Student-designed AI and AR-powered glasses for hard-of-hearing individuals and IoT-driven battery monitoring system win top accolades in Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Competition

A Samsung poll shows that more needs to be done to build up Gen Z’s confidence and skills to succeed in the digital economy

Samsung Electronics Singapore announced the sixth edition Solve for Tomorrow competition winners, with teams SHMID.CO from ITE College Central and Hearable from Nanyang Technological University took home top honours for the Post-secondary and University categories respectively.

Launched in October 2022, Solve for Tomorrow encourages youths to take a proactive approach to address Singapore’s key challenges by providing them with a platform to ideate and apply their knowledge and skills across multiple disciplines, including Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), to make a meaningful impact in our community.

“I’m encouraged to see that youths in Singapore are passionate about solving real-world challenges and equipped with the ideas and knowledge to make tangible, positive changes in our communities. We will continue motivating youths by providing the resources and platform they need to unleash their creativity and elevate their digital technology skills, supporting them on their journey to become the true architects of our future,” said Dennis Jang, President of Samsung Electronics Singapore.

Dennis was one of the three judges that evaluated the students’ submissions in the final round of the competition. The other judges were Timothy Low, Chief Operating Officer, Halogen Foundation Singapore and Tham Jierong, Assistant CEO and Head Venture Building of Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise (raiSE).

Winners of the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2022 competition

The winning teams were selected from over 90 groups comprising more than 270 students in Singapore. The top team from each category walked away with $12,000 worth of Samsung products and a $5,000 cash prize.

More details of the winning teams are as followed:

Post-secondary category winner: SHMID.CO from ITE College Central

Team SHMID.CO^[2] developed a low-cost and functional monitoring device that allows users to monitor and remotely turn off charging batteries due to overheating. The sensor can be used with most household charging devices, such as mobile phones, personal mobility devices (PMDs) and any other electrical appliances. Users will be alerted by an alarm through a buzzer and receive an SMS alert on their mobile phones if the charging device is detected to be overheating. The sensor also turns off the charger automatically when the battery is fully charged. This helps to prevent overcharging of batteries, avoid fire hazards and saves electricity which supports the reduction of carbon emissions while keeping in line with the Singapore’s Green Plan 2030.

“We are grateful to have the chance to participate in the Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow Competition. It allowed us to bring our ideas to life and motivated us to create a feasible system that can be implemented across all households. Through our invention, we hope to improve fire safety at home for Singapore residents, while enabling families to significantly reduce their energy usage and carbon emissions,” said Shing Foo Chuan Zheng, Team Leader, SHMID.CO, School of Engineering, Aerospace Avionics, ITE College Central.

University category winner: Hearable from Nanyang Technological University

Team Hearable^[3] developed a two-part solution that enables hard-of-hearing individuals to communicate using a pair of AR glasses that can transcribe speech in real-time by leveraging AI. The mobile application also allows users to turn type-written speech into spoken words.

“Solve for Tomorrow is an excellent proving ground for our team to test and refine our idea. We are excited and humbled to win this competition, and we hope our solution can help enrich the lives of hard-of-hearing individuals. As digital technology plays a vital role in shaping our lives, we will continue to harness its power to create a more inclusive society,” shared Christopher Santoso, Team Leader, Hearable, Nanyang Technological University.

“It is clear from this competition that our youths are a wellspring for innovation, bringing fresh perspectives and new thinking to tackle the challenges we face. What stood out for me was their creativity and critical and entrepreneurial spirit. I look forward to seeing how our next generation of leaders and innovators will continue to crystalise their ideas, scale their solutions and make a meaningful difference to our communities,” added Tham Jierong.

In a Samsung online poll^[4] comprising 92 Gen Z respondents in Singapore, 82% of respondents felt empowered to be actively involved in addressing Singapore’s societal and environmental challenges. Nearly 2 in 5 Gen Zs (38%) are changing their lifestyle to help solve these challenges. Another 29% are shaping their career path toward a role that can help solve these challenges.

Building up Youths’ Proficiency and Confidence in Digital Technology

Gen Zs today also recognise the crucial role that digital technology plays in the nation’s future. More than 40% of poll respondents highlighted that its greatest benefit to Singapore is to help its economy remain competitive over the next five years.

However, despite recognising digital technology’s importance, only 55% of Gen Zs are confident they have the skills and knowledge to stay relevant and succeed in Singapore’s future digital economy. More than two in five Gen Zs (45%) feel that offering more opportunities for students to hone their digital skills and knowledge and integrating cutting-edge digital tools in school activities and curricula are most important to them when it comes to transforming education for the digital economy.

Through the Solve for Tomorrow competition, Samsung aims to spark youth’s curiosity in digital technology and expand their knowledge through experimentation and practical application. This will help youths build their confidence and proficiency in digital technologies.

“What impressed me was the finalist teams’ competent use of technology – including AR and AI – to tackle a wide range of issues in our society. I’m confident that the technical knowledge and expertise the teams gained from this competition will be invaluable assets for their future, and we hope their success will inspire many of their peers,” said Timothy Low.

“Gen Zs have never known life without the internet and mobile devices. They are the true digital natives with remarkable potential to develop society-changing solutions. At Samsung, we are committed to ensuring that they can flourish in the new technology-driven future and reach new heights in innovation,” concluded Dennis.

For more information on Solve for Tomorrow, visit https://www.samsung.com/sg/solvefortomorrow/.

More information on the competition can be found in Appendix A.

Profiles of the judges can be found on the Solve for Tomorrow website here.

Appendix A

About Samsung Solve for Tomorrow

The Solve for Tomorrow 2022 competition, launched on 5 October 2022, encourages students in Singapore to take a closer look at the social issues around them and think about how they can make a meaningful impact on the community. At its launch, more than 270 students, forming more than 90 groups of two to four, submitted a write-up of their ideas or solutions.

The platform also allows youth to express their creativity and passion while encouraging them to apply their knowledge and skills across multiple disciplines – including critical and design thinking, marketing and communications skills, technological expertise and STEM knowledge – when developing their ideas and solutions.

Competition overview

There are two categories for Solve for Tomorrow 2022.

• Category 1 – Post-secondary: Full-time students aged 16 years old and above, enrolled in any junior college, polytechnic, Institute of Technical Education or the Millennia Institute in Singapore
• Category 2 – University: Full-time undergraduate students aged 18 years old and above enrolled in any of the six publicly-funded autonomous universities in Singapore, namely
  • Nanyang Technological University (NTU);
  • National University of Singapore (NUS);
  • Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT);
  • Singapore Management University (SMU);
  • Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS); and
  • Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).

A total of 20 teams (10 from each category) were shortlisted in January 2023. Each team received a $600 cash prize to help them develop and refine their ideas and/or prototype.

Virtual workshops were organised for all the shortlisted teams, where all teams completed a course on social entrepreneurship.

Of the 20 teams, ten (five from each category) were selected as the finalists. These teams were encouraged to exercise their creativity and find a novel approach to showcase their solutions in a video format. The top three teams from each category with the highest scores were crowned the winners.

The public also got to vote for their favourite idea from each category on the Solve for Tomorrow website. The finalist team from each category with the most votes won the People’s Choice awards.

Judging criteria for the grand finale

• 30%: Feasibility – Elaboration on how the solution can be created and implemented
• 20%: Creativity – Innovativeness, uniqueness and originality of proposed idea
• 25%: STEM – Elaboration on the use of STEM and how it can solve the problem
• 20%: Video – Flow and effectiveness of the presentation
• 5%: Public voting – Based on the number of votes the team receive from the public

Prizes

• First Prize for Category 1 and Category 2:
  • $12,000 worth of Samsung products
  • $5,000 cash prize
• Second Prize for Category 1 and Category 2:
  • $7,000 worth of Samsung products
  • $3,000 cash prize
• Third Prize for Category 1 and Category 2:
  • $4,000 worth of Samsung products
  • $1,000 cash prize
• People’s Choice awards for Category 1 and Category 2:
  • Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro

^{[1] People’s Choice Award – The public voted for their favourite finalist team’s idea during the final round. The competition received nearly 2,900 votes in April 2023.  The finalist team that received the most votes from the public from each category won the People’s Choice Award.}

^{[2] Team SHMID.CO consists of Shing Foo, Mohamed Hariz Bin M Ridzah, Miguel A G Escanan and Dominic Chow from School of Engineering in ITE College Central.}

^{[3] Team Hearable consists of Michael Santoso and Christopher Angelo from Nanyang Technological University.}

^{[4] An online poll by Samsung among 92 respondents in Singapore, aged 16 to 26 years old, was conducted between October 2022 to April 2023.  The poll was conducted at the side line of the Solve for Tomorrow competition and its goal was to find out Gen Z’s perspective on the different social challenges that the nation faces and how they are playing their part to address these issues.}