Samsung Solve for Tomorrow

An Opportunity for a Community to Heal

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2020

Healing the community

In a small neighborhood in Brooklyn, there was a teddy bear hanging on a every streetlamp. It was to remember a 13-year-old boy named Sammy who died in a car accident a few days ago.

The community was in shock, grieving the loss. Unfortunately, hundreds of people are killed this way every year in New York. Two of Sammy's middle schools had died in a similar accident.

Some looked to blame others, some wanted to simply forget, but Sammy’s friends, including Alison could not sit still – they wanted to do something.

Smart alert app to protect pedestrian

When Alison first learned of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition, she could not help but think that something could be accomplished through the competition. Through participating in the STEM curriculum offered by the program, Alison came up with the idea for moving vehicle alert system for pedestrians and persuaded her friends to join.

While her friends were skeptical in the beginning, they slowly began to change their minds.

They devised a system that allowed a mobile app to recognize the sound and speed of the car and alert the user, and to execute this idea, they went through multiple tests day and night, finally coming up with a smart watch app.

Hoping to change the world

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition gave Alison and her friends a hope that they could change the world. They were also reminded that it’s important to voice their thoughts.

“We just want people to be safe. There was nothing else to it.” This is what Alison and her friends said when someone asked them what they wanted out of this app.

“It was one of those moments when we realized who we were, what we wanted, and what we wanted to do to contribute to the world,” they said.

A new perspective, seeking to help

When everyone was in sorrow after the accident, Alison and friends did not just stay in sorrow. Even in their despair, they still looked for ways to make a difference and help others.

Alison, her friends and their efforts were a great comfort to the small community in Brooklyn.

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