As a testament to their commitment to shaping the country’s next-gen heroes, Samsung Electronics Philippines brought back Solve for Tomorrow for another innovation-packed season with the support of the Department of Education (DepEd) and Philippine Science High School System (PSHS), with public science high school students in grades 8 to 10 showcasing their ideas to solve local challenges.

The teams who will move forward with the final presentation are: VersaSprout from the Regional Science High School in La Union, CocoSorb from Philippine Science High School-Ilocos Region Campus, sUN-Block from Philippine Science High School-Central Luzon Campus, PAROLA from Biñan City Science and Technology High School, Development of a Bamboo and Coconut Coir-Based Oil and Microplastics Filtration System for River Water Quality Improvement from Philippine Science High School-Ilocos Region Campus, BEYONSEE from Makati West High School (Makati Science High School), Hi-LoWall from Lipa City Science Integrated National High School, SIMS from Calamba City Science Integrated School, Croprotech from Philippine Science High School-Main Campus, and ReLeaf from Valenzuela City School of Mathematics and Science.

This year, Samsung Electronics Philippines received almost 300 submissions and approximately over 1,000 students participating across the country. The teams, comprising a maximum of 4 members each, were asked to identify a local community or environmental sustainability problem they want to solve with technology or AI and come up with a design proposal to be screened by the Solve for Tomorrow panel of judges.

To evaluate the entries, Samsung Electronics Philippines tapped industry experts to provide their knowledge and expertise. This year’s esteemed judging panel is comprised of Monchito Ibrahim, Vice President of the Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Association of the Philippines and an Executive Member of the National Innovation Council; Alwyn Rosel, Deputy Director of Ideaspace Ventures and QBO Innovation Hub and Rachelle Perez, Campus Program Lead of DEVCON Philippines along with Samsung Electronics Philippines representatives.

The 10 finalists will now undergo an idea mentorship with Samsung experts where they will communicate with their designated coach for the proposal improvement, proof-of-concept, or mock-up creation in preparation for their final presentation. They will move forward to the final round of judging this December for a chance to win PHP 2 million worth of cash prizes and Samsung devices for their school, teams, and teacher adviser.

In 2023, among over 200 entries in Samsung’s first-ever Solve for Tomorrow in the Philippines, three innovative solutions stood out. Last year’s Grand Prize winner hailing from Philippine Science High School-Cagayan Valley Campus is Team Intellimeter whose design solution aims to improve energy efficiency. Bansud NHS-Regional Science High School’s Project O.A.S.I.S. bagged the second prize with their filtration system to remove oil and microplastics from the ocean. Finally, the third-prize winners, also from Philippine Science High School-Cagayan Valley Campus, Team TomPost focused on the serious problem of waste in the agricultural sector, helping them to manage waste by repurposing tomatoes and other agricultural waste into compost and other products.

With the second run of Solve for Tomorrow, Samsung Electronics Philippines aims to empower even more STEM students across the country. They hope to encourage students to utilize technology by going beyond the classroom to challenge themselves to innovate and create solutions for the community, true to Samsung’s core philosophy.