Funding, Grants & Awards

Samsung Selects Solve for Tomorrow State Winners

• By Michael Hart
• 12/14/15

Samsung Electronics has selected the 51 state winners of its sixth annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest. The teams will share $2 million worth of Samsung equipment as they prepare for the next round of the year-long competition.

The 51 schools, chosen from 4,100 entries, will each receive a Samsung Galaxy camera, ATIV Book 9 laptop and Adobe Elements software. They will be expected to use the equipment to create 2-minute videos about their projects that address the contest's challenge: Show how STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) can help improve your community.

Judges will review the videos and select 15 national finalists, who will receive $40,000 for their schools and the opportunity to present their projects to a live panel of judges in March. At that point, five national winners will receive $120,000 for their schools. Three of the five final winners will be selected by a panel of judges, one by Samsung employees and one by online voters.

"We couldn't be more excited about this year's state winners," said Ann Woo, who directs corporate citizenship for Samsung America. "The breadth of projects range from eliminating pedestrian fatalities in urban areas to designing a mobile shelter to keep the traditions of a community with a nomadic heritage alive, and everything in between."

The Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest was founded in 2010 as part of the company's nationwide initiative to boost enthusiasm in STEM topics among K-12 students.

The leader of one of last year's national winning teams, Tom Larsen of Galena High School in Reno, NV, said, "I couldn't have imagined the impact this would have on me personally, my students, our program, school and community. This was a school year none of us will ever forget."