By Godson Umejiego, Bureau Chief, The Americas

Samsung Electronics America has announced that 50 teams of students from public schools
across the country have been named State Winners in the 13th annual Samsung Solve for
Tomorrow national competition. Each State Winner will receive a prize package of at least
US$12,000 in technology and school supplies – with further awards for teams that continue to
advance in the competition. The full list of the 50 State Winners can be found here.
The annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition challenges public school students in
grades 6-12 to explore the role science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects
play in addressing issues of vital concern in their local communities. Participating students
engage in active, hands-on learning that can be applied to real-world problems – making STEM
more tangible and showcasing its value beyond the classroom. The winning schools were
selected from a pool of 300 State Finalists who submitted detailed lesson plans outlining how
their students propose using STEM to address an important community issue.
“Every year, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow entries provide a unique snapshot of the concerns
and issues on the minds of America’s students – identifying what they perceive as pressing
community issues they want to help solve,” said Senior Director, Corporate Citizenship,
Samsung Electronics America, Ann Woo,. “This year, what stood out for us was how frequently
global issues of environmental sustainability found relevance in a local community issue our
students wanted to address. Fully a quarter of all submissions fell into that category, followed
by safety issues for schools and communities, water conservation, and mental and physical
health. Notably, about half of the State Winners are from Title 1 schools.”
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow will culminate in three schools being selected in May as National
Winners who will receive US$100,000 in prize packages comprised of Samsung Technology and
classroom supplies. Overall, US$2 million in prizes will be awarded during this year’s edition of
Solve for Tomorrow.
As the State Winners continue their journey toward the Nationals, each will receive a video
production kit from Samsung to help document their STEM project. State Winners will be
required to submit a three-minute video demonstrating how they are using STEM to address

the issue raised in their lesson plan. Samsung employees will once again serve as mentors. They
will be assigned to the State Winners on a one-to-one basis to help guide teams as they develop
their projects and build a prototype.
Ms. Woo emphasized the mission behind the competition, saying “Samsung Solve for
Tomorrow provides schools and teachers with an innovative, problem-based learning approach
to STEM education. At Samsung, we inspire the world and shape the future with transformative
ideas and technologies. Our business is all about igniting the next generation of innovators and
changemakers. None of that would be possible without the STEM disciplines, and a STEM-savvy
workforce. Solve for Tomorrow’s goal is to boost student interest, proficiency, and diversity in
STEM. And hopefully encourage them to pursue STEM careers. This new generation of State
Winners shows that we – and America’s public schools – are achieving those objectives.”
Next Steps
State Winners need to submit their project videos for review by Wednesday, April 5, 2023 by
11:59 p.m. ET.
Based on those video submissions, the field of 50 will be whittled down to 10 National Finalists
who will pitch their project to a team of judges during an in-person event in May.
Solve for Tomorrow’s judges will name three teams National Winners, each of whom earn a
prize package worth US$100,000. The seven other National Finalists each receive a US$50,000
prize package.
In addition, one of the 50 State Winners will be honored as our Sustainability Innovation Award
Winner, receiving an added US$50,000 prize package of eco-conscious classroom technology.
Broadening the reach of the competition, two more honors will be awarded to teams that
reached the National Finals. The general public will be invited to vote online for one Community
Choice Winner and Samsung employees will name one team this year’s Employee Choice
Winner. Each of those honors earns the winning school an added US$10,000 of technology on
top of their national winnings.