Samsung Solve for Tomorrow - 7 Reasons Why You Should Do It
Do you want to deeply aid your community by inventing a solution and get the opportunity to earn $100,000 for your school in Samsung products and more? Then, participating in Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is the perfect opportunity to do so.
This annual competition invites students from public schools to propose creative solutions to pressing problems in their communities, using the expansive network Samsung holds. Samsung Solve for Tomorrow seeks to inspire young minds and make a positive impact on local communities through innovation.
What is Samsung Solve for Tomorrow?
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, run by tech giant Samsung, is an internationally renowned program and competition that uplifts students to look deeply at their community and develop a creative and innovative solution to improve the world around them. The company will provide a plethora of resources, a direct connection with a Samsung employee, and countless tutorials and templates for every step along the way, allowing students to focus on applying their classroom knowledge to the real world, rather than focusing on anything financial or logistical.
For the last thirteen years, Samsung encouraged STEM education and its potential to shape the future for the next generation of students. The initiative was founded with the belief that students possess incredible potential to solve pressing issues through their creativity, ingenuity, and scientific knowledge.
Over the years, Solve for Tomorrow has evolved into a prestigious competition that has impacted countless communities nationwide. Participating in this competition offers students a platform to develop and showcase their skills while addressing significant societal challenges.
Through Solve for Tomorrow, students gain valuable hands-on experience, recognition, and the opportunity to make a tangible impact on their communities, an experience which may not be accessible.
Is Samsung Solve for Tomorrow prestigious?
With direct mentorship and connections by Samsung, one of the world’s largest companies, and rewards of $100,000 on the line, this competition is undoubtedly prestigious. However, even more so than just the prestige, you truly have the opportunity to create something that will change the community around you for the better, and potentially fund your school technologically for years to come, forever creating a bond with you, your school, your community, and Samsung forever.
Who is eligible to participate in Samsung Solve for Tomorrow?
The eligibility requirements for Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is a bit more strict than other competitions, but the important generalization is that if you are a student of a public school, you are eligible to participate.
Any schools who are funded less than 50% by public funds are ineligible to participate. Otherwise, the competition is open to any students who want to change their community, including yourself.
Timeline and structure of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow
The competition consists of four different phases, each one more exclusive than the one before.
Phase One ranges from late September to late November, and consists of a digital submission of your project, answering the question “identify a problem in your community and how you will solve it using STEM.” Each school gets one entry into the competition, thus, applicants must put their best foot forward to showcase the problem within their community and how they plan to solve the issue.
It can be difficult to summarize a social issue into words, especially 4000 characters or less, thus spending all three available months will be invaluable to progression in the competition. In mid-December, those selected to move onto the next round will get contacted, and must manually accept the invitation to move on, otherwise the position is forfeited.
Phase Two begins right after the contact and ends in mid-January. This round involves the submission of an “Activity Plan,” which strictly details the overall concept for the project, objective and pathway to get to the solution, the project’s impact on the community, predicted tangible results, and each student’s role and responsibilities for the project. A video submission is also required for this stage. Those selected as State Winners and progress past Phase Two will receive a reward of a Samsung video kit valued at $2,500 and a $12,000 prize package, which again, must be manually accepted to receive the award.
Phase Three begins right after the selection of being a State Winner, and ends in mid-April. This stage consists of a three-minute video submission detailing your Activity Plan above in Phase Two. The video must be concise, enticing, and dense with information about your project. From this stage, ten will be chosen as National Finalists, and proceed onto Phase Four.
Phase Four consists of multiple different parts, including Social Media voting, where teams must garner the most amount of votes to get the next prize, and an invitation to the Pitch, where teams must present in-person to a panel of judges, in mid-May. The cost for the trip and lodging are all covered by Samsung, and 7 teams will be awarded a prize package worth $50,000. The top 3 are further awarded a National Winners package worth $100,000, and the opportunity to further attend the National Winners Ceremony, also covered by Samsung.
There are three additional awards: the Community Choice Award, Employee Choice Award, and Sustainability Award. The first two are worth $10,000, and the last is worth $50,000 of Samsung’s Energy Star products.
7 Reasons Why You Should Participate in Samsung Solve for Tomorrow
1. You will gain experience in solving a real-world problem
Participating in Samsung Solve for Tomorrow provides students with invaluable hands-on experience in tackling real-world challenges. This experience allows you to truly analyze the world around you, and how to create and manage a project from beginning to end. You will have to recognize a problem around you, design a solution, and conduct experiments and collect data to make sure your solution will make an impact.
2. You will gain access to Samsung’s expansive resources
Samsung will offer a lot of technological help that your team can use to develop your solutions. Not only is it cool to gain access to new technologies, this exposure to advanced tools and equipment enhances your own technical skills and expands your understanding of how technology can be applied to address social issues effectively. From video cameras, to tablets, to batteries, whatever else you may need, Samsung can provide you with any help you may need to carry out your solution.
3. You will get direct mentorship from industry experts
Every team will gain direct access and mentorship by a professional working at Samsung, who will aid you along every single step. These professionals offer professional guidance, support throughout the project development process, help your team refine your ideas, overcome challenges, and further enhance their skills and knowledge.
Having access to an industry expert can help you with more than just the project, you can also ask them questions about life and careers overall, and can serve as a valuable connection for your future.
4. You will develop the ability to collaborate and work as a team
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow encourages collaboration and teamwork among students. By working together on a shared project, you will learn how to effectively communicate with others, delegate tasks, and learn each other's strengths. Communication is not a choice, it is mandatory for your success in this competition, thus success in this competition will teach you invaluable interpersonal skills.
5. You will make a true and tangible impact on your community
This is not just an abstract invention or project, it is something created for your local community to use and benefit from. Seeing the growth of your community because of the work you put in is an experience that many will never have, so remember, as you prototype, write reports, and continue to work, that your success in this competition also means success for your neighbors, friends, and family.
6. You will undoubtedly gain recognition and prestige as an innovator
With its reputation for excellence, rigorous judging process, and large prize pool, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is a highly regarded competition in media, college applications, and job applications. By participating and excelling in the competition, students gain recognition and prestige both within their schools and in the wider community. You can gain validation for your skills as an entrepreneur and innovator, and forever be respected within your local community.
7. You will have the chance to win large amounts of money and rewards for your school
As stated throughout the article, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow offers large prize packages worth tens of thousands of dollars, allowing for schools to purchase and utilize all of these new technologies, bettering their educational system. These financial rewards can help you continue to develop your project, make your experience in school better, and also have the chance to be flown across the country and recognized as an innovator on a national level.
If you're looking for a real-world internship that can help boost your resume while applying to college, we recommend Ladder Internships!
Ladder Internships is a selective program equipping students with virtual internship experiences at startups and nonprofits around the world!
The startups range across a variety of industries, and each student can select which field they would most love to deep dive into. This is also a great opportunity for students to explore areas they think they might be interested in, and better understand professional career opportunities in those areas. The startups are based all across the world, with the majority being in the United States, Asia and then Europe and the UK.
The fields include technology, machine learning and AI, finance, environmental science and sustainability, business and marketing, healthcare and medicine, media and journalism and more.
You can explore all the options here on their application form. As part of their internship, each student will work on a real-world project that is of genuine need to the startup they are working with, and present their work at the end of their internship.
In addition to working closely with their manager from the startup, each intern will also work with a Ladder Coach throughout their internship - the Ladder Coach serves as a second mentor and a sounding board, guiding you through the internship and helping you navigate the startup environment.
Cost: $1490 (Financial Aid Available)
Location: Remote! You can work from anywhere in the world.
Application deadline: April 16 and May 14
Program dates: 8 weeks, June to August
Eligibility: Students who can work for 10-20 hours/week, for 8-12 weeks. Open to high school students, undergraduates and gap year students!
Additionally, you can also work on independent research in AI, through Veritas AI's Fellowship Program!
Veritas AI focuses on providing high school students who are passionate about the field of AI a suitable environment to explore their interests. The programs include collaborative learning, project development, and 1-on-1 mentorship.
These programs are designed and run by Harvard graduate students and alumni and you can expect a great, fulfilling educational experience. Students are expected to have a basic understanding of Python or are recommended to complete the AI scholars program before pursuing the fellowship.
The AI Fellowship program will have students pursue their own independent AI research project. Students work on their own individual research projects over a period of 12-15 weeks and can opt to combine AI with any other field of interest. In the past, students have worked on research papers in the field of AI & medicine, AI & finance, AI & environmental science, AI & education, and more! You can find examples of previous projects here.
Location: Virtual
Cost:
$1,790 for the 10-week AI Scholars program
$4,900 for the 12-15 week AI Fellowship
$4,700 for both
Need-based financial aid is available. You can apply here.
Application deadline: On a rolling basis. Applications for fall cohort have closed September 3, 2023.
Program dates: Various according to the cohort
Program selectivity: Moderately selective
Eligibility: Ambitious high school students located anywhere in the world. AI Fellowship applicants should either have completed the AI Scholars program or exhibit past experience with AI concepts or Python.
Application Requirements: Online application form, answers to a few questions pertaining to the students background & coding experience, math courses, and areas of interest.
Conducting advanced research is another great way to build new skills, take charge and expose yourself to new perspectives. It can also boost your profile for scholarships and competitions! If you want an opportunity to build your own independent project and research paper, then consider applying to the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. Last year over 2100 students applied for about 500 spots in the program. You can find the application form here.
Aaron Zheng is a sophomore at Harvard University, studying Bioengineering. He is passionate about biotechnology, business development, and aiding students to get to college, regardless of background. In his spare time, he looks to read, journal, and explore the world.
Image Source: Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Logo