Samsung UK Reveals the Finalists of its ‘Solve for Tomorrow’ Competition

LONDON, UK – 2nd June 2021 – Samsung Electronics UK Ltd. has today unveiled the five finalists of its youth tech competition ‘Solve for Tomorrow’. The competition, running in the UK for the first time, aims to give bright young minds the opportunity to develop technology-focused ideas that help tackle one of four key challenges faced by society; Education, Social Isolation, Diversity & Inclusion, and Sustainability. Guided by Samsung’s cohort of mentors and ongoing workshops, the final five will now go on to compete with a chance of winning the £10,000 prize and securing six months support from Samsung UK to help them develop their idea.

This is the first time the Solve for Tomorrow competition has run in the UK, delivered in partnership with Digital Catapult, the UK’s leading advanced digital technology innovation centre. The programme hopes to open the door to the next generation of innovators, giving their ideas a platform, and supporting them through mentor sessions and workshops to help them develop and grow as they move through the judging stages. To enter Solve for Tomorrow no qualifications are required, just a desire to make a difference in the world. Samsung plans to reopen the competition for a second year later in 2021.

The five finalist teams embody the purpose of the Solve for Tomorrow, embracing the impossible, and thinking outside of the box.  The team’s ideas provide comprehensive ‘solves’ for issues around sustainability, education, and social isolation.

The five finalist teams announce today are:

• Curo – a forward thinking sustainable shopping platform for the conscious consumer. Thanks to its simple barcode scanning technology, and rating system it allows customers to make a decision about the sustainability of the product they’re about to buy with the click of a button. The app aims to offer consumers full visibility, via third-party sustainability data, on a business’s environmental impacts, ethical conduct and corporate governance.
• Edicat – aims to support students who have become disenfranchised with the school system by providing them with personalised study plans designed by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The programme will use cognitive diagnostic modelling and testing, alongside machine learning, to identify how a student is performing against the national curriculum. The results of which will identify the gaps in the student’s knowledge, and create a learning programme bespoke to the student’s needs. As the student works through this, Edicat will report back with regular updates to their teachers.
• Project Dignity – will look to tackle the issue of homelessness, and how through the implementation of its infrastructure can prevent those sleeping rough becoming disenfranchised from society. The project will provide a secure space for those sleeping rough, to place their possessions, that will also double as a PO box providing the user with an address. The provision of a fixed address is a key part of preventing the homeless from being excluded from society, as it allows them to open a bank account, and receive vital communications from the essential services such as housing.
• Zenbin – l will help simplify the UK’s approach to recycling, by offering users the information on the packaging’s recyclability by scanning its barcode. It will also take the user’s location into account (if authorised), offering guidance on where specific items can be taken if they differ from traditional recycling points, as well as specific local boroughs recycling capabilities.
• Gro – uses a hydroponics system that provides a boost to a plants growing power, crucially, without soil, instead using a water and nutrient solution. The nutrient rich solution is aerated by a small air pump to increase plant nutrient uptake. This reduces evaporation and water usage by 98% and increases plant growth speed by up to 50%^[1]. Gro is smart managed, using a microprocessor and WiFi to communicate over IoT frameworks to detect subtle plant deficiencies or illness, that it will then look to rectify through suggested changes to the growth programme.

The five finalist teams will be presenting their ideas in the upcoming final pitch in July at Samsung KX, following two rounds of judging by a panel of tech experts and entrepreneurs, including Head of Tech Innovation at Samsung Electronics R&D Institute UK Kit Lam, Deputy Head of Office at Samsung Design Europe Hong Yeo, Digital Catapult Non-Executive Director and Venture Partner at Merian Ventures Priya Guha, and Edward Evans, CEO of Social Tech Trust. In addition to a £10,000 cash prize and Samsung support for the winning idea, runners up in the competition will receive additional prizes and Samsung products.

Commenting on the announcement, Jessie Soohyun Park, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Samsung Electronics UK explained, “As we’ve moved through the rounds of the competition, I’ve been bowled over by the passion and innovation demonstrated by our finalists at every turn. If this is the generation of tomorrow, we’re in good hands. The enthusiasm and drive shown by all the participants has been inspiring and I am excited for the next chapter in the Solve for Tomorrow competition. Best of luck to all of our finalists.”

Geraldina Iraheta, Chief Commercial Officer at Digital Catapult continued, ““As our finalists’ ideas have evolved through the mentoring sessions and workshops, it’s been amazing to see them develop and grow their projects. Across the teams it is clear that they’re here to make long-lasting change, using advanced digital technologies to deliver meaningful social and sustainable impact. The sky is truly the limit; we’re excited to see where the final stages of the competition lead us.”

To find out more about the ‘Solve for Tomorrow’ competition, visit: www.samsung.com/uk/solvefortomorrow

[1] Figures based on initial product testing