Solve for Tomorrow is a global initiative that empowers young people to solve real-world problems using approaches from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The 10th anniversary of Solve for Tomorrow Mexico is a testament to the success of the program.

Since 2014, over 380,000 Latin America students including a vast participation from Mexico’s middle and high schools have participated in Solve for Tomorrow where they not only expanded their STEM knowledge but built their creative thinking and problem solving skills. This year, students in Mexico were given a mission to find a STEM solution to the societal issues like climate change and the pandemic.

In celebration of Mexico’s 10th anniversary of Solve for Tomorrow and our passion at Samsung to ignite the young’s creativity, let’s look back at some of the innovative projects made by the students.

Facing the pandemic together

Like anywhere else in the world, the COVID-19 pandemic posed numerous challenges to Mexico’s medical community.

One of them was the limited access to medical ventilators due to high cost. Recognizing this as a pressing issue, students from National College of Technical Professional Education in the city of Reynosa gathered to develop an easily accessible resuscitator. Hence, Mech-Ress was made, a low-cost automatic resuscitator that provides controlled artificial respiration without invading the respiratory airway. Mech-Ress was a finalist in the 2020 Solve for Tomorrow, with the potential to make a significant impact on the lives of patients and medical professionals.

In 2021, three students from the American School of Tabasco in Southern Mexico introduced an intangible yet highly effective remedy to amplify local access to medical insights. Their project, Osler AI, a web application, employs artificial intelligence to generate medical diagnoses. The platform seeks to democratize healthcare access, offering swift and cost-effective analyses of X-rays and CT scans, and provides even more by the presence of ‘William – the virtual physician’ for real-time medical support. The originality of this project not only earned it a second place in the competition but contributed majorly to one of the teammates Mariana Isabel’s recent acceptance into Stanford University, where she studies bio engineering.

Improving the community with innovation

The winning team from Solve for Tomorrow in 2019 identified a major problem in their community: potholes in the streets. These potholes posed a safety hazard, especially for those who used public transportation. To address this issue, students from the Center for Scientific and Technological Studies developed CarrB, a low-cost automated patching robot. CarrB is designed to be easily deployable in communities, making it a cost-effective solution to the problem of potholes.

Another community problem was addressing the drinking water problem in Altamira, Tamaulipas. Five students from the Telebachillerato Community School 014 in the coastal city of Ejido Ricardo Flores Magón created the Sustainable Dam which was made of clay and PET. The new dam would replace the current one made of sand and wood which was more susceptible to rupture. It would even help prevent contamination of fresh water by the sea, improving the quality of drinking water for the people of Altamira.

These four examples showcase the ingenuity of students participating in Solve for Tomorrow across Mexico. Fueled by their passion for technology and empowered by the platform, we are eager to witness the innovations they will bring to the future.