Welton, United Kingdom – 2025 – A young student from William Farr Church of England Comprehensive School had noticed that when people have different religions, cultures, lifestyles or ethnicities, it is easy to misinterpret each other’s intentions, which could lead to misunderstanding, rudeness, unnecessary dispute, bullying, or disrespect. Millie realized that these differences affect the day-to-day lives of a vast majority of people around the world. She wanted to help reduce these unfortunate misunderstandings and solve this problem.

One afternoon, her idea had a chance to become when Millie logged onto her school’s portal to do her homework. As she scrolled through, a post about Solve for Tomorrow Next Gen popped up. She remembered her electronics teacher, Mr. Wright, mentioning this competition during the class, so she clicked on the post to find out more.

“The thing that excited me the most was to make a difference through design thinking. I love coming up with creative solutions to things so when I found out about the competition, I knew I wanted to take part,” Millie said excitedly.

Samsung Solve For Tomorrow Next Gen 2024 took place across the UK and Ireland encompassing 571 schools with 67,501 young participants. With interactive video lessons, design thinking resources, and career exploration tools, the program helped students think critically about technology’s role in shaping the world and the future of humanity. Samsung sparked and sustained the students’ curiosity and helped unleash their creativity and innovative minds.

It was not always a walk in the park, though. Even with great intentions, Millie still faced challenges in turning the idea into a tangible solution. She concluded that the best way to reduce hate is by rewarding people for making an effort to understand one another. She decided to design an incentivized education system, called “My Bear,” targeted at young children and teenagers.

First, to make it approachable and capture the attention of young children, she designed a toy bear. The user can “boop” its nose to ask questions, and the bear responds. From the beginning, she thoughtfully considered accessibility. For users who may have hearing impairments, the bear’s responses also appear as text on a connected mobile app.

The bear also serves as a cultural learning companion. As children explore and learn about different cultures through their interactions, they earn points through the linked app. These points can be redeemed for gift cards, adding a layer of motivation and fun.

She also included a community feature in the design. Based on how often a user asks questions and how well they perform on self-tests, the app assigns rankings. These rankings can be shared with other users, encouraging friendly competition and social engagement.

“I learned to be more confident,” said Millie. “Taking part in Solve For Tomorrow Next Gen helped me to use my creativity and sharpened my design skills. It taught me to have more confidence in my ability and helped me to realize that I can do something to help others, despite my age.”

Millie’s My Bear project was awarded first place in the 11-13 age category. “My favorite part was being invited to the Samsung Solve For Tomorrow event in London,” Millie said excitedly. “It was really inspiring to be around so many talented people.”

Samsung Solve For Tomorrow Next Gen is not just a competition. It is a long-term educational platform where young innovators can spark synergy with world-changing ideas that solve problems that matter to them.

“If you have an idea, even if it is just a small idea, write it down, design it and see how it goes,” Millie said. “When you meet the right opportunity, it might end up improving someone’s life.”