EMPOWERING PEOPLE,
INVENTING THE FUTURE
How Samsung is
changing the world
by enabling people
through education.
IN NORTH CAROLINA, A NEW SENSOR
is helping protect students by stop-
ping cars from illegally passing school
buses. In Virginia, kids with poor vision
and limited resources can now use an
innovative app that connects them to free
eye exams and donated glasses. And in
Missouri, a hard-to-disarm steel lock is
helping keep students and teachers safe
from intruders.
The common thread? Each one of
these inventions is the brainchild of kids
in grades 6 to 12. For their efforts, their
schools were named national winners in
the 2019 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow
contest, an annual innovation initiative
sponsored by the electronics giant.
Now in its 10th year, Samsung Solve
for Tomorrow addresses the technology
gap in classrooms—a nationwide con-
cern. The demand for STEM (science,
technology, engineering, and math)
expertise in the workplace far exceeds
supply. The New American Economy
reported that in 2016 alone, 13 STEM
jobs were posted for each unemployed
worker that year. That’s about three mil-
lion more jobs than skilled professionals
to fill them. Similarly, by 2025, up to two
million STEM positions might not be filled
for lack of qualified workers, according to
a report by Emerson.
Samsung wants to help fill these gaps.
Through Solve for Tomorrow, the com-
pany inspires middle- and high-schoolers
to embrace STEM by solving a local
community issue using unconventional
thinking—and those valuable STEM skills.
TRAILBLAZING STUDENTS
This year’s three first-place winners typify
the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow mission
to enable and empower its workforce to
think differently, seek out problems, and
resolve challenges. The team at Holly
Grove Middle School in Holly Springs,
N.C., created the ingenious bus sensor. A
wireless transmission communicates with
smart stop signs on a bus’s route, flash-
ing a light at 400 feet, then at 200 feet,
and then turning red, indicating to drivers
when they should slow down or stop.
Now, city officials are installing the smart
stop signs at high-risk locations around
Holly Springs.
Meanwhile, students at Deep Creek
Middle School in Chesapeake, Va., have
THE SAMSUNG SOLVE FOR
TOMORROW CONTEST
WILL AWARD
$3 MILLION
IN TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS
AND CLASSROOM SUPPLIES
IN 2020
CONTENT FROM SAMSUNG
