idea, but also grew his idea into a business proposition. While traveling around Europe, he observed many homeless people carrying their possessions around. He realized that having a place to store their possessions would offer them more independence and opportunities. With this idea, he created Project Dignity and entered the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow program.

Alec designed a type of digital locker that not only offers a secure storage solution for homeless people, but also provides them with vital information such as maps, accommodations and details on food accessibility through a digital screen that’s built into the locker. Each locker also works as a PO box, providing the user with a permanent address with which they can receive support regarding employment, healthcare and tasks like opening a bank account. While participating in Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, Alec received advice from Samsung employee mentors, and eventually took home the top prize. Alec is now working closely with Digital Catapult, a technology innovation center in the U.K., and is exploring partnerships to develop a functioning prototype of his digital locker.

Vietnamese Students’ IoT Device Trap Pests Using Solar Energy

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow offers an opportunity for students like Le Hang, Tuong Vy and Tuyet Nhi of Vietnam to unleash their potential and creativity using science and technology. The trio won Vietnam’s second edition of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow by developing equipment that allows local farmers to enhance productivity by streamlining how they trap pests.

The idea came to the students after they noticed just how often farmers have to enter hazardous zones to eliminate pests. They thought that if a device could take over pest control, the farmers would be able to work under much safer conditions. This led the students to start developing an IoT device that could trap pests in organic vegetable fields using solar energy.

Receiving robust mentoring and support from Samsung Solve for Tomorrow’s online sessions, they designed what they called “Equipment for trapping pests in organic vegetable fields using solar energy.” The team integrated IoT to ensure that the device would operate seamlessly even when it was far away. They credit Samsung Solve for Tomorrow for helping them overcome various obstacles and for teaching them a lot about the importance of teamwork during the problem-solving process, and about thinking critically.

Meet Batuhan, Who Grew Thanks to the Samsung Innovation Campus While Also Participating in the UN Sustainable Development Goals Project

The Samsung Innovation Campus offers various types of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) education to help unemployed young people competitiveness in the job market. The program offers a total of 240 hours of education in key ICT areas. Students can not only learn about technologies such as AI and IoT, but they can also develop crucial employability skills to help create better opportunities for themselves. As of 2020, approximately 160,000 students have graduated from the Samsung Innovation Campus, and the program is available in 20 regions around the world.

In the face of a job crisis that has left 25 percent of Turkish youth unemployed, Batuhan successfully landed a job in the IT industry after finding his dream at the Samsung Innovation Campus. A 2019 graduate of Istanbul Technical University, Batuhan had been interested in IT, but didn’t stand out in the field. Participating in the Samsung Innovation Campus program offered an opportunity for him to learn practical skills and know-how from field experts, and receive helpful career advice from his mentors.

In particular, Batuhan worked with other participants to plan and execute an environmental project in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He utilized everything he had learned in the program, which ultimately helped him broaden his perspective. “The Samsung Innovation Campus was an opportunity for me to challenge myself in a new way,” said Batuhan. “I learned that the hours of learning and hard work were all worth it in the end. If you wish to work in this field, I recommend the Samsung Innovation Campus.”

‘I Should Pay Forward What I’ve Learned’: Meet Passakorn, the Mentee Who Became a Mentor

Graduates of Samsung Innovation Campus often return to the program as mentors in order to pay forward the help they had received. Passakorn is one of those students. Having participated in SIC during its first year in Thailand, he has returned to serve as a mentor. He first got into programming to develop computer games, and received systematic education at the Samsung Innovation Campus. He and his teammates successfully completed the SIC program with their AI-based smart home solutions project.

By utilizing what he learned at the Samsung Innovation Campus, Passakorn was accepted into the robotics and AI engineering program at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang. He became a mentor himself to share the special experience that he enjoyed at the Samsung Innovation Campus with more people. He wants students to go through education and training just like he did, and create solutions by collaborating with one another. “Thank you, Samsung Innovation Campus, for opening the door for me to come with my own innovative smart home solutions,” said Passakorn. “I hope to become a driving force for the new generation – the leaders of the future – to achieve innovative and creative feats.”

Technology for All: Meet Carmen, Who’s Lowering Barriers to Medical Support

Technology can create something novel that didn’t exist before, but it can also lower barriers for marginalized communities to access essential services. The idea of helping communities in need is what inspired Carmen, from Italy, to harness technology to make medical support accessible to all.

While in high school, Carmen spent some time teaching English at a rural primary school in Thailand. While there, she noticed that some people with disabilities were not able to receive the medical care that they required. This sparked an interest in robotic medical technology and in building prosthetic limbs and artificial organs.

Carmen joined the Samsung Innovation Campus while majoring in electronic engineering in college. SIC has not only allowed Carmen to acquire technical skills in areas such as AI, IoT and machine learning, but has also helped her strengthen her resilience and emotional intelligence, which are attributes that can separate an extraordinary engineer from the pack.

Carmen is especially interested in IoT, and was thrilled to study applications for IoT in the medical field and learn about the latest smart biosensors. Coming from an engineering background, understanding computer science topics was sometimes a challenge for Carmen. SIC participants, however, tend to come from a diverse range of academic fields and routinely help one another out when it comes to their area of expertise.

“The Samsung Innovation Campus has empowered the world’s youth by providing them with education and technical skills to develop capabilities that will be needed to solve important social issues,” said Carmen. “What I’ve learned here is helping me achieve my goal of creating prosthetic limbs and artificial organs for the disadvantaged. I will keep pushing myself forward to realize my dream and apply my skills and knowledge to make an impact.”

Guided by its CSR vision, “Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People,” Samsung Electronics provides educational opportunities to nurture the talent that will be needed to create a brighter future. Head to Samsung’s corporate citizenship website for more stories on how the company’s programs are helping bright young minds build a better tomorrow.

But what exactly does this look like? In order to provide a sneak peek into these global citizenship efforts, Samsung has recently released its ‘Journey to a Better Future’ video series, which features the stories of Samsung employees across the globe in charge of the company’s corporate citizenship programs that focus on providing education for future generations.

Turning Dreams Into Reality to Find Solutions for Society

The Journey to a Better Future series presents experiences from Samsung’s corporate citizenship managers around the world, as well as real testimonies from the students who have participated in their programs.

From Samsung Russia, Sergey Pevnev and Anna Kolganova share their favorite memories from throughout their citizenship careers; Pevnev reminisces about the amazement in the young students’ eyes during the live-streamed lesson he organized featuring Russian astronauts in space, while Kolganova shares her story of launching Samsung Innovation Campus with the same determined mindset of the athletes competing in the Sochi Winter Olympics being held at the same time.

Additionally, students from Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC) in Italy share how much closer they are to realizing their dreams of becoming tech experts following the Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and programming education they received through the program, and students from the U.K. who participated in Samsung Solve for Tomorrow discuss with their mentors how they developed creative problem-solving skills in the process of realizing their solutions for society during the program.

The stories of the students of Samsung’s education-focused corporate citizenship programs around the world, as well as the managers and mentors who are helping them realize their dreams, will continue to be shared on Samsung’s corporate citizenship website, Samsung Global Newsroom and across social media.

Take a look at some of those stories in the video below.

Enabling People for a Better Future

Under the CSR vision “Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People”, Samsung operates a range of educational programs around the world to create more inclusive, quality learning experiences for young people from all walks of life and to empower future generations to achieve their full potential.

Samsung’s leading global corporate citizenship programs for youth education include Samsung Solve for Tomorrow and Samsung Innovation Campus. Samsung Solve for Tomorrow encourages students to use their STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) knowledge to create solutions that can solve societal problems and fosters their creative problem-solving skills.

Furthermore, Samsung Innovation Campus concentrates on developing the young generation’s employment capabilities through ICT education. From 2012 through 2020, Samsung’s global employees have devoted a total of 9.07 million hours to corporate citizenship activities, and around 21.5 million people have participated in Samsung’s youth education programs.

Samsung’s corporate citizenship programs are aligned with Goal 4 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. Samsung cooperates closely with the world’s governments, policy makers and institutions to provide diverse and equal opportunities for young people. Samsung will continue to devote both the technologies and the resources in order to bring high-quality educational experiences to young people in every corner of the world.

©UNHCR/Samuel Otieno

Given the ongoing global pandemic, young people around the world are having to adjust to the new normal of digital and distance learning, but for refugee youths, obtaining necessary tools to study with is harder than it is for others.

In order to provide affected refugee youths with better learning experiences, Samsung Electronics has donated 1,000 Galaxy Tab devices to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, which will be delivered to 15 locations including schools and community centers in Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps in Kenya.

Providing Quality Education for All

The refugee camps in Kakuma and Dadaab are two of the oldest ones in the world and, as of January this year, host approximately 380,000 refugees. It is estimated that 40%, or around 160,000, of those living in the camps are school-aged children.

However, even though the schools in these refugee camps reopened in January this year after nine months of lockdown due to COVID-19, it remains difficult for refugee students to have access to stationery, textbooks and other necessities for learning – an issue that prevails even after the reopening of schools.

Thanks to the donated Galaxy Tabs, the tablet distribution rate per refugee student will be improved in these camps, and refugee students will be able to utilize the devices to participate in the school classes and tune into extensive digital learning materials.

UNHCR plans to utilize these Galaxy Tabs in its Instant Network Schools program, an initiative to provide digital learning supports to young refugees.

“The contribution from Samsung is a good practice of how a global company can help the most vulnerable people access to education with its technology. UNHCR Korea looks forward to developing partnership with Samsung Electronics now onwards,” noted James Lynch, Representative of UNHCR Korea.

Together for Tomorrow: Enabling People

©UNHCR/Samuel Otieno

“It is important for us to be supporting the youth in refugee camps, who are considered as one of the most vulnerable groups to be hit hard by COVID-19, so that they could continue with their studies,” noted Won Kyong Kim, Executive Vice President and head of Samsung’s Corporate Sustainability Center. “Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all young people is essential for a sustainable future for all.”

With its vision of ‘Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People’, Samsung has been and will continue to operate social contribution activities focusing on youth education and growth for their sustainable development, including Samsung Junior SW Academy, Samsung SW Academy for Youth, Samsung DreamClass, Samsung Smart School, and more.

To encourage interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) areas among students, Samsung has been running Solve for Tomorrow in more than 20 countries since its inception in 2010. Originally launched in the United States, this program supports students as they independently seek to identify and address social issues in their communities, while also learning how science and technology can be harnessed for the betterment of society.

Samsung Newsroom went to find out about some of the major issues that students have sought to tackle through the program this year.

Medellin, the second largest city in Colombia, is known as the ‘city of eternal spring’ for its warm weather. However, this beautiful city has recently been suffering from severe air pollution. That is because Colombia consumes more than 1,000 tons of coal annually, emitting a tremendous amount of CO2 that affects not only Colombia, but the whole world.

Ana, Santiago, Juan and Camilo, students from the science and innovation-specialized Colegio Loyola school in Medellin, singled coal out as the main culprit for air pollution and began searching for an eco-friendly energy source that could replace it. As they searched, the prospect of using leftover coffee grounds caught their attention. Colombia is the third largest coffee producer in the world, and thus has abundant quantities of coffee grounds available. A kilogram of coffee grounds contains energy equivalent to 18MJ,¹ while coal contains between 18 and 25MJ.

The students launched their project under the name ‘Ciscombustible’ and threw themselves into the work. They researched, designed prototypes, developed and tested products and even created 3D frames to find out the optimal physical form for the fuel.

By bringing together their knowledge in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields, their problem-solving skills and their desire to help their community, the students were able to successfully create their coffee ground fuel. This innovative achievement resulted in them clinching first place in Solve for Tomorrow in Colombia.

“According to our research, it is expected that CO2 emissions from coal will account for 60 percent of total emissions by 2030,” related one of the students from the Ciscombustible team. “Our goal is to see the fuel source we have developed reduce CO2 emissions by 10 percent. We will maintain our passion for this work and continue moving forward until we realize our goal of protecting our environment!”

Access to clean water is essential when it comes to maintaining good health and preventing disease. However, getting clean water proves a difficult task in some areas of Paraguay where water sources are contaminated with pollutants and salt.

“There must be a way to provide clean water so that people can drink without having to worry.” This was the thinking of Paraguayan students, Jazmín and Diego. These two Solve for Tomorrow participants came up with a portable desalination device equipped with a solar panel and named it ‘MBARETICS’. This device, named after the Spanish word for ‘ICT’ and the Guarani word for ‘strong’, effectively eliminates impurities when filtering polluted water. As it does not require any electricity and can be carried around easily, the solution has been deemed particularly useful for those living in rural areas.

“Experts from local businesses and Asunción University provided us with useful advice during development,” said Jazmín. “The development process was challenging as we had to proceed with the project remotely due to the current health crisis. But it was still worthwhile in the end, as we were able to develop a solution that is meaningful to our community.”

Sokwei and Kai Lin, students from the Republic Polytechnic University in Singapore, believe that addressing climate change and enabling environmental sustainability are issues of the utmost urgency. As they looked into the causes of global warming, the pair discovered that huge amounts of chemicals are used and discharged into the air when leather is produced from animal hides.

As they searched for a solution that would ensure quality as well as ethical and sustainable production, the pair discovered that food waste could be the answer. As Singapore produced more than 740,000 tons of food waste in 2019 alone, the students realized that it would be doubly good for the environment if the waste could be re-used for their purposes. After months of experimentation, they finally developed ‘SUSKIN,’ a 100% vegan leather made from food waste.

Since the two majored in consumer behavior studies rather than science, they faced many obstacles while seeking the right material and conducting experiments. Eventually, and despite a series of setbacks, they were finally able to create a vegan leather that was both durable and ethical.

The team credited Solve for Tomorrow for teaching them a variety of new things, and enhancing their problem-solving skills. They also mentioned that the program sparked an interest in social issues, and showed them how to tackle difficult tasks by themselves. Going forward, they plan to continue creating high-quality sustainable materials.

The students that participate in Solve for Tomorrow embark on challenging journeys to make the world a better place for everyone. Visit Samsung’s Corporate Citizenship website to find out more about how Samsung is supporting students through Solve for Tomorrow and its range of other programs.

¹ MegaJoules. 43.1MJ corresponds to one cubic meter of city gas.

Kusum, a Nepalese student, recites a poem she wrote to her friends about overcoming difficulties and pursuing your dreams. She says her experience at the Samsung Employee Volunteer Program-run design school opened up paths that she “had never dreamed of”

The Journey to Better Educational Opportunities

‘People’ have always been central to Samsung’s philosophy. Alongside the priority that is ‘people’, nurturing talent and harnessing innovation and collaboration to build a better world are other values that Samsung holds dear.

Samsung understands the importance of economic development for emerging nations. However, it also knows that once a country starts benefitting from that development, it is important to ensure that as many people as possible benefit from the new opportunities that are generated as a result.

Since the 1990s, Samsung has been investing in programs to support children from low income families through the Samsung Welfare Foundation. This foundation supports youths – the leaders of tomorrow – while establishing an environment in which women can continue to work, safe in the knowledge that their children are being taken care of. It has facilitated access to quality education for children, and provided young people in need of financial support with self-reliance funds to allow them to focus on their education.

Samsung, which promotes organizational public welfare programs through the Samsung Welfare Foundation and Samsung Life Public Welfare Foundation, created an organization dedicated to Corporate Citizenship in October 1994 to help it invest more in CSR activities. Since then, Samsung has implemented a range of programs to promote social welfare in domestic and international communities, and brought social welfare experts onboard to help streamline its efforts. In 2007, Samsung established ‘Happy Together’ as the objective statement for its CSR activities, with ‘hope’, ‘harmony’ and ‘humanity’ as the main keywords for its vision. It proceeded to launch a number of activities to instill hope in young people, such as its financial support program for children, study room program, and scholarship program.

Visual Identities of some of Samsung’s CSR initiatives: ‘Light of Love, Sharing Star’ (1995) and ‘Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People’ (2019)

Based on its enthusiasm for social responsibility, Samsung has devoted itself to nurturing the technology leaders of tomorrow by sponsoring apprenticeship contests both domestically and internationally. In 2012, Samsung launched its Dream Class program, an extracurricular academic program for middle school students, and in the process demonstrated its will to focus more on youth education.

Samsung has also been launching educational programs around the world that take the diverse range of environments seen in different communities into account. For example, Samsung supported Vietnamese schools by replacing their old desks and chairs and provided Thai, Indian, Filipino and other Southeast Asian youths the opportunity to experience advanced digital technology via the ‘Samsung Digital Hope’ program. The company has also nurtured potential track and field athletes in Kenya through the ‘Dream Tree’ project.

Realizing Potential – From Elementary Students to Job Seekers

In February 2019, Samsung announced its new CSR vision, ‘Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People’, the goal of which is to empower future generations to achieve their full potential, pioneer positive social change and build a better world for all. Samsung understands that it has a responsibility to foster the development of the future leaders who will help their communities overcome the challenges brought about in the rapidly changing 21st century.

To build a future where all young people can realize their full potential, regardless of their circumstances, Samsung launched its Corporate Citizenship website and took action on its goals by shifting its Corporate Citizenship focus towards domestic and overseas youth education programs. Let’s look at how Samsung’s Corporate Citizenship activities are aiming to provide youth with the chances to receive quality education and benefit from new experiences.

Participants in the 2019 US Samsung Solve for Tomorrow program (Above). The Samsung Solve for Tomorrow US online program for 2020 (Below)

Watching your own original idea being realized is a priceless experience. Thus, ‘Samsung Solve for Tomorrow’, a creativity contest in which young people come up with their own creative solutions to address real life issues, allows young people to do just this. This program aims to enhance the problem-solving abilities of youths to induce positive social transformation.

The ‘Samsung Innovation Campus’ program offers training to young people seeking employment. Based on the success of the previously run ‘Samsung Tech Institute’ initiative, Innovation Campus was launched in October 2019 to provide young people with opportunities to learn about core technologies and help them advance into high-potential industries via global ICT training programs. Domestic programs that play a similar role exist in select markets as well.

Seema, who got a job as an engineer after attending the Samsung Technical School, has become a beacon of hope for others in India, where many women still do not receive an education

‘Samsung Smart School’ is a series of initiatives that utilize Samsung devices and content to provide quality digital education to students around the world with insufficient educational prospects and poor information accessibility. As of the end of 2019, more than 3.8 million students have benefited from the program.

By harnessing a wide range of channels and means, Samsung is constantly providing precious learning opportunities to the young people of the world through its diverse array of Corporate Citizenship programs.

Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People

The future will only be bright as long as the young people of today are equipped to lead us into it. Thus, Samsung dreams of a future in which the youth of the world are empowered to build a better world where we can all thrive together.

Today, on United Nations International Youth Day, let’s all reflect on the reasons for this day and unite under Samsung’s vision of ‘Together for Tomorrow!’