German students are developing innovative solutions for sustainable urban life.
Solve for Tomorrow winners tackle social problems
STEM disciplines lift women in Spain closer to achieving their dreams.
In Germany, 77.5 percent of the entire nation live in cities and metropolitan areas. This year, young Germans put their heads together to devise innovative solutions to make urban life more sustainable at Solve for Tomorrow 2022.
More than 80 teams submitted creative ideas and 10 teams made it to the next step, the Solve for Tomorrow Mentoring Camp. Check out what happened during the two days.
At Solve for Tomorrow Mentoring Camp, young innovators worked intensively on their ideas with the help of coaches, experts, and Samsung mentors. “We were pleasantly surprised to receive a great deal of support from all sides,” said team ‘Street Lightelligence,’ one of the finalists.
The two-day workshop included various topics such as business modeling, product development, marketing, even one on mental health and how to take care of yourself and your team during the founding process. “The camp gave us new perspectives from the outside even in areas that we didn’t look at before. For example, the mental health workshop was impressive,” said team ‘Ceres,’ another finalist.
Coaches and experts from various fields and experienced mentors helped the participants in developing and presenting their ideas such as ecological alternatives to packing materials and smart home control. “Our role as a mentor is to accompany the teams to the final pitch and assist them with advice and action. We love to share our knowledge with them,” said Tina, a mentor from Samsung.
Students interested in societal issues can reach new heights of innovation and develop society-changing solutions through Solve for Tomorrow to create a better future together. Empowering our youth is the key to combating real-world problems, and Germany has a bright future ahead. That’s why the Solve for Tomorrow 2022 winners also had the chance to present their ideas on a political panel at IFA Berlin facing important politicians and stakeholders while also sharing their thoughts on sustainable entrepreneurship in Germany.
“Making the world a better place”- easier said than done. Yet, our students have the ideas to make it happen. In the United States, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow reached out to students across the nation to present those ideas and help bring them to fruition.
The annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow final events took place in New York City, where the 10 National Finalist schools presented their ideas to a panel of five judges at the Samsung 837 offices. Students and teachers shared their special experiences with Solve for Tomorrow.
“Samsung Solve for Tomorrow reinforces that what we did was good and what we’re doing is right. We are really helping people and Samsung recognizes that,” said Johann Carranza from Porter High School in Texas. His friend, River Dowdy, who also took part in the project, expressed his gratitude and excitement about the winnings provided by Samsung. “Our school will be able to refine and create an engineering program to give students a chance at a better future!” he said.
Paula Labbe, a teacher at Great Bridge High School in Virginia agreed with the Porter High students. “It is so special for the kids to see the result of their hard work and for them to realize that they can identify a problem and then develop a solution to that problem that can impact their community and the nation. That’s what I hope they take with them going forward – the fact that they can change the community and make the world better for themselves and others.”
“From the initial research to fleshing out the ideas into a tangible solution, the whole process of preparing for Solve for Tomorrow was extremely fun and helpful,” said Matthew Livingston, a student at Princeton High school.
“Not only did I get the chance to create and provide smart solutions to the societal problems, but I also want to give back what I have received from Samsung by being involved in this project as a Samsung Alumni mentor.”
In Spain, Samsung Innovation Campus seeks to palliate the gender gap that exists for women in the field of STEM. Under the theme, ‘Women for STEM,’ the program motivates young girls and women in Spain to jump into different professional specialties of software development.
The course holds the academic certification of the Universidad Camilo José Cela, and proceeds across 350 hours distributed over 9 months. It provides classes where students can adopt basic knowledge of web development, have hands-on experience in developing web applications, and acquire skills to conduct Full Stack development.
Georgiana is a 23-year-old blind student at the University of Barcelona. Her passion for web programming and interest in the women’s drive initiative was what drew her to the course. As someone who lacked prior knowledge in web programming, she was faced with many hurdles. Yet, she was able to overcome them through support materials and her tutor to succeed in realizing her new love for this field.
“I encourage other girls to try to train in this field because the world is growing technologically day by day, and women should not be detached from this.” Georgiana plans to further train and gain experience in this field to prove her professionalism.
Lydia is a mother who worked in the educational sector for more than 15 years. Her experience in creating a website for her school became the harbinger for awakening her curiosity. “Thanks to the opportunity that Samsung Innovation Campus gave me, I was able to reinvent myself.” Despite her basic knowledge of web programming, coming back to university education proved to be rather difficult for Lydia. Yet, her persistence and passion landed her a job as a Data Developer at an important bank in Spain.
“I encourage any woman to step up and train in this kind of discipline and make her way in this sector. It does not matter whether they have related training. With effort, commitment, and motivation, anything is possible. More and more women are training in STEM disciplines, and we are fighting against the gender gap in these professions. Women have a lot to contribute to this sector.”
