Samsung’s annual Solve for Tomorrow: Next Gen competition has shined the spotlight on incredible girls in STEM.
The competition received over a 1,000 entries from 2,357 students across 101 schools, with 11 to 15-year-olds coming up with tech-powered solutions to everyday problems.
In the 11-13 age category, Talikha, from Folkestone School was awarded first place with her innovation ‘Auxi Pen’, a smart pen designed to help young dyslexic students at school so they don’t have to ask the teacher for continual help.
Dimanya, Dora and Marina from Nonsuch High School for Girls, were awarded 1st place in the 13-15 category with ‘Signify’, an app that helps people with hearing impairments by educating the public about sign language and how to communicate considerately with this community.
The runners-up in the 11-13 age category were Victor, Kashvi and Jamil from St Thomas More – awarded 2nd place for their innovation ‘A Sign Language Translator Glove – SLTG’ to improve communication for those with hearing impairments in society.
In the 13-15 age category, the runners-up were Ella, Mischa and Saliha from Nonsuch High School for Girls–awarded 2nd place for their app ‘Beaumatch’ to help people with darker skin tones find their right match of makeup, haircare, and skincare.
Commenting on the competition, Soohyun Jessie Park, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Samsung Electronics UK, said, “The calibre of ideas that our Solve for Tomorrow: Next Gen participants come up with is mind-blowing, proving world-beating innovations really can come from anyone and anywhere.”
“We were thrilled to receive over 1,000 ideas from across the UK and Ireland this year and will continue to find new ways to support our next generation of innovators.”
“Technology is a brilliant enabler of solutions to many of the issues our world faces, and the entries we receive show that young people are maximising their imagination and learning in abundance.”
Konrad Eke, teacher of computing and winner of the 11-13 Winner, The Folkestone School for Girls added, “The Samsung Next Gen competition was a fantastic opportunity to engage our students in creative thinking and technology outside of the curriculum.”
“All of the students who took up the challenge completed a “Design Thinking Sprint” which was a video-led workshop created by different staff at Samsung.”
“Not only did this serve as a great opportunity for students to come up with innovative tech ideas of their own, it also enabled them to think about the inequalities being faced by people around the world.”
“We look forward to taking part in the competition again in 2024!”
The winning teams will each receive a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8, and a VIP invitation to attend a Samsung Solve for Tomorrow event. The teacher, parent or guardian responsible for submitting the winning entry will also receive a Samsung Galaxy Book2 360, and the winner’s school will get a Samsung QB65B TV screen. Each participant in the runners-up team will each receive a pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro.
