Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest Finalists Named
Fifteen schools from across the United States are
finalists in
the Samsung Solve
for Tomorrow contest, a national competition designed to increase
interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects
that
attracted more than 3,100 entries.
The 15 finalists were chosen for their use of STEM
skills to
address specific issues affecting their communities. The topics selected
ranged
from finding ways to address water pollution and mosquito-borne
illnesses to
urban food deserts.
"We are blown away by the level of care, creativity
and smarts
these students have shown through their projects," said Ann Woo,
director of
corporate citizenship for Samsung Electronics North America. "We
congratulate
these students and their teachers on what they've achieved."
The public can view the 15 finalist projects at Samsung.com, where they
can
vote on their favorites beginning at midnight March 2 and continuing
through
March 25. Then, the finalists will present their projects to a live
panel of
judges March 18 at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York.
Finally, the judges' opinions and the public vote
will be used
to determine five national grand prize winners.
The grand prize winners, 15 finalists and 51 state
competition
winners will receive prizes of technology worth approximately $2 million
presented
by a consortium of companies and nonprofits led by Samsung. At the same
time,
three special awards will be given to projects that are pioneering in
their use
of math, environmental innovation and civic engagement.
Also, every single teacher of a student team that
entered will
receive a professional development class from PBS TeacherLine.
Interested teachers can also download lesson plans of
participating teachers in previous Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contests,
dating
back to the competition's inauguration in 2010, at Samsung.com.
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.