LONDON, UK – 4 July – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has announced the winners of its fifth annual Solve for Tomorrow competition, which aims to uncover the most promising tech inventions from young people by asking 16-25 year olds to come up with ideas that help solve societal challenges.

The ideas showcased the passion young people have for future innovation and their drive to design a better world – exploring how technology can solve the issues they care about while tackling broader societal challenges. Nottingham based Eseose Okotako (23) of team Athena was announced as the winner in the 18-25 category with their impressive idea, a haptic collar that syncs with any audio to translate music into tailored vibrations, allowing deaf users to feel melody, rhythm and emotion.

Meanwhile, in the 16-18 category, Manchester based trio Daniel Aju (18), Harris Asif (18) and Nahom Ghirmay (18) of team Sanoband were announced in first place following their idea of a device that aims to help individuals with alcohol addiction by detecting cravings early, preventing relapse and supporting long-term recovery.

This year marked the first time the competition shortlisted 100 young people for workshops and mentoring stage, an increase from 24 to 49 teams in total, nearly doubling the number of participants. Samsung also supported every shortlisted young person with Samsung products.

Entries this year ranged from an assistive glove that replaces the lost dexterity within people with immobile hands, to an AI-driven breast health app that syncs with wearables to guide self-exams, track changes, and generate clinician-ready reports. An app, designed by team HeartAware that uses an AI-powered tool on your phone to detect heart risks, also received critical acclaim from the judges.

On top of this, team Zera, who designed a thermoelectric device to ease menopausal symptoms also won the People’s Choice Award – the best of the finalist submissions, which was voted on by over 2,000 people on Samsung’s social channels.

The 100 were shortlisted by a panel of Samsung experts and tech-for-good founders who reviewed submissions from 508 eligible applicants across the country, 49 teams took part in a programme of design thinking, market research and a newly introduced physical and digital prototyping workshop. Throughout the process, they also received mentoring, support and guidance from Samsung colleagues to help bring their ideas to life.

The programme follows statistics released that show nearly two-thirds (60%) of young people across the UK are considering a career in technology. Yet, 96% of respondents believe there are barriers to entering the industry and 65% feel their personal background impacts their ability to harness their creativity through tech.[1] The Solve for Tomorrow programme exists to prove that young people from all walks of life can come up with ideas that can make a difference in the world through the use of technology.

The existing partnerships between Samsung UK and organisations such as InnovateHer and the Social Mobility Foundation are essential to this mission, helping to reach and support young people who aren’t currently in education, employment or training.

The shortlisted ten teams were invited to Samsung’s head offices to showcase their ideas and formally pitch to a panel of Samsung experts and tech entrepreneurs. This was followed by the annual Solve for Tomorrow awards ceremony, where the winners were crowned.

Speaking about this year’s Solve for Tomorrow competition, Soohyun Jessie Park, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Samsung Electronics UK, said: “Solve for Tomorrow continues to empower young people to reflect on what truly matters to them whilst simultaneously channelling these passions into tangible action. It’s phenomenal to witness what young people are capable of even within the space of four months on the programme. Their commitment and passion is an inspiration and we’re so excited to support Eseose and team Sanoband to bring their ideas closer to the communities they care about.”

Eseose from team Athena, said: “It was an amazing experience being a part of this year’s Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition. You don’t need qualifications or a team to enter – just a great idea! The experience has been incredibly valuable and helped with my confidence, and I strongly encourage anyone who is interested to give it a go. I’m glad I did!”

More details on how to enter the next Solve for Tomorrow competition will be announced later this year.

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

[1] Consumer research was commissioned to 1,000 UK teenagers aged 13-19 between the 4th and 10th October 2024 by OnePoll. Onepoll are members of ESOMAR and comply with the ESOMAR guidelines for online research.

Hundreds of secondary schools across the UK and Ireland signed up to receive free online resources including an interactive video lesson to help inspire the next generation of innovators.  Students aged 11-15 learned the basics of Design Thinking and received insight into creative STEM careers such as design and marketing.

Students were encouraged to enter their tech-for-good ideas into the competition, which was judged by a panel of Samsung employees.

In the 11-13 age category, Millie, from William Farr School was awarded first place with her innovation ‘My Bear’, which encourages children and young people to tackle hate by learning about other cultures. By linking the bear to an app, the user is rewarded with points.

Lorelei, Ruby, and Riya from Croydon High School, were awarded first place in the 13-15 category with their entry – a covert safety bangle designed for girls and women to support them whilst travelling alone. The bangle includes optional charms to allow the wearer to equip SOS signals, voice recording devices, a torch and more.

The runners-up in the 11-13 age category were Heinrich, Olly, and Charles from Somerhill School – awarded second place for their asthma focused smartwatch, designed to reduce the impact of asthma attacks through the use of medical statistics, and the ability to call medical services.

In the 13-15 age category, the runners-up were Natalia and Tammie from Thornhill College – awarded second place for their smart device app Speak4Me, which enables mute and non-verbal children to communicate using images they can upload.

Commenting on the competition, Soohyun Jessie Park, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Samsung Electronics UK, said: “The entries to our Solve for Tomorrow Next Gen competition never fail to disappoint, and this year once again proved that the very best ideas can come from anyone, age is no barrier. Since its launch in 2021, the programme has become active in over 30% secondary schools across the UK and Ireland, and this year we were thrilled to receive a record number of competition entries, totalling 1,153. Each of those entries are a testament to the creativity of young people when they’re given the right resources and support. We’ll continue to find new ways to support the next generation of innovators, whilst celebrating this year’s winners.”

Mr. Wright, Teacher at William Farr School, said: “I would definitely recommend the programme to other teachers. Today, in design and technology, being able to access something that allows students to develop something that could potentially become real, and then have the interaction, feedback and potential reward, has all the tick-points that make it a brilliant programme to enter.  We will definitely be taking part next year and extend it to the 13-15 year old category.”

Millie, winner in the 11-13 category, said: “My favourite part was thinking about the product and how I could make it better.  Although it was the hardest part it was all worth it in the end. My biggest lesson is that I can do things to help other people – I wouldn’t have thought I could win! I would definitely recommend the programme to my friends, my advice would be to work on something that is personal to them.”

Each participant on the winning teams will receive a Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 and a VIP invitation to attend a Samsung Solve for Tomorrow event. The teacher responsible for submitting the winning entry will also receive a Samsung Galaxy Book3, and the winner’s school and school with the most entries will get a Samsung 65″ Smart TV. Each participant in the runner-up teams will receive a pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds2, while the teacher responsible for submitting their entry will receive a Samsung Galaxy Tab S9.

Although the 2024 competition has now concluded, resources for schools can still be accessed. For more information on Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow Next Gen programme, please visit: https://www.samsung.com/uk/solvefortomorrow/next-gen/

LONDON, UK – 27^th June 2024 – Samsung Electronics Co. (UK) Ltd has announced the winners of its fourth annual Solve for Tomorrow competition. The competition uncovers the most promising tech invention from young people by asking 16-25 year olds to come up with ideas that help solve societal challenges.

In the 16-18 category, Samuel Mo (16) and Dexter Rigby (17) of team Optimum were announced as the winners. In the 18-25 category, Anjali Benny Devadasan and Yu Gu of team Treeva, both 22, were announced in first place. Both teams took home the £10,000 prize pots alongside three months of further Samsung mentoring and support.

Samuel and Dexter’s winning submission was a mobile app that uses AI to schedule when smart devices need to use their energy. Then, when scheduled, the app also helps ensure the energy is from renewable sources – helping to phase out fossil fuels.

Anjali and Yu’s winning submission is a windmill style device that generates energy from passing vehicles on roads to provide affordable reliable power and help create safe net zero transport systems.

This year’s awards focused on themes of Education, Health & Wellbeing, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Sustainability. Originally judged by a panel of Samsung colleagues and tech-for-good founders, nearly 600 applicants from across the country were whittled down to a shortlist of 24 teams in January.

In line with the programme’s objectives of encouraging people from diverse backgrounds to pursue their passion in technology, of the near 600 entries, 59% were from BAME or mixed ethnic backgrounds, and 60% of the final 24 were female – a 21% uptick from the previous year.

These 24 teams took part in six weeks of design thinking, market research and a newly introduced physical and digital prototyping workshop to bring their designs to life. Led by industry experts, teams were guided with additional support from on-to-one Samsung mentoring, before ten finalists were chosen for the penultimate stage for three weeks of further training on pitching and funding for their potential businesses. Finally, a panel of senior Samsung colleagues and external experts selected the category winners following an in-person pitch and presentation day.

Speaking about the winners, Soohyun Jessie Park, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Samsung Electronics UK said: “In its fourth year, Solve for Tomorrow has fostered another set of potentially game-changing ideas to help our participants take their next steps. It’s a tribute to the enthusiasm, innovation and commitment of our finalists that they’ve managed to yet again raise the bar. Congratulations to Anjali, Yu, Samuel and Dexter, for winning, as well as all our participants who entered. We’ll be back next year, and we can’t wait to see another set of outstanding ideas take a step closer to reality.”

Dexter Rigby, from team Optimum, said: “It’s been a really great opportunity, and it feels even more exciting now. We thought the pitch went well and we are glad to be involved – and of course to have won! We’ve been at school together for the past five years and have a strong shared interest in technology and making a difference. We found out about the programme through our school and thought we’d enter. The process has been really interesting, we’ve got to speak to investors and many different tech entrepreneurs, and it’s been very thorough in helping us to develop our idea too.”

Anjali Benny Devadasan, from team Treeva, said: “This has been an incredible surprise and we’re super excited to win this; we’re so grateful for the support from the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow team and all the mentors who supported us along the way. The inspiration for our entry is close to my heart as we were inspired to help mitigate climate change after my family were affected by flash floods in Kerala. It means a lot to be able to push forward our idea to generate energy from passing cars. We both have a background in engineering, so we can’t wait to progress this idea further and, with this prize, we’ll be able to start working on pilots and with different transport companies. This amazing support will help us turn the idea we had into a reality.”

The Solve for Tomorrow programme exists to prove that young people from all walks of life can come up with ideas that can make a difference in the world through the use of technology. Our partnerships with organisations like InnovateHer and the Social Mobility Foundation are critical to achieving this mission as we focus on engaging more young people that aren’t currently in education, employment or training.

Entries for next years’ Solve for Tomorrow competition will open in early October.

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

593 secondary schools across the UK and Ireland signed up to receive free online resources including an interactive video tutorial to help inspire the next generation of innovators. Through the lesson, students aged 11-15 learn the basics of Design Thinking and receive insight into creative STEM careers such as design and marketing.

Samsung colleagues also volunteered their time to support with delivering the lesson in schools, judging entries and answering questions about their career. Students then entered their tech-for-good ideas to help design a future where everyone belongs into the Solve for Tomorrow: Next Gen Competition.

In the 11-13 age category, Talikha, from Folkestone School was awarded 1^st place with her innovation ‘Auxi Pen’, a smart pen designed to help young dyslexic students at school so they don’t have to ask the teacher for continual help.

Dimanya, Dora and Marina from Nonsuch High School for Girls, were awarded 1^st place in the 13-15 category with ‘Signify’, an app that helps people with hearing impairments by educating the public about sign language and how to communicate considerately with this community.

The runners-up in the 11-13 age category were Victor, Kashvi and Jamil from St Thomas More – awarded 2^nd place for their innovation ‘A Sign Language Translator Glove – SLTG’ to improve communication for those with hearing impairments in society.

In the 3-15 age category, the runners-up were Ella, Mischa and Saliha from Nonsuch High School for Girls – awarded 2^nd place for their app ‘Beaumatch’ to help people with darker skin tones find their right match of makeup, haircare, and skincare.

Commenting on the competition, Soohyun Jessie Park, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Samsung Electronics UK, said: “The calibre of ideas that our Solve for Tomorrow: Next Gen participants come up with is mind-blowing, proving world-beating innovations really can come from anyone and anywhere. We were thrilled to receive over 1,000 ideas from across the UK and Ireland this year and will continue to find new ways to support our next generation of innovators. Technology is a brilliant enabler of solutions to many of the issues our world faces, and the entries we receive show that young people are maximising their imagination and learning in abundance.”

The winning teams will each receive a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8, and a VIP invitation to attend a Samsung Solve for Tomorrow event. The teacher, parent or guardian responsible for submitting the winning entry will also receive a Samsung Galaxy Book2 360, and the winner’s school will get a Samsung QB65B TV screen. Each participant in the runners-up team will each receive a pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro.

For more information on Samsung Solve for Tomorrow: Next Gen programme, visit: https://www.samsung.com/uk/solvefortomorrow/next-gen/

Kiara Taylor was awarded first place with ReGrow in the 18-25 category

LONDON, UK – 26^th May, 2023 – Samsung Electronics Co. (UK) Ltd has announced the winners of its third national Solve for Tomorrow Competition. This competition seeks to give young people in the UK & Ireland the opportunity to gain skills and receive top-tier advice from leading industry experts, giving them a roadmap for the future, and a creative space to develop exciting new technology for good.

In the 16-18 category, Joseph Birch from Bromley, 16, Ben Sindall from Epsom, 16, and Liam Bridgman from Beckenham, 17, were awarded 1^st place with OLEO, a device that removes microplastics from polluted water using waste cooking oil from fast food chains and restaurants.

Kiara Taylor, 24, from Sandhurst, Berkshire, was awarded 1^st place in the 18-25 category with ReGrow, which repurposes e-waste to make a low-cost irrigation system aimed at farmers in Ghana to help them increase their crop yield.

Joseph, who was delighted to be part of the team that won the 16-18 category, said he wanted to turn his passionate views on microplastic into a reality.

He said: “We really hope we can further develop our idea and create an actual real-life product and business. We’ve worked with incredible people, like our mentor and some of the amazing people at Samsung – it has been such a great experience and we hope that continues.”

His teammate Liam added: “We think tech in the future will play an imperative role in how everyone lives their lives. If you look at the development even over the last 20 years with the first smartphone, all the way to the phones we have now, it’s grown at such as exponential rate, and it’s just going to keep evolving into new areas we haven’t seen yet.”

Kiara was thrilled to be crowned the winner of the 18-25 category and said: “This competition will allow me to develop my idea further, which will involve second round prototyping and testing, and looking at how to actually implement it in Ghana, which is my target country, which is obviously different to the UK, so that will be really interesting.

“I learned how to build a business, and especially as a young person, I don’t have that much industry experience, so it was really helpful meeting the mentors and experts who have done it already, and also meeting the other contestants who are all in the same boat as you.”

(Left to right) Joseph Birch, Ben Sindall and Liam Bridgman were awarded first place with OLEO in the 16-18 category

The Solve for Tomorrow Competition is designed for 16-25 years olds as part of Samsung’s key mission to use technology for social good. Every year, the competition is open to young people from all backgrounds with no experience or qualifications needed, empowering the next generation of creators and innovators to carve a new path in the tech world and drive positive change.

The core themes of the competition are solving obstacles related to Education, Sustainability, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and Social Isolation. Each finalist has been through a series of workshops and received expert mentoring from a range of Samsung leaders, in areas spanning from Marketing to Connected Technologies to help hone their skills and develop their creative ideas.

Since last year, the prize offering has been enhanced, meaning the winners from each age group will receive £10,000 each, paired with three months of focused mentoring from the Startup Discovery School – a new programme that aims to help young people become entrepreneurs. The Startup Discovery School builds bespoke innovation programmes for startups and businesses that are solving global challenges, such as climate change and environmental and social sustainability issues. Throughout the competition, the Startup Discovery School designed and delivered workshops to the contestants to help expand their innovative capabilities. Two runners-up from each age category will also receive £1,000 each, to encourage the participants to continue to dream big and keep creating. All finalists will also receive a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4.

An initial 24 ideas were selected for the semi-finals, and five finalists were selected from each category. The four runners-up in the 16-18 category are:

• Venicheck: Alice Flanders from Buckinghamshire – Awarded 2^nd place: A practice IV arm with veins for healthcare professionals to use in training.
• Cashband: Henry Hudson from Yorkshire – Awarded 3^rd place: A contactless wristband for homeless individuals that can be used to receive donations and make payments.
• Care Connect: Lara Wong, Mihika Deshpande and Simone Banerjee from Surrey – Awarded 4^th place: An app for caregivers of those with dementia, offering mental health support and connection.
• GEA: Grace Jones, Peggy Gordon, Hannah Youds and Mia Smith from Cheshire – Awarded 5^th place: A software programme for children in developing countries and neurodiverse children to overcome barriers to their education.

The four runners up in the Solve for Tomorrow 2023 18-25 category are:

• CarbonTrac: Yasmine Abdu from London – Awarded 2^nd place: An app that uses AI to help shoppers make sustainable choices by tracking carbon footprint, suggesting eco-friendly alternatives, and rewarding users for making sustainable choices.
• RoHo: Ysobel Emily Poppy from Nottinghamshire – Awarded 3^rd place: Gloves that mimic the heat, pressure, and feel of handholding for those affected by social isolation.
• Themis: Muhammad Omar Hijazi from London – Awarded 4^th place: An app that helps students from disadvantaged communities with CV tips, access to internship opportunities, and developing technical and vocational skills.
• CTRL BAND: Tom Christensen from Oxfordshire – Awarded 5^th place: An armband that reads contractions in the finger muscles of amputees, turning muscle contractions into a digital signal that can be used as a computer input for gaming and typing.

Solve for Tomorrow originally launched in the US in 2010 and has since seen more than 2.3 million students take part from over 55 countries, in a quest to use technology as a force for good.

Paul Scully, Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy, who attended the Awards ceremony said: “It is truly inspiring to see our next generation demonstrate such passion for innovation. Technology is at the core of today’s society and not only can it be harnessed in the right way to empower people and the planet, but it also offers great future career options.  Competitions such as Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, provide a positive platform to promote new voices, ideas and talent. It’s brilliant to see a technology leader such as Samsung create these opportunities for our young people in the UK.”

Soohyun Jessie Park, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Samsung Electronics UK, said: “Solve for Tomorrow has gone from strength to strength over the past few years, fuelled by the unbridled talent and enthusiasm of our participants who raise the bar each time with their ideas to improve the world around them. This year’s competition has again encouraged us all to look at what is possible and push the boundaries using technology. We can’t wait to see where our winners take their ideas next.”

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