Solve for Tomorrow Mentors Reveal the ‘Blessings’ of Guiding Young Scientists

Samsung Strategic Planning group manager Yvonne Fung (far right) mentors the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow team from Digital Arts and Cinema Technology High School, in Brooklyn, New York. The team, guided by Digital Tech’s digital arts coordinator Naomi Barak, (far left) has crafted a wearable device to help victims of sexual harassment report incidents of bad behavior. Photo Credit Naomi Barak

They are change agents for the future.

By entering the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest, which challenges public middle and high school students to solve a pressing problem in their communities using science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), these young scientists are building a more perfect future, one powerful idea at a time – and inspiring even the professional mentors who are guiding them.

“The students I’ve been working with have displayed such mature levels of empathy. Knowing that we have these hearts and minds working toward the greater good makes me excited about what the future holds,” said Yvonne Fung, Samsung Strategic Planning group manager and mentor to the team from Digital Arts and Cinema Technology High School, in Brooklyn, New York. The team is one of 50 state winners in the contest that have already won a technology kit to complete the contest and $20,000 in Samsung technology and classroom supplies. Each of the 50 teams have been paired with Samsung employees volunteering their time as mentors to the students to help develop the STEM projects to their fullest potential.

Fung’s team of mentees — high school juniors, guided also by Digital Tech’s digital arts coordinator Naomi Barak — have created DASH Tag, a wearable device, which enables someone on the receiving end of unwanted attention to snap a photo of the alleged perpetrator of harassment. An accompanying mobile application, which the team also developed using coding skills, broadcasts the notification to other app users, even without a photo, and enables users to file police reports.

Fung described an exhaustive process of developing DASH Tag, which in a matter of weeks students transformed from a concept into several prototypes, informed by working meetings with community authorities, including the Bronx District Attorney’s office and the organization that provides sex education at the team’s high school, as well as with coders and engineers at New York University.

Samsung’s Yvonne Fung (center) mentors the Solve for Tomorrow contest team from the Digital Arts and Cinema Technology High School, in Brooklyn, NY; Photo Credit Naomi Barak

“They got a 360-degree understanding of the issue they’re trying to resolve,” Fung said. “They were continuously learning, trying different designs, collecting feedback from different sources, and trying again.”

She encouraged the team to adopt human-centered design in crafting their invention, to ensure that the user’s needs were prioritized over sticking to any one particular product idea. That led to surveying fellow students and extensive outreach to law enforcement and others, ultimately yielding both the physical DASH Tag and the mobile application.

Fung said she was amazed at what the Digital Tech High School team was able to achieve.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Fung said. “If this is what they can pull together in such a short period of time, imagine what they can do outside of the competition.”

Jennifer Pointer and teacher Mike Polley (back row, center) mentored the Ashland Middle School Solve for Tomorrow team to a Grand Prize win during the 2017-2018 contest year.

For Fung’s colleague, Jennifer Pointer, a Samsung district sales manager for mobile and a mentor to one of last year’s Grand Prize winning teams, guiding the students from Ashland, Kentucky, was especially meaningful.

“I know how valuable $150,000 in technology is to a little school in Kentucky. It’s been incredible for their school, and knowing that I was able to help with that has been a blessing,” Pointer said of the 2018 Solve team from Ashland Middle School that invented a handheld syringe collector designed for first responders to safely pick up and dispose of hypodermic needles and other hazardous drug paraphernalia left behind by drug users.

“It was really touching to me to be able to see the students grow and develop and not only win the prize but also really take pride in what they’re doing to help their community.”

As a work-at-home Samsung employee, Pointer was able to visit the school during the project’s development and accompany the team on field trips to police and fire stations to speak with some of the local first responders that the needle collector was intended for. She briefed the students on the Samsung technology they used for the project – the Galaxy S8 smartphone for photography and the Chromebook for video production – and advised them on how to add creativity to their video. She also mentored them as they prepared their pitch presentation and helped them develop public speaking skills with confidence.

“Having insight into what Samsung was looking for was a great opportunity” for the students, and being a Solve for Tomorrow mentor was a gift for her, too, Pointer said.

“To be a part of a project like this, that allows for different forms of community outreach and working with youth, is absolutely phenomenal.”

*Disclaimer: All projects and teams mentioned are random and do not reflect any standing in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition.