What is Solve for Tomorrow?
As the world’s leading technology company, Samsung has always worked to inspire the world and shape a better future with transformative ideas and technologies. In particular, Samsung fosters the interests of future leaders in areas such as STREAM (Science, Technology, Research, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics), problem-solving and 4C skills (Creativity, Critical thinking, Collaboration, and Communication), strengthening their knowledge in these areas through its corporate citizenship program Solve for Tomorrow. Samsung believes skills in these areas are necessary to confront with an ever-changing tomorrow. At the same time, Samsung would gather young people across the world to apply their knowledge, skills, unlimited creativity, and enthusiasm for new technologies to seek innovative solutions on social issues that impact their communities.
In 2013, Samsung introduced Solve for Tomorrow in Hong Kong and since then has inspired tens of thousands of students to develop solutions that help solve a wide range of social issues. Samsung also promotes an educational philosophy called “STREAM4CARE” through Solve for Tomorrow. The aim is to mobilize young people in Hong Kong to acquire knowledge of STREAM while at the same time developing empathy, a sense of responsibility, and the ability to put their STREAM knowledge to work by contributing to society. Through this territory-wide movement, Samsung hopes to cultivate the thought leaders of tomorrow, equipping them with both technological knowledge and the empathy to use that knowledge for those in need.
Past Events
2020
Under the theme “Imagination that creates a greener future”, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2020 encouraged Hong Kong students to utilize their STREAM knowledge and insights to design solutions for promoting sustainable development. By taking part, students can realize the importance of adopting a green lifestyle and take Hong Kong one step further towards a "smart green city", by taking that first step themselves.
St. Stephen's Girls' College – Smart Recycling (智識回收)won the champion of secondary school sector
C.C.C Kei Wan Primary School (Aldrich Bay) - Smart energy-saving windows (智能節能玻璃窗) won the champion of primary school sector
2019
With the theme “Imagination that Spurs Happiness”, Hong Kong students were encouraged to develop various human-centered innovative solutions that could help their peers alleviate mental health problems and allow those in need to receive diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible. The 2019 competition saw overwhelming participation numbers from primary, secondary and tertiary students, and provided the largest number of participants on record.
The University of Hong Kong - Pacifi App won the champion of tertiary school sector
Diocesan Girls' School - AiAo won the champion of secondary school sector
2018
Under the theme “Imagination that Connects the World”, Solve for Tomorrow 2018 encouraged Hong Kong students to design innovative solutions or tools to address the needs of SEN students, as well as the people surrounding them. The campaign received overwhelming support from primary, secondary and tertiary students and inspired record-breaking participation. Samsung went one step further to support the Champion team of the Secondary Sector to advance their winning idea – ChiPuzzle in AR was put into mass production, allowing even more SEN students to benefit from it.
The University of Hong Kong - Future Warriors won the champion of tertiary sector and the creative idea award
Pak Kau College – Chinese Character Card Game AR won the champion of secondary school sector
Unlimited possibilities in future
Samsung explores infinite possibilities of the future with students
Solve for Tomorrow 2021 Overview
The theme for this year is "Innovate for a Better World”, and for the first time we are adding four crucial social issues into the competition. The aim is to motivate Hong Kong students to care about the wider issues affecting the community, and encouraging them to apply their STREAM (Science, Technology, Research, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) knowledge in developing solutions for “Green Tomorrow”, “Education Tomorrow”, “Age-friendly Tomorrow”, and “Healthy Tomorrow”. Samsung believes the future holds unlimited possibilities, and this competition invites students to study their communities closer, bring more care and solutions for the social problems that impact them.
Environmental issues have been a major concern in recent years, with serious problems over energy shortage, waste disposal, and global warming.
- About a quarter of Hong Kong's energy is derived from coal as a fuel for power generation1.
- In 2019, 4.04 million tons of waste were generated - less than 30% were recycled, and the rest left in landfills. At 30 percent, food waste was the largest component of MSW in 20192.
- The Environmental Protection Department shared that electricity production is the greatest source of greenhouse gases, accounting for over 65% of emissions 3.
These environmental issues are urgent problems. For Hong Kong to evolve to a smart green city, beyond the government’s initiatives on sustainable development, the city relies on technologies that encourage green lifestyles among the community.
Are all of you comfortable with online learning by now, yet missing the in-person interactions with your classmates and teachers?
Eight-year-old girl Ying Ying loves going to school. Before the pandemic started, she was one of the more inquisitive and engaged members of her class, active in group activities with her classmates. But due to the pandemic, she can only attend online classes like all other Hong Kong students. With the restrictive interactions of online classes, her energy and passion was diminished gradually.
What is “fun learning” to you, as a student? Let’s use STREAM knowledge to create solutions that integrate happiness, diversity and interactivity into your classes, and enjoy a new kind of classroom.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health4, Labour and Welfare of Japan, Hong Kong people's average life expectancy continues to rank first in the world. In 2019, the average life expectancy of women and men in Hong Kong was 88.13 years and 82.34 years. However, are they enjoying a good and meaningful quality-of-life? Some of the main problems they face include dealing with common diseases and from living alone.
According to the Hong Kong Population Projections 2020-2069 by the Census and Statistics Department5, the ageing population numbers is expected to surge in the next 20 years. By 2038, the ageing population will reach 2.44 million, or 31.9% of the population. That’s one elderly for every three persons.
73-year-old Ms Man has been living alone since 2012. She has applied for medical assistance from the government authorities and is in a constant state of desperation. The elderly living alone are often beseeched with loneliness, hopelessness, physical and mental health problems. There is great demand for home care services and the long waiting time for subsidized homes leave many waiting for appropriate support.
Good nutrition and eating habits are essential to maintaining personal health, while clean and hygienic public areas is key to achieving public health. Can technological solutions improve our health quality even more, other than raising basic hygiene awareness?
STREAM knowledge can be applied to come up with solutions and smart devices that can improve the hygiene of our environment. If, for example, there is a solution to track and eliminate the coronavirus and other potentially harmful viruses, we are better prepared for a healthy tomorrow.
Samsung believes that students, as future pillars of society, can apply their STREAM (Science, Technology, Research, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) knowledge and infinite creativity to design solutions in these areas, “Green Tomorrow”, “Education Tomorrow”, “Age-friendly Tomorrow”, and “Healthy Tomorrow”. The various workshops held over the Solve for Tomorrow competition will raise the students’ awareness of social responsibility and inspire them to become role models for the next generation and create a better future together.
Eligibility and Entry Format
The Solve for Tomorrow competition welcomes entries from all Hong Kong primary and secondary students. They must form teams to participate, and ideally be comprised of three to five students from the same school. There are no restrictions on the number of teams that the primary and secondary schools can enter. We encourage students from different classes or disciplines to form teams for the competition. There are four themes students can choose from in this year’s competition, namely Green Tomorrow, Education Tomorrow, Age-friendly Tomorrow, and Healthy Tomorrow. Teams can choose either one of them, and then apply technology and STREAM skills to create innovative and practical solutions that they believe can contribute to environmental protection or sustainable development, either on an individual or community aspect.
Teams are required to submit a PowerPoint proposal and a presentation video. Teams from the Secondary School sector are required to additionally submit an Android app or a prototype to demonstrate their solutions. We also encourage teams from the Primary School sector to present their design concepts in various formats to bring their ideas to life.
Method of Entry
The competition starts on 1 September 2021 and teams can register via the online
form on or before 31 October 2021. We request that a supervising teacher be
responsible to oversee the teams taking part in the competition for the primary and
secondary school sectors. Teams will receive a confirmation email upon successful
application. If they wish to make changes to the number of participating students or
their names, they must notify the Solve for Tomorrow 2021 Secretariat by sending an
email to
Entry Submission
Participating teams must send the following documents (see below) to the Solve for
Tomorrow 2021 Secretariat by emailing
For all teams
PowerPoint Proposal
Based on the template provided by the organizer, submit a PowerPoint proposal explaining in detail the innovative solution, using graphics, images, text, audio and video links (max. 15MB and within 15 slides).
and
Presentation Video
Film a short video of no longer than three minutes in length to present the innovative solution. Participating teams must upload the video to an online platform and set it as “private”, then include the video link in the PowerPoint proposal.
Extra materials for Secondary sector – Actual Product (Primary School sector teams can submit the actual product if needed)
Android Application
Participating teams must upload the APK of their Android application to an online platform and set it to “private”, then include the link in the PowerPoint proposal.
or
Prototype
There is no limit to the size of the Prototype. It must be couriered or submitted in person to “15/F, K11 Atelier, 728 King's Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong” before the entry submission deadline.
Remarks:
-
-The time of the entry submission is recorded according to the time it is received by the Secretariat’s email server. Late entries will not be accepted.
-
-The teams will receive a confirmation email upon successful entry submission. Submitted entries may not be modified after the deadline.
Judging Criteria
The judging panel will select winners based on these four criteria:
| Design Concept | How does solution contribute to driving environmental protection, fun education, care for the elderly and public health, from an individual or community perspective? |
| Creativity | How does the solution reflect innovation and creativity? |
| Feasibility | The solution must have a certain degree of feasibility or practicality. The feasibility and level of completion of the Android app or Prototype, such as operations and user interface for the Secondary and Tertiary sectors, will also be graded. |
| Presentation | Each team must be able to present their solution clearly and easily understood by all. |
Judging Panel
(in no
particular order)
- Mr. Gary Tang, Coordinator, The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups
- Mr. Albert Wong Kin-Wai, Chairman of the Association of I.T. Leaders in Education
- Mr. Victor Cheng, Executive Director of Hong Kong Education City
- Ms. Yiyin Zhao, Managing Director for Samsung Electronics H.K. Co. Ltd
Worldwide examples
Students can use the following tips and relevant examples to develop your solutions and groundbreaking ideas that can lead us to a better future.
Developing “Green Tomorrow”
with technology
with technology
Change from the very start by using
renewable energy
Owing to the increasingly urgent climate issues, NASA has developed a technology that can convert the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (C02) into fuel by using solar-powered, thin-film devices. This technology uses new, low-cost nanomaterial thin films that are made into a photoelectrochemical cell. It is powered by sunlight (ultraviolet (UV), infrared (IR) and visible light) and inexpensive titanium dioxide composites to carry out the reactions.
Integrating technology into your everyday
life
This device converts CO2 into fuel before it is released to the atmosphere, mitigating the environmental pollution from burning fossil fuels and reducing the carbon footprint.
Innovating “Education Tomorrow”
with technology
with technology
Fun with interactive education
What’s fun learning to you, as a student? The Hong Kong University (HKU) School of Nursing has implemented virtual simulation (VSim) to help students comprehend nursing procedures through case studies and computer-generated simulation scenarios. Face-to-face classes and clinical seminars have been suspended by most universities due to the pandemic. To avoid getting out of practice, the HKU School of Nursing has adopted a non-immersive VR technology to build up students' competence and confidence. It allows students to diagnose real patient cases through a virtual simulation of clinical seminars, including pictures, body checking results and laboratory test results, and so on. This VSim implementation was awarded the 2020 Innovative Teaching Award by the University of Hong Kong.
Creating “Age-friendly Tomorrow”
with technology
with technology
Problem of the elderly living alone
Elderly people living alone and common elderly diseases have been a problem within the Hong Kong community. But Helsinki, Finland have shown ways to deal with this problem. The elderly who live alone are equipped with various safety devices that have a direct contact with nursing staff who could monitor them from a central location. These devices include hand straps with GPS, fall detectors and alarm. For the elderly suffering dementia, there are sensors on their front doors which send out alerts to the nursing team if they leave their houses.
Common diseases among the elderly
A collaborative research team from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), led by Professor Liming Bian, Professor Ya Ke and Professor Wing-Ho Yung, has pioneered the development of novel nanoprobes that can monitor the progress of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and help in the treatment for this brain disorder. The results of their work were recently published in an international medical journal, the ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, published by the American Chemical Society.
Mice injected with the UCNP-peptide-AIEgen nanoprobe exhibited a strong fluorescent signal under excitation, enabling the real-time detection of MMP3 activity in living animals. This makes it easy to monitor cellular stress and inflammatory responses for those suffering early-stage PD.
Achieving “Healthy Tomorrow”
with technology
with technology
Personal life and eating habits
Today, apps and smart wearable devices can track the daily exercise, sleep quality and eating habits of users, encouraging them to develop a healthy lifestyle.
Public hygiene
Home-grown Rice Robotics have designed robots take can take on the tasks of humans, and reduce the need for human contact, in this time of the pandemic. Rice can deliver meals or small-sized documents; Jasmine provides disinfection services; and Portal can carry out security patrols. They are equipped with an on-board camera, ultrasonic sensors, an optical radar and SLAM technology, allowing them to instantly build a location map and avoid obstacles effectively.
- Source: https://www.ricerobotics.com/en/
For more information and tips on sustainable development, please join our supplementary seminars and workshops - a seminar in July, a STREAM workshop in September and Consultation Workshops in mid-October.
- * Five extra points will be awarded to the teams who participate in ALL activities – the seminar and briefing sessions, STREAM workshop and Consultation workshop - as bonus points that will add to their total score.
Organizer
Main Organizer
Co-organizers
FAQ
Q.
A.
Contact Us
Secretariat Office for Solve for Tomorrow 2021
Email: