At Samsung, we have always had a pioneering spirit, a drive to push the boundaries of technology, and a steadfast mission to create meaningful innovation. We acknowledge the integral role that science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) plays in our daily lives and, as a corporate citizen, we are working to bridge STEM education gaps by readying a workforce through initiatives like Samsung Solve for Tomorrow (SFT). Entering its eleventh year, the national K-12 public school program is inspiring young minds to become seeds of change in their local communities and is effectively creating a viable talent pipeline to fill the growing STEM workforce needs.

As Solve for Tomorrow embarks upon a new decade, equity and empathy are top-of-mind. This has sparked a heightened focus on “STEMpathy” – embedding human compassion and empathy into STEM education to further evolve both emotional intelligence and cognitive development. Empathetic understanding leads to human-centered ways of solving problems and that conscious view also frames critical thinking, creativity, curiosity, decision making, leadership, entrepreneurship, and more.

Samsung has always been fundamentally human-centric, designing leading edge innovations to contribute to a better global society. So, we believe the intentionality behind STEMpathy to create social and economic value is a vital concept – and one that should become the centerpiece of a bold, new STEM education model. Samsung Electronics America Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship Ann Woo recently connected with mindSpark Learning CEO & President Kellie Lauth for an inspiring conversation on how they are supporting teachers’ STEMpathy development.

AW: mindSpark Learning launched in 2007. What inspired you to create a brand that is such an empowering force for educators?

KL: Our inspiration comes from the experience and belief that education is the answer to many of the world’s greatest problems. It is truly a human-centric endeavor to teach and learn. We know that an investment in educators is an investment in students and in the future. An educator’s influence and reach is exponential. If we want to transform education, we must empower our educators first.

AW: What has been the most gratifying part of creating professional learning experiences to elevate and upskill educators across the country?

KL: The most gratifying part is seeing how our work truly impacts educators and their students. mindSpark Learning does professional development very differently than others. We’re not only contributing to the recruitment and retention of quality educators, which is vital, we’re also forging new pathways to disrupt the current education landscape with our partners. This ensures educators have a seat at the table and are sought out for their expertise and experience.

We’ve seen the possibilities when education is not only the responsibility of communities, but imperative to a new paradigm of a human revolution in which we leverage emotional intelligence, conscious leadership, and an entrepreneurial foundation to change the conversation. It benefits all of us to elevate the teaching profession and to see an educator unleashed to design thoughtful, forward-facing, relevant experiences for their students is bar none.

AW: mindSpark’s STEMpath was introduced in January 2019. Why was launching a STEM certification program so important to you?

KL: We saw two big challenges in the way STEM is traditionally introduced and taught in our schools. First, the way we certify and upskill our educators needs an overhaul, because the status quo is not working. We know from strong industry models that people can learn and demonstrate their competencies in varied and dynamic ways. We expect educators to provide this for our students, yet we have failed to create robust pathways for our educators to become experts, especially in STEM disciplines.

Second, there is a shortage of educators nationally. An even larger gap exists in those qualified in STEM disciplines, yet the demand for these jobs is increasing, with educators essentially at the epicenter. We felt it was imperative to create a responsive program, like STEMpath, that would result in more qualified STEM educators at all levels, allow for the educators to graduate debt free, and directly intersect industry and educators to benefit students.

AW: Are empathy and compassion incorporated into the STEMpath curriculum? If so, how?

KL: Absolutely! Problem-solving and human-centric design is the very DNA of the STEMpath curriculum. You simply cannot create viable, scalable solutions without empathy and compassion, and I would also add that you need courage. Designing for an end user involves deeply understanding that through questioning and experience, you can make the invisible visible.

AW: As a former principal of a K-8 STEM title school, what’s your take on teaching “STEMpathy” in grades K-12?

KL: In a world where “what we know” is instantly accessible via technology, there becomes a premium on what we do with what we know. STEMpathy is bringing humanity back into the equation. As a former principal, my core mission was to cultivate an entrepreneurial culture where risk and failure were as valued as creativity and critical thinking. This is a mission that is reflected in our work at mindSpark. When schools and educators embrace the notion of STEMpathy, STEM isn’t limited by just these four letters. All students have the right to be literate: scientifically literate, career literate, and financially literate. If you believe this, then it does not matter how many letters or symbols you add to “STEM,” what matters is that students develop skills that transcend careers with empathy and compassion leading the way.

AW: When Samsung launched its Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Teacher Academy initiative, mindSpark became an inaugural partner of the weeklong professional development practicum. What impact does scaling talent have on local communities?

KL: Scaling talent is crucial for the sustainability of local communities; it benefits our wellbeing. We want to retain talent and create economies of opportunity and growth for our students and our educators. This starts with the way we view the purpose of school. Schools need to be viewed as precious economic and social organizations, originating wealth generation, and offering solutions to human dilemmas.

AW: A total of about 100 Teacher Academy educators have experienced mindSpark’s professional development workshops. Tell us a bit about the highly relevant lessons you designed for the SFT teachers for the all-virtual Academy this past August?

KL: We designed Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Teacher Academy lessons based on our nationally recognized problem-based learning (PBL) model. The instructional model of problem-based learning driven by industry outcomes intersects employability skills with robust content and context for learning, which is more crucial now than ever before. It is relevant across all content areas for grades K-12. The tradition of teaching content in discrete silos is replaced with a merging of the content areas while simultaneously creating more time for instruction with a focus on problem solving, iterative process, relevancy and the very tenets of STEMpathy – empathy, resilience, and compassion. The lessons were based on relevant problem scenarios that have global implications and the educators leveraged technology to design hyper-localized solutions in tandem with community and industry experts.

An example is Samsung and mindSpark Learning connected three industry partners, Downtown Streets, Stand Up for Kids, and City Team, with the 38 finalists to engage in a PBL that explored how technology could alleviate or eliminate youth homelessness. The cohort worked with these industry partners to learn more about the root causes of the problem and hear from individuals who were currently experiencing homelessness. Participants worked in groups to develop technology-based solutions to common challenges of homelessness and presented their ideas to six experts to gain feedback.

AW: What advice can you give to teachers on how to tackle the 2020-2021 school year and its unique set of challenges?

KL: This school year has certainly proven to be challenging and the need to support our educators has increased exponentially. My advice for educators is to invest in your own wellbeing and connect with your colleagues more than ever. Seek out opportunities for leadership and empowerment. STEMpathy is not just for students but educators who need to feel supported in their professional journey. Compassion and empathy are no longer nice-to-haves but must-haves both in and out of the classroom. Together we can ensure we shift away from universal prescription to responsiveness. This is the time to seize opportunities for innovation, galvanize a win-win mentality over a win-lose outcome and expand our entrepreneurial footprint in education, not diminish it. We got this!

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By Ann Woo, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship, Samsung Electronics America

I recently participated in Fast Company’s “Uncommon Good” podcast, a new series that features conversations with the business leaders who combine purpose with innovative thinking to give back to their local or global community. In this episode, host Chris Denson connected with me virtually to learn about Samsung’s efforts to create positive change through our corporate citizenship programs. I chose to spotlight Samsung Solve for Tomorrow program, our nationwide science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) competition that challenges public school students in grades 6-12 to develop creative, empathetic solutions that address some of the most pressing issues in their local communities and society at large.

As I reflect on my journey leading up to this moment – with Solve for Tomorrow now in its 11^th year and my 15 years at Samsung, it seems my life has come full circle. I was often one of few girls – if not the only girl – taking computer science classes when I was younger. I realized then that so much more was needed to create the right STEM learning environment. As I began my career, I felt compelled to seek purpose in the work that I do to move the agenda forward, whether it be discovering a new approach to driving business performance, developing a greater understanding of who the target consumer is, or tapping into a company’s values to find the right vehicle for social change. For example, my experience in Samsung’s Consumer/Market Insights group uniquely benefited my work in Citizenship. Similar to uncovering hidden factors that lead consumers toward brand affinity, for Citizenship initiatives to drive real social impact, one needs to not only understand the actual situation, but one must dig deeper to uncover the mindset of those involved, their motivations, and the stated and unstated barriers that are impeding progress.

As resourced as an organization might be, there are often challenges to starting and sustaining purpose-driven programs like Solve for Tomorrow. Beyond building a strategy authentically aligned to your company’s values and around its core competencies, we at Samsung have learned that exploring unique opportunities relevant to our mission – to create bold innovations that contribute to a better global society – is key. Our intention when creating the program was not to become a classroom, but to work with educators to understand how we as a corporation could change the conversation from underwhelming math and science performance to inspiring a new generation of students to think of STEM in a different way – in relation to their life – by understanding the special role they can play in solving some of the society’s most challenging problems.

With Solve for Tomorrow having reached a 10-year milestone last year, I often get asked how the program stays current and culturally relevant. The answer is simple: the students and the teachers. The Solve for Tomorrow students tell us what’s top of mind for them because they are solving real-world issues. For instance, in 2017/18, students were tackling vaping, opioid addiction, lead-contaminated water, and bullying. This year, the applications for the 2020/21 competition are centered squarely on COVID-19, from health care and sanitization to the digital divide and the economy. Moreover, we’ve developed a national network of schools and teachers that have been part of Solve for Tomorrow since the very beginning. We stay connected with them in order to understand first-hand what each are experiencing. That degree of connection generates a vital level of information and insight that we otherwise wouldn’t have. And we use that intel to innovate and adapt the program.

I hope you enjoy listening to how Solve for Tomorrow has pivoted in light of the pandemic; our view on STEM versus STEAM and where STEMpathy fits in; an anecdote on a rural community that has truly benefitted from the program; and why supporting STEM education is an imperative for us all.

The post Fast Company Podcast: How A Public School STEM Competition Is Helping Educate The Next Wave Of Empathetic Innovators appeared first on Samsung US Newsroom.

Launched in 2010, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, our nationwide science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) competition, has evolved from an environmentally focused project to a multi-dimensional, project-based learning initiative that challenges young minds to address some of the most pressing issues in their local communities and society at large. In that 11-year time span, the top social issues tackled by the participating public school students in grades 6-12 have changed – but none as drastically as what we’ve observed for the school year before and after the pandemic hit.

While the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 cohorts view the environment, accessibility and health as being among their top five priorities, the Generation Zers’ remaining concerns are significantly different. Mental health and personal safety round out the rest of the 2019-2020 cohort’s leading societal problems to solve. By comparison, COVID-19 related matters and social justice topped 2020-2021 cohort’s key issues to take on via real-world, STEM-driven solutions.

“During the course of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow’s eleven-year run, we’ve seen our students unearth emerging challenges of a new decade caused by a number of social, cultural, economic, technological, communal, familial, and individual factors. Their entries are truly a reflection of what is top of mind for classrooms across the country, so it didn’t surprise us that COVID-19 would become a priority.  In fact, over the years, we’ve observed a rise in social issues, such as vaping, before they entered national consciousness and have seen other themes, like the environment, remain consistent year after year,” said Ann Woo, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship at Samsung Electronics America.

Underscoring the difference that just one year can have on their perspective, the two sets of middle and high school students have diverging positions on what the principal social issues are.

• It’s no surprise that COVID-19 was by far the most critical issue for the current school year. Twenty nine percent of the entries were directly linked to the pandemic with solutions devoted to sanitization and social distancing technologies. Social justice also became paramount. Nine percent felt that STEM could help with addressing racism, bias, and discrimination to foster a just society.
• In the last school year, eleven percent of the students examined the link between bullying and the development mental health problems, as well as how conditions such as depression may increase risk for suicide, through a few wellness-based applications. And eight percent identified personal safety as being of great importance, concentrating mainly on the prevalence of human trafficking and school shootings through innovations like a silent alert mechanism to alert authorities and a bullet-resistant desk to serve as a protective shield, respectively.

Diving deeper into the remaining social issues, while the two Solve for Tomorrow cohorts have similarities, the underlying focal points vary.

• Thirteen percent of middle and high school students in the last school year felt an unprecedented urgency around the environment with a strong emphasis on plastic waste and air pollution versus twelve percent of students in the current school year, who zeroed in on climate change.
• Accessibility was top of mind with ten percent of the previous cohort, who developed assistive technology for individuals with visual and mobility impairments, but nine percent of the current cohort harnessed tech to help the elderly fight social isolation and live more independently.
• Fully aware that vaping may pose serious and avoidable health risks, ten percent of 2019-2020 youth in the last school year used STEM to devise a solution. On the other hand, food Insecurity and screen time – inevitably spurred by the pandemic – were at the heart of twelve percent of this year’s student projects.

Learn more about students’ STEM-based projects by checking out the five winners and 20 national finalists of the 2019-2020 competition, as well as the 75 semi-finalists for the current 2020-2021 contest.

Woo added, “The Samsung Solve for Tomorrow initiative has become the voice of the next generation, directly and authentically expressing to us what matters most. Our analysis of the entries reveals that there are a number of social issues facing teens today that other generations haven’t had to deal with. But what strikes us about this latest Gen Z cohort is their passion for exploring new ideas, their willingness to rise to the challenge to tackle big issues, and their vision for what the world should look like. And STEM is playing a central role in this bold movement.”

Members of Generation Z are weathering a pandemic, a recession, a climate crisis, and a racial reckoning – all before reaching adulthood. Rather than succumbing to the pressure, the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow students are showing their resilience and ingenuity by harnessing STEM to confront these salient issues head-on. This serves to reaffirm the significance of STEM education to encourage curiosity, instill empathy, teach creativity, and unleash innovation.

Source: Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 public middle and high school entries. Please note entries straddle multiple categories.

The post Pre-COVID vs. Today: How the Top Social Issues for STEM Students Have Shifted appeared first on Samsung US Newsroom.

Samsung announces National Finalists in the 11^th Annual Solve for Tomorrow Contest for Developing Innovations to Address Pressing World Issues

Today, Samsung Electronics America, Inc., announced the 10 National Finalist schools and innovations in the 11^th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest, a nationwide education competition which challenges students in grades 6-12 to use STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills to address local issues and inspire change in their communities. These innovations – developed by bright young minds during a challenging and untraditional school year – demonstrate how STEM learning can take an idea and transform a community, while empowering students to make a difference despite the adversities they may face.

For the past few months, hundreds of students from every corner of the country have been building prototypes, apps and more – both virtually and in-person. The 10 National Finalist projects in this year’s competition were selected for their ingenuity in tackling some of the most critical issues of our lifetime, including COVID-19, social justice, sustainability and accessibility. Each school will receive $65,000* in Samsung technology and classroom supplies and will present their projects to a panel of judges to compete for the grand prize.

“Through the Solve for Tomorrow competition, we have seen firsthand how resilient students are, as these challenging times have proven to be a source of creativity and innovation for our National Finalists,” said Ann Woo, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship, Samsung Electronics America. “Samsung Solve for Tomorrow challenges students to create high-impact, functional solutions. While in virtual and hybrid learning environments, students had to be more nimble than ever to answer that call. These National Finalists represent hundreds of students and teachers who have worked determinedly to change the world, and we are proud to play a part in their journey.”

The 10 National Finalist classrooms will participate in a virtual pitch event at the end of this month where they will present their project to a panel of judges in hopes to be one of three National Winners and take home $130,000* in Samsung technology and classroom supplies. All are welcome to watch these remarkable students pitch their project ideas on Wednesday, April 28 from 10:00 a.m. EDT at: www.SamsungSolveforTomorrow.com

The general public will also elect two Community Choice Winners from the pool of National Finalists to receive an additional $15,000* for their school. Anyone throughout the country can vote online for their favorite school and project. To participate, simply view the student-created videos on the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow website and cast your vote. Voting is permitted once a day until 11:59 p.m. EDT on May 3, 2021.

Aligned with Samsung’s guiding vision of ‘Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People’, the Solve for Tomorrow competition was created in 2010 to encourage innovative thinking, creative problem-solving and teamwork to address the most pressing issues impacting society. Today, the competition is anchored in problem-based learning, fostering critical thinking and creative problem solving. Over the past decade, Samsung has awarded $18 million in technology and classroom materials to more than 2,500 public schools in the United States.

To learn more about the National Finalist schools, please visit www.samsung.com/solve or follow on Instagram @SolveForTomorrow. For official rules and judging criteria, click here.

*Prize is based on an estimated retail value. | Not open to the general public: No purchase necessary to enter or win. Open to employees at eligible schools in the fifty (50) United States/DC twenty-one (21) years of age or older. To enter/official rules: visit www.Samsung.com/Solve to complete the application form. | The school is responsible for ensuring the proper handling and security of all data potentially shared and/or collected as part of their project. Samsung takes privacy very seriously and encourages all Semi-Finalists to consider how information that is part of their project is being handled. | The school is responsible for ensuring safety, security, bias and privacy matters related to artificial intelligence (AI) as part of their project. Samsung takes privacy very seriously and encourages all Semi-Finalists to consider all safety precautions related to their projects throughout development.

The post 10 Schools Awarded for Addressing COVID-19, Social Justice, Human Trafficking and More in $2M STEM Competition from Samsung appeared first on Samsung US Newsroom.

On April 28^th, Samsung virtually assembled the 10 National Finalists of the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition. Three students from each school were allotted ten minutes to present their visionary approach to tackling challenges within their communities by applying STEM thinking, showcase their prototypes, and participate in a quickfire Q&A session with an esteemed panel of judges.

Now in its 11^th year, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is a national 6^th-12^th grade public school classroom competition that’s challenging young minds to create empathetic, real-world solutions for salient societal issues. Much like many initiatives during the pandemic, the 2020-2021 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) competition transitioned to fully remote. Samsung programmed engaging digital workshops in parallel to the competition for teachers and students, offering Teacher to Teacher Mentorship Panels, a Virtual Escape Room Team-Building Experience, and a Samsung PowerUp Series spanning wellness and gaming, among other topics. And, for the first time ever, the virtual Final Pitch event was livestreamed and open to the public, including family, fellow educators and classmates, and community members.

Science has always been something I’ve been extremely passionate about, but this competition has really opened my eyes as to the real-world context and possibilities of STEM.

The 10 National Finalist projects in this year’s competition boldly addressed some of the most critical social problems, including several COVID-19-related matters; social justice and accountability; school safety and violence prevention; hunger and food insecurity; urban sustainability; accessibility for the visually impaired; and mental wellbeing for senior isolation. To bring their projects to life, hundreds of students across the country worked tirelessly behind the scenes with their teachers, community leaders, Solve for Tomorrow alumni guides, and Samsung employee mentors to build prototypes, learn to code, create mobile apps, develop efficient UX designs, and beyond. What’s more is that while these students were completing their projects, they were also in the midst of a challenging school year, navigating virtual, hybrid or in-person instruction.

“While the pandemic created extraordinary challenges for middle and high school learning, we’re deeply moved and encouraged by the resiliency and cutting-edge creativity of the students and teachers who chose to compete – and compete BIG – in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition,” said Ann Woo, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship, Samsung Electronics America. “The National Finalists approached the issues we face as a society head-on, and I’m blown away by the forward-thinking solutions presented.”

Participating students and teachers, as well as the judges, sounded off on their experience thus far in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition:

The students –

• Kayla, Tucker Middle School (Tucker, GA): “Science has always been something I’ve been extremely passionate about, but this competition has really opened my eyes as to the real-world context and possibilities of STEM.”
• Sahil, Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy (Erie, PA): “I’ve never tried to use STEM to solve a problem before. Since the competition began, my brain now automatically turns to STEM when I encounter a challenge. It allows me to think about different ways to approach and resolve it.”
• Drake, Richland Two Institute of Innovation (Columbia, SC): “The Samsung Solve for Tomorrow project has meant everything to our school. Over the past few months, we put a lot of work into it and to see the results has really been amazing. We also get to show incoming students what we’ve accomplished and inspire them to explore their STEM potential.”

The teachers –

• Nathan Williams, Tucker Middle School (Tucker, GA): “Samsung Solve for Tomorrow has been incredible. This contest made me ask, ‘Why not us? Why can’t we solve this problem that has yet to be solved?’ And as we got further along in the competition, we started to believe in ourselves more and the difference we can make.”
• Myesha Wallace, Jackson Public Schools Career Development Center (Jackson, MI): “This year has been so hard for my students. And to see them overcome and get this far… It’s life-changing. And it’s the opportunity that they don’t always get. We entered the competition to put more technology in all our classrooms, not just our classroom. STEM will help ensure these kids can have a bright future.”

The judges –

• Gary Xu, Vice President of Research at Samsung Research America: “I’m impressed with how well the students prepared for the pitch presentations and the projects they worked on. They showed great passion in solving incredibly challenging problems. Many of them had the courage to tackle extraordinarily complex social issues using technology. These young people are bold, fearless, and innovative. They represent the next generation superbly and the hope of this country.”
• Janelle Lin, Senior Vice President of Business Development at DonorsChoose: “If these students are any indication of all U.S. students, I’m extremely impressed and hopeful. I look forward to seeing what they do when they embark on their careers. I can see a lot of huge innovations and positive change come from just this group of students alone.”

Each of the 10 National Finalists has already received $65,000* in Samsung technology and classroom supplies. Three Grand Prize Winners will ultimately take home $130,000* each in Samsung technology and classroom supplies. And the general public will get to elect two Community Choice Winners from the pool of National Finalists, who receive $15,000* for their school. Tune in on May 18^th at 6:00 p.m. EDT to find out which of the 10 National Finalists will become the winners of the 11^th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition.

*Prize is based on an estimated retail value. | Not open to the general public: No purchase necessary to enter or win. Open to employees at eligible schools in the fifty (50) United States/DC twenty-one (21) years of age or older. To enter/official rules: visit www.Samsung.com/Solve to complete the application form. | The school is responsible for ensuring the proper handling and security of all data potentially shared and/or collected as part of their project. Samsung takes privacy very seriously and encourages all Semi-Finalists to consider how information that is part of their project is being handled. | The school is responsible for ensuring safety, security, bias and privacy matters related to artificial intelligence (AI) as part of their project. Samsung takes privacy very seriously and encourages all Semi-Finalists to consider all safety precautions related to their projects throughout development.

The post Generation Innovation: Students Unveil Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM Projects appeared first on Samsung US Newsroom.

Ann Woo, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship at Samsung Electronics America, recently led a session at the virtual 2021 International Corporate Citizenship Conference on how Samsung is working to foster inclusivity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education through our Samsung Solve for Tomorrow program. The annual event, hosted by the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, connects leading corporate social responsibility professionals and experts from around the world for three days of insights, information, and sharing.

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is a national 6^th-12^th grade public school classroom competition that’s fueling the imagination of young minds to develop bold, empathetic solutions for pressing community challenges. Ann shared key lessons learned from the STEM-based citizenship program’s eleven-year journey, how the Solve for Tomorrow experience was reimagined during COVID-19, and the ways in which the program is helping students in underserved and rural communities become seeds of change.

Among the notable takeaways was to embrace innovation and iteration. “At Samsung, change is a constant and part of our DNA. That same spirit drives our Citizenship team to look at new ways to evolve Solve for Tomorrow,” said Ann. Over the years, Samsung has expanded the focus of the competition to include solving broader societal issues like mental health, social justice and climate change; established the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Teacher Academy to provide professional development opportunities for educators; and incorporated the concept of “STEMpathy” into Solve for Tomorrow and the Teacher Academy.

“When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in mid-March, we were nearing the end of our 2019-2020 competition – which marked Solve for Tomorrow’s 10^th anniversary. What was supposed to be a celebration quickly became a challenging time during which we had to challenge ourselves to pivot and push forward. The program was transformed into a virtual experience, allowing teachers and students who had been working tirelessly on their concepts for months to present their visionary STEM-based prototypes. And one year later, a lot of those innovation and iteration shifts are still in place for the current 2020-2021 competition,” continued Ann.

To impart lessons on the imperative for co-creation and inclusivity, Ann was joined by Charles Best, Founder and CEO of DonorsChoose; M. Letitia Hubbard, PhD, Instructor of Engineering and Mentorship at North Carolina School of Science and Math; and Justin Reinmuth, STEM and Engineering Teacher at Gering High School.

Samsung regards co-creation with corporate citizenship partners as mutually beneficial relationships. “There are tremendous STEM resources needed to bring our classroom dreams to life. Together with Solve for Tomorrow, we’re empowering teachers and students to tap their own front-line expertise and identify what they need most to learn — and that includes learning during the pandemic. For our Keep Kids Learning initiative, Samsung stepped up in such a generous way to provide students in communities with essential material for remote learning at home. These communities were overwhelming in low income and rural areas — and that equity-driven alignment between DonorsChoose and Solve for Tomorrow has made this such an incredible partnership,” noted DonorsChoose’ Charles Best.

While metrics are important for gauging the return on investment of a corporate citizenship program, there are many immeasurable results like the impact that Samsung’s initiative has on young middle and high school students, teachers, schools, and communities. Justin Reinmuth, from Samsung Solve for Tomorrow’s winningest school in the country, added, “The program’s ability to excite and empower rural school students through hands-on, problem-based learning that promotes STEM thinking is invaluable. For example, winning the competition in 2018 helped pique student interest beyond the one electronics course we were offering at the time. It gave me some autonomy within the school district to introduce more engineering, robotics, ethical hacking, and programming classes. Samsung’s support has been paramount in providing the resources to push forward STEM education in our high school and elevating the prospects for our students.”

Dr. Letitia Hubbard, a 2019-2020 first-time Solve for Tomorrow competitor and National Grand Prize Winner, stated, “Diversity and inclusion are key to innovation — and fostering engineering skills is  critical for our future generation. Representation matters and I want to ensure that our students can see people who look like them in the classroom and learn how engineering can impact their community and the world. The Solve for Tomorrow competition makes problem-based learning real and gives students opportunities to make the connection between what they’re studying and its relevant application. By doing that, the students forge a STEM identity, and they realize they can become successful 21st century contributors and make a difference.”

To learn more about Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, please visit: https://www.samsung.com/us/solvefortomorrow/.

The post Innovation, Iteration & Inclusion: Tenets for Samsung Solve for Tomorrow’s Success appeared first on Samsung US Newsroom.

Join us as we recognize and celebrate the winners of the 11th Solve for Tomorrow competition.

Tackling some of the greatest issues facing their generation, students across the U.S. have developed STEM solutions for problems in their communities.

The event will be streamed on this page on May 18 at 6:00 p.m EDT.

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5.4.2021 / Communities (COVID-19)

Generation Innovation: Students Unveil Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM Projects

The post [Video] 11th Solve for Tomorrow National Finalist Announcement appeared first on Samsung US Newsroom.

Recently, the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow program, a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) competition that challenges public school students in grades 6-12 to showcase how STEM can be applied to help improve their community, hosted its third annual Teacher Academy. The Academy is a two week-long program offering teachers from across the U.S. a unique professional development experience designed to build and sustain a culture of STEM teaching and learning, with an enhanced focus on sustainability initiatives in their communities.

The participating Academy teachers are all Solve for Tomorrow alumni who collectively earned over $1,500,000 million in technology and classroom materials for their respective schools this year. Sixty-six teachers from 38 states continued or began their remote learning journey, attending Academy sessions supported by Solve for Tomorrow partner, mindSpark Learning. The curriculum included exercises that tackled how to implement problem-based learning (PBL) and how to create an empathetic learning environment.

The inaugural cohort came together in Silicon Valley in 2019. For the past two years, this cohort and the second cohort have met virtually for the academy—only highlighting the dedication these teachers have to the program and Solve for Tomorrow.

Given the urgency of the climate crisis, first-year Academy teachers from the 2021 cohort focused their efforts on sustainability related education.

“This year, we asked our newest group of Academy teachers to look at unique ways to tackle sustainability education in their classrooms and present ideas through mini sessions with other teachers and Samsung employees,” said Ann Woo, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship at Samsung Electronics America. “At Samsung we are focusing on achieving tangible, data-driven sustainability across all our products, operations, and community engagement programs like Solve for Tomorrow. Additionally, our first cohort of teachers wrapped up their time with the Academy. These teachers are able to use the skills they have learned to lead SFT Academy sessions of their own. The peer network that the Academy has created has proven to be invaluable and will only strengthen the Solve for Tomorrow network of teachers and students, and result in the next generation learning how to solve urgent problems like climate change.”

At Samsung we are focusing on achieving tangible, data-driven sustainability across all our products, operations, and community engagement programs like Solve for Tomorrow.

Teachers participated in community scavenger hunts, mini sessions, problem-based learning presentations and more. Over the years, Solve for Tomorrow projects have focused on local environmental issues from recycling and climate change, to the use of natural resources, to local wildlife and more. The academy had teachers take the problem-based learning approach and apply it to environmental issues that communities may be facing.
“E-waste is something I was unaware of as being a problem,” said Covey Denton, a K-8 teacher from Sallie B. Howard School of the Arts and Science in North Carolina. “I have always just taken old electronics to my local electronics store to be ‘recycled.’ I definitely think educating consumers about the hazards and need to recycle E-waste properly is important for the good of our environment.”

Brittany Buxcel, a teacher at New Ulm High School in Minnesota and member of Cohort 1, who after three years is ‘graduating’ from the Academy, says her time in the program has influenced and inspired her.

“Participation in the academy experience has helped me find my true passion of inspiring other educators to join in the SFT competition and make strides to implement PBL (problem based learning) into their classrooms. When I was in the classroom, it gave me the confidence to make the PBL “jump” with my students and trust in their ideas and solutions,” Buxcel said.

We asked teachers what piece of advice they would give to other teachers across the country who are considering participating in Solve for Tomorrow.

“One of things I’ve loved most about my students participating in Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is that I know that no matter what problem they work on, or how far they advance in the competition, they are going to have an authentic and transformational learning experience,” said Kirstin Bullington, a high school engineering instructor at Richland Two Institute of Innovation in South Carolina. “The Samsung Teacher Academy allows us as educators to also grow and challenge ourselves as professionals. I would highly recommend the Samsung Teacher Academy to any educators looking to stretch themselves.”

Huy Pham, an AP biology teacher at Westminster High in California echoed those sentiments.

“This is not your regular one-off professional development for teachers where you learn something and try to implement it on your own. The academy is interactive where you’ll learn something new every day from Mindspark, Samsung and fellow teachers. I am very grateful that Samsung is hosting this program for teachers. The Samsung Solve program provides an example to students that STEM is used in their everyday lives for a better community,” said Pham.

“Our team is blown away by the commitment all the teachers of the Solve for Tomorrow Teacher Academy have for improving upon their roles as educators for both students and their peers,” added Woo. “We are thrilled that they are bringing their skills to the next generation in this way, and are excited to see how environment and sustainability feature in their new lesson plans. Congratulations to our first-ever Academy “graduates” and we look forward to leading each new cohort that comes through the program.”

The post Leading Teachers Focus on Sustainability Education appeared first on Samsung US Newsroom.

Teachers can apply for a chance to win a share of $2 million in technology and supplies for their schools through STEM learning

Samsung today announced the launch of its 12^th annual $2 million* Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest, which challenges U.S. students in grades 6–12 to use STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) to tackle local issues of national importance in a sustainable way. Now through November 8, 2021, public school teachers across the U.S. can apply** for this year’s program and submit their activity plans that enable students to inspire real-world change to address critical issues in their communities using problem-based learning.

Samsung is furthering its commitment to sustainability through several company initiatives this year, and the Solve for Tomorrow Contest is no different. This year’s applicants are encouraged to use responsibly sourced materials in their prototypes and align their project ideas with the United Nation’s sustainable development goals (SDGs). The judging rubric for this year’s contest will also include a component that will evaluate factors such as the sustainability of the project idea over time.

“The Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest was founded more than a decade ago as an environmental program. While it has since evolved to make room for the other issues that the next generation is most passionate about such as mental health and student safety, we want to keep the environment in mind through this contest that aims to promote meaningful change,” said Ann Woo, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship at Samsung Electronics America. “We have seen the incredible projects that have emerged from the minds of students through this contest, and we cannot wait to see the ideas that come to life this year that will undoubtedly ignite lasting impact on communities while reducing our collective impact on the planet.”

Solve for Tomorrow will award $2 million* in technology and supplies to classrooms as they advance throughout the contest, all redeemable through DonorsChoose.org. As part of the strive for sustainability, Samsung will encourage schools to select Samsung Energy Star products as part of their packages. Once lesson plans are submitted, schools will have the opportunity to move ahead to the following phases:

• 100 State Winners from the pool of applicants will be awarded $6,500 in Samsung technology and supplies for classroom use along with a video kit to help them with the next phase of their project
• From there, 10 National Finalist Schools will be selected to participate in the pitch event where they will present their project to a panel of judges. For achieving National Finalist status, seven of these schools will be awarded $50,000 in technology and supplies while the remaining three will be named National Grand Prize Winners.
• 3 National Winner schools will each receive $100,000 in classroom technology and supplies
• Of the top ten schools, 1 Community Choice Winner will also be determined through online public voting and will be eligible to win an additional $10,000 in Samsung technology, as well as 1 Employee Choice Winner determined by Samsung employee votes to win an additional $10,000

“The competition’s premise of solving a real-world problem in our community was so motivating to my students – they loved that the technology they built will help clean up the city they call home and that it brought our community together,” said Allie Langwald, teacher at Hope of Detroit Academy, 2021 Solve for Tomorrow National Winner. “It is so rewarding as an educator to see students’ excitement to learn through hands-on, problem-based education, and I’m grateful to Samsung for inspiring these students to leave a brighter future for the students of tomorrow.”Anchored in Samsung’s guiding vision of ‘Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People’, Solve for Tomorrow launched in 2010 to encourage innovative thinking, creative problem-solving and teamwork to address the most pressing issues impacting society. Today, the competition fosters critical thinking and creative problem solving, anchored in problem-based learning. For the past decade, Samsung has awarded $20 million in technology and classroom materials to more than 2,500 public schools in the United States.To enter the contest, and for official contest rules, please visit samsung.com/solve. The deadline to submit is 11:59 p.m. ET on November 8, 2021.

*$2 million prize is based on an estimated retail value.

**Not open to the general public: No purchase necessary to enter or win. Open to employees at eligible schools in the fifty (50) United States/DC twenty one (21) years of age or older. To enter/official rules: visit www.Samsung.com/Solve to complete the application form.

The post Samsung Announces Launch of 12th Annual Solve for Tomorrow Contest appeared first on Samsung US Newsroom.

In a society that asks young adults who they aspire to be, Thomas O’Neill, Educator at Butler Tech Ross High School and Board President of JEE Foods, encourages students to start making a significant impact at an early age. As an information technology (IT) instructor for over 20 years, his purpose when teaching at a high school level is never to hear the question, “What am I ever going to use this for?” This goal led to hands-on learning experiences that challenged students to create impressive solutions to global problems.

JEE Foods, launched in a Butler Tech Ross High School IT classroom back in 2017, is a nonprofit organization utilizing food rescue to solve poverty and hunger in Hamilton, Ohio. This ambitious group of students was looking to compete in Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow Challenge, a program designed to demonstrate how young leaders can utilize STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) to improve their communities. In trying to tackle the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals one and two, no poverty and zero hunger, this team of visionaries went above and beyond to change the lives of many.

Upon collaborating with a school from South Korea, the students recognized three areas largely contributing to these ongoing issues: lack of jobs, education, and economic resources. These components became the driving force behind the company name and the transformation of a school project to a fully functioning 501 (c)(3) Organization.

As an entirely student-run company, they are responsible for all aspects of the business, from partnerships to production to promotion. After reaching out to local farms and gardens, national grocery stores and major food chains, a lot of hard work follows the accumulation of inventory. They reprocess donated products to increase shelf life using unique recipes. From dehydrating and packaging to flash freezing and vacuum packaging, these entrepreneurs maintain the food’s nutritional value and eliminate excess waste.

With over 5.4 million pounds of food distributed to serve over 805,000 community members, these students have been able to see the impact of their hard work directly. Tom explained, “We can talk statistics all day long, but when you can actually see how much food is wasted, that is an eye-opening, staggering thing to see.”

Members of JEE Foods continue reaching as they seek to do more for their community and the environment at large. They explained, “If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world.” This realization prompted a new mission to preserve their planet, having already saved nearly 2.9 million pounds of CO2 emissions. The employees have learned how to distribute the food without increasing their Carbon Footprint through brainstorming more efficient production and distribution strategies. In addition to their current actions, they are aiming to become a carbon-neutral organization by 2025.

“That comes from our work with the Sustainable Goals,” Tom said. “It shows them the problems in the world, and they want to see what they can do about it.” This work did not go unnoticed as they continued to grow in size and spirit. Resulting from their outstanding participation in Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow, the founders of JEE Foods have been provided three opportunities to present their findings and strategies at the United Nations.

As the students continued to put their new ideas into action, Tom explained how the program changed each individual’s mindset. He said, “Their priorities change. Their social life becomes less important than figuring out how to help people.” The experience of turning JEE Foods into a functional business has allowed multiple students to develop new passions, sharpen their skillsets, and find meaning at such an early stage in their lives.

From an educator’s point of view, Tom believes that his role is to be a mentor and facilitator rather than a lecturer. In explaining what makes Solve for Tomorrow unique, he said, “Solve for Tomorrow is one of the only programs that specifically use STEM to solve problems. It provides a platform for students to look at problems that don’t only affect them, but their communities as well, in a different way.”

With Samsung’s 12th annual Solve for Tomorrow competition now accepting applications, Tom encourages teachers to allow students to take the reins and show off their skills and creativity. JEE Foods is a prime example of students taking advantage of STEM to drive community impact, promote critical thinking, and empower young adults.

If you are interested in learning more or being a part of Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition, apply here by November 8, 2021.

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Featuring Mark Newton, Head of Corporate Sustainability

We at Samsung strive to deliver products and services that excite our customers, and do so in a responsible and ethical manner. How can important externalities, like our environmental and social impacts, that are not traditionally considered on the balance sheet be brought into all of our decision making processes?

One way we make sure to hit that mark is through the work of Mark Newton, Head of Corporate Sustainability at Samsung Electronics America. Mark is constantly considering our data-driven environmental and social impact, whether it’s meeting with policy influencers and issue advocates, discussing product features with our engineers, sales teams and customers, or inspiring kids who are competing in our annual Climate Superstars program to meet the challenges we will face in the future.

In addition to his work at Samsung, Mark is also a father and grandfather, a competitive Ultimate player and Disc golfer, and enjoys exploring the pristine beauty of the Texas hill country.

Here’s Mark’s “top 3” list for what you need to know about how we approach our environmental and social responsibility at Samsung:

1. Our team at Samsung relies on logic and data to achieve meaningful, measurable impact.

Where my team excels is with a very objective, measured way of problem solving. We at Samsung are passionate about what we do but use logic and data in order to come to our conclusions.

Now, having said that, we are also citizens of this planet and want this to be a bountiful place to live for generations to come. We want to contribute to the health of our planet and recognize that we can make better business decisions by considering externalities like our social and environmental impacts – and achieve bigger positive outcomes by incorporating data and logic in our decision making. Our company will only be successful in the long run by adopting a sustainable mindset that balances the resources we take and the impact we make with the value to society that we deliver. Therefore, our team’s philosophy is to enable Samsung to be an impact-driven, sustainable business.

For example, in the United States the US EPA has established ENERGY STAR as a certification standard to recognize products with exceptional energy efficiency. To date, 100% of our tablets, laptops, front load washers and dishwashers, 81% of refrigerators, 60% of top-load washers and 49% of our dryers are ENERGY STAR certified. These are some of the reasons that the US EPA awarded Samsung this year with their prestigious Corporate Commitment Award for energy efficiency leadership in both our products and our operations. Going forward, one of our biggest opportunities for positive impact is to continue to design our products to the highest standards with respect to energy efficiency.

To continue to speak to the data — on the recycling side, we operate the largest manufacturer recycling program in the United States. We recycle upwards of 100 million pounds of e-waste every year. That adds up to over a billion pounds of material responsibly recycled over the last 10 years¹.

We have achieved these numbers by holding ourselves to the highest level of accountability. We use the e-Stewards standard, which restricts our recyclers from exporting any of that waste to developing countries for processing, even though it may be cheaper for them to do that.

We also have a very aggressive goal to incorporate 500,000 tons of recycled plastics into our products by 2030². And we are starting to recognize the immense opportunity to incorporate recycled metals into our products.

This to me is the most meaningful kind of environmentalism — lasting, data-driven, big-picture impact.

2. Samsung’s big picture environment and sustainability commitments are realized in three different areas: our products, operations, and by empowering action.

For our products, we work closely with our research and development teams to help them understand what customers here in the U.S. care about. We also speak directly with our sales and service support teams and share with them all the ways that our products are designed to be more efficient so that they can do what they do best and deliver that message to customers.

The sustainability value proposition is a given for us here at Samsung. We don’t have to make this up or spin a story. Simply put, a product design that does not consider its environmental or social impacts simply is not a well-designed product. Our actions speak for us and our products delight customers because they are innovative and well designed.

Operationally, waste is cost, simple as that, and waste has environmental impacts that we can’t afford.

Waste is cost, simple as that, and waste has environmental impacts that we can’t afford.

We have been quietly working in the background for years to make sure that we factor in efficiency and avoid waste in our products. And we bring the same efficiency mindset that we build into our products towards running our operations.

For example, in 2018 we made a commitment to using 100% renewable power for all our operations, including manufacturing, in the United States, Europe and China – and we achieved this last year through significant investments in wind, solar, and other renewable sources. We will continue to optimize our clean power purchases by shifting to investments that create additional renewable capacity for the grid, sourcing renewable energy directly and also producing more of it on our own. Going forward we will expand our commitment for 100% renewable power to all Latin America and West Asia operations by 2025.

And then lastly on the empowerment side, at Samsung we have a big commitment to supporting and promoting sustainability education through programs like Solve for Tomorrow, a competition that we run yearly to help teens across the country innovate and solve problems our communities face through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). We also invest in climate literacy programs like Climate Superstars, a month-long online environmental challenge in partnership with ENERGY STAR and the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), that gets middle-school age kids excited about the environment and how they can take an active role in caring for its future.

These initiatives are very intentional for us. We want to do our part to help our next generation of decision makers to be literate on these issues. We also want to show these young people how to solve tough challenges through innovative thinking using logic and data — the same thinking that we employ every day in our work at Samsung.

We want to do our part to help our next generation of decision makers to be literate on these issues. We also want to show these people how to solve tough challenges through innovative thinking using logic and data -- the same thinking that we employ every day in our work at Samsung.

3. We focus on excelling in energy efficiency because we are an electronics company and this is how we can help our customers be more productive, reduce their costs and help them to achieve their climate goals.

Samsung is a company that makes electronics that help people be more productive and creative, stay connected to one another and have more fun in their lives. Given that electronics run on energy, it only makes sense that we would focus first on excelling in energy efficiency. The US Department of Energy estimates that household energy accounts for 21% of total US energy consumption³.

Over the last 10 years, through the improved efficiency of our products, we have helped our customers avoid over 300 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions related to the electricity needed to power them. According to the US EPA, avoiding 300 million tons of CO2 emissions is like taking 65 million cars off the road for a year. 65 million. There are around 290 million cars on the road in the US today⁵. Doing the math, that’s almost a quarter of all cars off the road for a whole year, thanks to Samsung’s energy efficiency efforts over the last 10 years⁴.

Another thing to put into perspective is that Samsung is a very vertically integrated company, meaning we own and operate our own manufacturing, and in some cases, as with semiconductors, our component manufacturing operations as well. Other electronics companies typically outsource their manufacturing and component supply operations so their “footprint” (the operations they directly control, and associated greenhouse gas emissions) may appear to be smaller. However, even though we account for more emissions than others in our operations, if you compare the GHG savings from product efficiency improvements that we’ve delivered to our customers over the last 10 years, the savings are more than twice as much as the GHG generated to produce those products.

That’s a big difference, and it inspires us to keep going!

1 https://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/sustainability/environment/responsible-recycling/performance/

2 2021 Sustainability Report and https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-to-replace-plastic-packaging-with-sustainable-materials

3 https://rpsc.energy.gov/energy-data-facts

4 2021 Sustainability Report and https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator

5 https://hedgescompany.com/automotive-market-research-statistics/auto-mailing-lists-and-marketing/

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Covey Denton is a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) specialty teacher at the Sallie B. Howard School of Arts and Science in rural Wilson, North Carolina, located forty miles east of Raleigh. She’s spent the past two years of her eight-year career with the public charter school that serves more than 1,000 students in grades K-11. The diverse student body is 96.7% economically disadvantaged and, as Covey puts it, “we’re offering a holistic education to produce thinkers of the heart and citizens of the world.”

Thinkers of the heart are exactly what Covey and her fellow educators are developing. The students have participated twice in Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, the rigorous nationwide competition that challenges public school students to showcase how STEM can be applied to help improve their community. Both times, they went on to become North Carolina State Finalists with projects tackling roadway flooding and childhood drowning and hypoxia.

To further cultivate her students’ STEM thinking for the new 2021-2022 school year, Covey signed up for Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Teacher Academy, a weeklong professional development practicum designed to build and sustain a culture of STEM teaching and learning. The theme for the third annual Teacher Academy was sustainability – and one of the sessions focused on electronic waste (e-waste).

“I was unaware of the magnitude of the e-waste problem. Being in a rural area, our community focuses on fertilizer and pig farm waste and runoff,” said Covey. “When my son heard that the Teacher Academy was taking the cohort on a virtual field trip to a recycling facility, he along with my two daughters wanted to join. They were shocked by the staggering amount of e-waste created each year and it propelled them to take action!”

According to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Forum, we’re expected to generate total 57.4 million tons of e-waste in 2021, worldwide. That’s an additional two million tons on last year. And at the present rate of increase, the United Nations predicts global e-waste will hit 74 million tons per year by 2030. Immediately after the recycling facility tour, 15-year-old Elijah Denton, 13-year-old Lydia Denton, and 11-year-old Bethany Denton told their mom, “We’ve got to do something to fix e-waste. Maybe we can’t fix the whole problem, but I think we can make a small difference.”

It was Elijah’s idea to narrow the scope of their e-waste solution to gaming systems. The young gamer thought of how he and his sisters can do their part to lessen the local environmental impact by refurbishing pre-owned gaming systems handheld gaming systems, tablets, games, and controllers; reusing parts; and donating them. Thus, ReGame, Inc. – a non-profit that gives new life to old gaming devices – was born.

The tenth grader, eighth grader, and sixth grader worked furiously to start the non-profit with the help of an area lawyer. Together, they designed a logo and developed a website to promote their new venture. They’ve also been busy driving awareness about the harmful effects of e-waste via live Twitch streams and other social channels. Both their local community and the gaming community have been extremely supportive.

If enough of us make small differences, they will add up to something big.

ReGame officially kicked off on November 6^th with the hopes of capturing unwanted gaming devices as new ones get purchased and gifted this holiday season. The Denton trio has acquired 20 systems and more than 50 games to date, and they’ve learned to clean, test, and fix the systems on their own by watching YouTube tutorials. (They’re also looking into advancing gaming accessibility by building adaptive controllers!) Once ready, the gaming devices will be donated to charities, group homes, foster care facilities and individual foster care families, retirement homes and senior centers, and children’s hospitals free of charge. Among the organizations the Dentons have already reached out to are Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Carolinas and Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina.

“Whether it’s a classroom conflict or the climate crisis, I ask my children and my students, ‘What can we do to make it better tomorrow than it is today?’ That’s why STEM is so important. We identify the problem and devise a plan for solving it by reframing it, changing our behavior related to it, or even inventing something to resolve it.”

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Over the past few years, school safety has increasingly been top-of-mind, primarily in the context of fires, severe weather, and active shooter scenarios. Preparedness procedures and drills are carefully designed to develop muscle memory for staff and students, so they know exactly what to do and where to go when the alarm sounds. But in case of emergency, what happens to students with disabilities? That was the question that John Leistner posed to his students in 2019 when they began brainstorming ideas for their entry for Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, the competition that challenges students in grades 6-12 to use science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to tackle issues in their community.

The technology coordinator and Student Technology Leadership Program coach has spent 23 years of his 31-year career as an educator with Ashland Middle School, a small-town public school located in northeastern Kentucky that serves approximately 700 children. Both John and Ashland Middle School are no strangers to the Solve for Tomorrow program as they’ve participated five times, including the current 2021-2022 competition cycle; have placed three times; and have even taken home the National Winner prize for boldly addressing the opioid epidemic. Beyond the technology and classroom supplies that they were awarded over the years, the competition has positively impacted the school, inspiring the creation of specialized problem-based learning classes for eighth graders, and driving regional recognition.

Innovations resulting from STEM fields have touched nearly every aspect of our lives and are vital to our future. That’s why problem-based learning should be the foundation of the American educational system. As educators, we must make it our mission to utilize STEM to transition our students beyond the simple memorization of facts or formulas to teach them how to apply what they’ve learned to solve real-world problems.

Building STEM solutions to solve real-world problems is no easy task though. In the early months of 2020, John and his 20-person Solve for Tomorrow student team were hard at work developing a prototype for their concept, which helps locate and move mobility-impaired students safely out of a multi-level building in the event of an emergency. The innovation, initially dubbed “T-Safe Mobility Transporter” (The T is for tomcat, the school mascot), started to take shape in the form of a mobile app and an emergency evacuation apparatus. Intricate coding was required to integrate attendance, school schedule, disability, and new injury information into the location app. 3D modeling software was used to make the transporter design process more efficient. And with invaluable guidance from a panel of community partners, such as police, fire, and disability advocacy leaders, the prototype was completed.

According to the CDC, 13.7 percent of people with a disability have a mobility disability with serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs. And 70 percent of all Americans will, at some point in their lives, have a temporary or permanent disability that makes stair climbing impossible, based on data from the National Fire Protection Association. But safety and accessibility are not just statistics to the students at Ashland Middle School. Since being named a National Finalist for their 2019-2020 entry, they’ve continued to pursue emergency preparedness ideas to ensure that no child is left behind because, as they see it, sheltering in place is not an option.

In September 2021, the T-Safe Mobility Transporter underwent its maiden voyage. The elevators were down throughout the school towards the end of the day. Students were filing to the buses to head home – except for Skye, an eighth grader at the time, who had no way of exiting the three-story building. The brave 15-year-old girl was hoisted onto the transporter and a crew comprised of John, the school principal, the guidance counselor, Skye’s instructional assistant and others descended the stairwell. Skye likened it to a “roller coaster ride” experience because of the various turns and angles. “I was a little nervous when they first lifted me up, but I had all this support around me. It was a team effort.”

The T-Safe Mobility Transporter has since been renamed “Skylift” in honor of Skye. John and the Ashland Middle School students have also reciprocated the community support provided during the development of the project by using their 3D printer to create face shields and masks for the Ashland Fire Department during the early months of the pandemic. As for how this initiative has impacted them, John says, “Thanks to the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow program, our middle school students are exposed to experiences that are going to elevate them. They’re taking on top issues of national importance with confidence. And it’s brought us closer to the community. Essentially, we’re appreciative of the day that we received the first application. It’s really changed our school.”

Editor’s note: Best of luck to the Ashland Middle School students that are participating in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2021-2022 competition – the school’s fifth time! They’ve already been selected as a State Winner for their STEM project that harnesses AI to assist individuals stricken with Alzheimer’s Disease to improve their quality of life.

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In the fall of 2020, Allie Langwald, Physical Education (PE) and Health Teacher and Athletic Director at Hope of Detroit Academy Middle & High School, had the daunting task of implementing quality remote instruction in place of physical education due to the pandemic. Allie perused DonorsChoose, the leading nonprofit education funding site, for inspiration regarding fun group projects and was drawn to Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, a national competition that challenges students in grades 6-12 to use STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) to tackle local community issues in a sustainable way.

Hope of Detroit Academy, a STEM-focused charter school located in southwest Detroit, and its students were no strangers to STEM, however, Allie was initially hesitant about moving forward with the Solve for Tomorrow entry. As a PE and health teacher, would her project be taken seriously in a national competition? Upon taking a closer look at the entry rules, she realized that her role didn’t disqualify her from participating. With big dreams and a lot of hope, she rounded up three enthusiastic students, 16-year-old Yaritza, 13-year-old Itzel, and 17-year-old Abrahan, and immediately began exchanging creative community-driven concepts. “Yaritza, Itzel, and Abrahan expressed enormous pride for southwest Detroit, including the diverse community and vibrant culture, but felt that visitors wouldn’t be able to look past the neighborhood’s urban decay and blight,” said Allie.

Urban decay is a common phenomenon in cities across America. It occurs when a city, part of a city or even small-town downtowns fall into disrepair. A characteristic of urban decay is blight, which is marked by condemned homes, vacant lots, piles of trash, and discarded tires, among other forms of waste. The adverse impact on people living in these areas extends far beyond the visual. Blight affects people’s lives in many ways, including economically, socially, psychologically, and physically.

Upon further research, the team unearthed a stat that convinced them this was the path forward for their STEM project. According to Siemens’ The Green City Index, Detroit ranked as the overall least ‘green’ U.S. city. Drilling deeper into the category of ‘waste,’ the city also ranked last in the 27-city North America Index. “The removal of blight is critical to the health, safety, and welfare of the community. For example, it can be scary for a child to walk past abandoned homes on their way to school. Boarding up the windows and door, while still an eyesore, will put the local community at ease because it will secure the property against vandalism or unlawful activity,” added Allie.

Named after the school mascot – the Warriors – and a goal to cultivate a greener community, the team launched the Green Warrior app in February 2021. The location-based app, which took over a month to code and build, allows users to drop color-coded pins on an area map to tag four specific forms of blight: abandoned homes, vacant fields, tires, and trash. The pin can be accompanied by images and a description, and once submitted, pin notifications serve as a ‘call to action’ for state and city officials, community groups, and community members. After the clean-up is complete, users can swipe right to remove the pin.

Allie, her trio of students, and fellow teachers took to the streets, dropping nearly 400 pins throughout southwest Detroit in the first few days post-launch. In parallel, they reached out to the following community partners for clean-up support: Green Tree Plastics, a family-owned manufacturing company that agreed to gather plastic items and transform them to park benches for the school; Cass Community Social Services, a homeless services nonprofit that collects and converts tires into mud mats; Detroit City Council member Raquel Castañeda-López, whose office works to board up or tear down abandoned properties and manage vacant lots; and Mayor Mike Duggan, whose office picks up excess trash.

Because of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow and their winning placement within the competition, news of the student-led clean up made it all the way to Michigan State Representative Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck) and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI13) – who also happens to be Yaritza’s idol. Then the accolades came, including a Spirit of Detroit Award for outstanding achievement or service to the citizens of Detroit and a 2021 Congressional App Challenge honor, the most prestigious national recognition for students in computer science. Due to the exposure, Hope of Detroit Academy has received additional funding from Ferris State University to build a state-of-the-art STEM lab and incorporate STEM education and vocational tracks to their curriculum.

To date, 432 pins have been tagged in the Green Warrior app and more than 50 were marked as green to signify the site had been cleaned. On the horizon are plans to create a Spanish-language version of the app and add potholes to the list of blight categories. Abrahan is a freshman at Wayne State University, Itzel is a freshman at Cass Technical High School, and Yaritza – now a senior at Hope of Detroit, has applied to a couple of universities, highlighting the app and its impact in her applications. “Solve for Tomorrow took my mind off all the uncertainty and stress that COVID caused during my junior year of high school. The competition was a much-needed and rewarding distraction,” noted Yaritza.

As for Allie, in addition to her current duties, she now oversees an environmental STEM class focused on designing projects that benefit the community. She too was lauded for her efforts related to the project, including a Hope of Detroit Teacher Hall of Fame achievement and a nomination for MAPSA’s MI Charter Teacher of the Year Award. Regarding lessons learned from the initiative, Allie said, “Samsung Solve for Tomorrow pushed me to reframe how I think of myself and my capabilities as an educator. I never thought I could lead a team to victory in a national STEM competition or build an app. And, as a result, my students and I are helping our community become more sustainable and resilient.”

Teacher	Allie Langwald, Physical Education and Health Teacher & Athletic Director
School	Hope of Detroit Academy Middle & High School
Location	Detroit, Michigan
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Stats	2020-2021 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow National Winner 2021-2022 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competitor

Editor’s note: While Hope of Detroit Academy didn’t progress to the State level of the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2021-2022 competition – the school’s second time competing, we commend them for their latest STEM project that leverages tech to assess crop readiness for their urban farm, which was created to improve food security, nutrition, and self-sufficiency within the community.

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In late May of 2020, peaceful demonstrations took place in the city Erie, Pennsylvania after video surfaced of George Floyd’s arrest and subsequent death while in Minneapolis police custody. The downtown-area protests against systemic racism turned violent, escalating into a city-wide state of emergency. That summer, a social movement of an unprecedented scale took shape across the U.S. – and the world – against the backdrop of COVID-19. It was a pandemic within a pandemic.

In September, when remote school started at Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy, an urban, college preparatory magnet school with a student body of 850-plus, the unparalleled societal stressors were top of mind. James Fleming, Math and Engineering Principles Teacher, wanted to introduce an extracurricular activity to challenge his ninth through twelfth graders, so he entered Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, a national public-school competition that empowers the next generation of innovators to tackle pressing community issues using STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). As a prompt, the 24-year veteran educator posed this question to his 11-student Solve for Tomorrow team: “How do we help people that want to share their voice do so without fear of intimidation?”

A month’s worth of brainstorming resulted in the final vision for their STEM project. The students of Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy have a history of standing up for their beliefs. For example, back in 2018, students marched out of their classrooms as part of a national walkout to demand action on gun violence in solidarity with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. “We are lucky. Our district allows us to share our voice – even when it runs counter to policy,” shared 18-year-old Vanessa.

Nevertheless, the students recognize that some can be reluctant to share their voice – especially when challenged by those in power in a way that could be construed as intimidation to silence their voice and deprive them of their rights. In fact, data analysis from the summer of 2020 reveals that ninety-three percent of demonstration associated with the Black Lives Matter movement were non-violent, according to a U.S. Crisis Monitor report. But of the less than ten percent that turned violent, authorities intervened using excessive force.

“The students truly shined in the ideation phase in using their uninhibited imaginations to produce possible STEM solutions to current issues. When you hear the phrase ‘think outside the box,’ the box still exists – and it’s limiting. The key is, the box should be removed from the equation,” said James.

Subsequently, in October 2020, the We’ve Got Your Back app project was launched. The voice-activated mobile app turns phones into body cameras to help protect people’s civil rights as they march for social justice. It also turns phones into dash cams, which 15-year-old Tanvi feels “has farther reaching potential as too many of our families, friends, and neighbors live in fear of being pulled over.”

The app itself is much more complex than tapping a record video button. To save on memory, the team used their coding skills to have the app run in the background, recording and saving video in four-minute segments and deleting old, unnecessary segments. With the touch of a button, the front-facing camera is activated to give users a video record of any interactions at their car’s window. The students also designed an inexpensive, protective hands-free carrier for the phone using CAD and 3D printing. “At one point during the development, we were stuck, but we consulted with computer science students at Erie’s Gannon University to guide us through camera functionality implementation and floating action button design,” said 17-year-old Eric, one of the lead coders.

Sixteen-year-old Sahil led community outreach for the project and garnered the early attention of Jack Daneri, the then Erie County District Attorney. “He provided us with a holistic understanding of the social implications of the app and laws regarding camera usage and recording in public. As a result, we were able to gain the support of his office, as well as Pennsylvania State Representative Robert Merski’s (D-Erie) office and other key community members.”

In April of 2021, We’ve Got Your Back app became the 2020-2021 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow National Winner, making Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy the ONLY two-time national winning school. (They were 2014-2015 National Winners for a vertical farming project.) James and the students hope to collaborate with a developer to go from beta form to releasing the app into app stores in the spring.

Beyond academic achievement, the creation of the app has fulfilled the students personally. 17-year-old Tia expressed plans to “become more active in the community – especially in the fight for social justice causes that I believe in.” Tanvi is leaning towards getting involved in community service to make a real impact in people’s lives. The project has generated newfound interest in Sahil to pursue a future STEM career, specifically in programming. And Eric’s existing affinity for STEM has only been heightened with aspirations of becoming a professional in the field.

“We’re a Liberal Arts school that recognizes the importance of STEM education. We want to ensure that we’re giving our students the best, most well-rounded experience so that we can set them up for success. Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is helping us expand their minds and opportunities. And if these students are any indication, the future is bright,” added James.

Teacher	James Fleming, Math & Engineering Principles Teacher
School	Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy
Location	Erie, Pennsylvania
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Stats	2014-2015 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow National Winner 2015-2016 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow State Finalist 2016-2017 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competitor Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Teacher Advisor 2018-2020 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Teacher Academy Summer 2019 Cohort Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Teacher Academy Summer 2020 Cohort 2020-2021 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow National Winner

The post Samsung Solve: Where Are They Now? Pennsylvania School Safeguards Civil Rights appeared first on Samsung US Newsroom.

Samsung awards 10 National Finalists $50,000 in classroom technology in the 12^th Annual Solve for Tomorrow Contest

Today, Samsung Electronics America, Inc., announced the 10 National Finalist schools in the 12^th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest, a nationwide education competition which challenges students in grades 6-12 to use STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills to address local issues and inspire change in their communities. Each National Finalist will receive $50,000 in Samsung technology and classroom supplies and will pitch their project to a panel of judges for a chance to be named a National Winner. The 10 National Finalist classrooms in this year’s competition were selected for their determination and ingenuity in addressing some of the most critical issues facing the country today, including sustainability, public health and accessibility.

Since December, 100 schools across the country have been developing their prototypes, apps and project videos to showcase how they plan to address issues of national importance while keeping sustainability in mind. Student representatives from the 10 National Finalist classrooms will present their project to a panel of judges in hopes to being named one of three National Winners and take home $100,000^* total in Samsung technology and classroom supplies.

“The students that participate in this program are fearless and continue to tackle some of the greatest national issues like sustainability and accessibility with the most innovative and creative solutions we’ve seen to date,” said Ann Woo, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship, Samsung Electronics America. “From coast to coast, these students have taken charge of their future and we’re proud to see how they have creatively bridged STEM and social impact. We’re thankful to stand with and support another class of Solve for Tomorrow teachers and students as they set out to make an impact in their own – communities and the world.”

In addition to competing for the grand prize title, classrooms can win additional prizes including:

• The public can elect one Community Choice Winner from the pool of National Finalists to receive an additional $10,000^* for their school, using online voting. Those interested in casting their vote for the Community Choice winner can vote for their favorite school and project here. Voting is permitted once a day until Saturday, April 23.
• Additionally, National Finalists are also eligible to win another $10,000^* for being named the Samsung Employee Choice Award winner, which is determined by Samsung employee voting. These award winnings are in addition to the National Finalist and National Winner prize packages.

For the first time, Samsung has partnered with the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) for the Solve for Tomorrow Sustainability Innovation award, furthering Samsung’s commitment to sustainability. One Environmental Sustainability winner will be chosen by a committee of judges to win a $10,000 energy efficient Samsung technology prize package of products to help bring their project idea to life.

2021-2022 Solve for Tomorrow National Finalists:

As part of Samsung’s guiding vision of ‘Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People’, Solve for Tomorrow launched in 2010 to encourage innovative thinking, creative problem-solving and teamwork to address the most pressing issues impacting society. Today, the competition fosters critical thinking and creative problem solving, anchored in problem-based learning. For the past decade, Samsung has awarded $20 million in technology and classroom materials to more than 2,500 public schools in the United States.

To learn more about the National Finalist schools, please visit www.samsung.com/solve or follow on Instagram @SolveForTomorrow. For official rules and judging criteria, click here.

*$2 million prize is based on an estimated retail value.

**The school is responsible for ensuring the proper handling and security of all data potentially shared and/or collected as part of their project. Samsung takes privacy very seriously and encourages all Semi-Finalists to consider how information that is part of their project is being handled.

The post 10 Schools Advance in $2M STEM Competition from Samsung for Addressing Food Disparities, Health Equity, Sustainability and more appeared first on Samsung US Newsroom.

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. recognizes and celebrates the winners of the 12th Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition. Students from across the country convened to present how they used STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills to address local issues and inspire change in their communities. Selected from 10 finalists, the National Winners will receive $100,000 in Samsung technology and classroom supplies.

The post [Live] 2021-22 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow National Winners Reveal appeared first on Samsung US Newsroom.

New Jersey, Texas, and Virginia schools awarded $100,000 each in technology in 12^th annual $2 million STEM competition

After a two-year virtual hiatus resulting from the COVID-19 global pandemic, Samsung Electronics America, Inc. announced the three National Winners of the 12^th annual $2 million* Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest during an in-person event at Samsung 837 in Manhattan. Students from across the country convened both in-person, virtually and in the metaverse via 837x to present how they used STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills to address local issues and inspire change in their communities. Selected from 10 finalists, the National Winners will receive $100,000 in Samsung technology and classroom supplies.

Over the course of the school year, middle and high students have worked to develop sustainable projects using problem-based learning to address issues in their local community from climate change to public transportation and mobility. These innovations, developed by bright young minds, demonstrate how STEM learning can take an idea and transform a community, while empowering students to make a difference despite the adversities they may face.

“We are thankful to have the opportunity to recognize such a remarkable group of inspiring and innovative Solve for Tomorrow students in person after a two-year virtual hiatus,” said Ann Woo, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship at Samsung Electronics America. “These students continue to tackle problems of national importance with extraordinary solutions. We look forward to seeing our Samsung Solve for Tomorrow students continue to make a difference in our world in the years to come.”

The three National Winners in the 12^th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest and their grand prize-winning STEM innovations are:

1. Princeton High School – Princeton, New Jersey
Food waste is the third-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and . Therefore, most of the food that is not consumed within the community is thrown into the garbage and ultimately winds up in landfills. To combat the overproduction of greenhouse gas emissions in landfills, the students utilized technology, and the black soldier fly to bioremediate food waste into usable products such as protein for animal feed and as a substitute for palm oil in cosmetics like soap.

Princeton High School was also named the Samsung Employee Choice Award Winner, winning an additional $10,000, bringing their total to $110,000 in technology for their school.

View Princeton High School’s project video here: https://youtu.be/VmYo5etiWII

2. Porter High School – Porter, Texas
To help get students to safety and prevent crowd panic caused by an active shooter, or the threat of one, students from Porter High School developed an evacuation system to address crowd stampedes. First, a mesh network of microcontrollers will detect if there is an active shooter and relay that information. Second, if an evacuation is necessary, the microcontrollers will activate a color-coded system of lights and arrows located along the floor and walls of the hallways that will convey the most expedient and safest route out of the area to help reduce panic.

View Porter High School’s project video here: https://youtu.be/wcbbE-mirAA

3. Great Bridge High School – Chesapeake, Virginia
When faced with an unreliable public transportation system, students from Great Bridge High School developed AcceleRoute, a system to help bus drivers construct personalized and efficient routes determined by the students they are transporting on a given day. As the students board the bus, they scan a programmed card that connects to an app that will determine the most efficient route to transport all students to their homes.** The system increases efficiency and bus ridership while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Great Bridge High School was also named the Community Choice Award Winner, winning an additional $10,000 bringing their total to $110,000 in technology for their school.

View Great Bridge High School’s project vide here: https://youtu.be/hRYP3k1S8iM

New this year, Samsung partnered with the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) for the first Solve for Tomorrow Sustainability Innovation award, furthering Samsung’s commitment to sustainability. This year, Central Falls High School from Central Falls, Rhode Island, was selected as the winner by a committee of judges for addressing environmental justice and redeveloping abandoned areas to increase urban greenery.. The school was awarded a $10,000 in energy efficient Samsung technology prize package of products to help bring their project idea to life.

“NAAEE is proud to collaborate with Samsung for the Solve for Tomorrow Contest to select a Sustainability Innovation Award Winner,” said Judy Braus, Executive Director NAAEE. “The students at Central Falls High School exemplified the thoughtful and community-focused innovation we need to create an equitable and sustainable future for all. It was inspirational to see how so many of the projects tackled environmental challenges and highlighted the power of teamwork, creative problem solving, and passion in creating positive community change.”

As part of Samsung’s guiding vision of ‘Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People’, Solve for Tomorrow launched in 2010 to encourage innovative thinking, creative problem-solving and teamwork to address the most pressing issues impacting society. Today, the competition fosters critical thinking and creative problem solving, anchored in problem-based learning. For the past decade, Samsung has awarded $20 million in technology and classroom materials to more than 2,500 public schools in the United States.

To learn more about the National Finalist schools, please visit www.samsung.com/solve or follow on Instagram @SolveForTomorrow. For official rules and judging criteria, click here.

*$2 million prize is based on an estimated retail value.

**The school is responsible for ensuring the proper handling and security of all data potentially shared and/or collected as part of their project. Samsung takes privacy very seriously and encourages all Semi-Finalists to consider how information that is part of their project is being handled.

The post Samsung Solve for Tomorrow National Winners Tackle Food Waste, Crowd Stampedes and Bus Driver Shortages appeared first on Samsung US Newsroom.

Samsung US Newsroom

Inspiring the Next Generation of Changemakers

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The world is facing unprecedented environmental, social, and economic challenges spurred by escalating climate change, social unrest, global conflict, and the pandemic. Young people are questioning the world they’re inheriting and demanding change – and a growing number are taking matters into their own hands. How do we better equip the future generation of changemakers with the skills to tackle today’s complex social issues and future challenges not yet imagined?

Samsung sits down with Ann Woo, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship at Samsung Electronics America; Ngan Le, a junior at Princeton High School in New Jersey and a 2022 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow National Winner; and AY Young, a clean energy advocate and a Samsung and UNDP Generation17 leader, to discuss ways to empower and support youth-led change.

“Historically, young people have always been a catalyst for social and political change, including recent movements from the Global Climate Strike to BLM. It’s incredible to work with young people who have this motivation and this objective view of the social change that needs to happen, as well as the bold confidence to make it happen, via our corporate responsibility programs like Solve for Tomorrow, Generation 17, and Climate Superstars,” said Ann Woo.

“Everyone has a desire to see change and make an impact in their communities and the world around them. That desire doesn’t change just because you’re young,” said Ngan Lee. “When it comes to tackling an issue, setbacks and challenges are inevitable. But if we continue to work towards the solution and collaborate with diverse minds, we can make a change – and it starts with realizing that anything is possible.”

“I’ve been on a journey to do what I love and to simultaneously use that passion for what I love as an outlet for change. That led me to music and energy and devising a way to power my concerts using renewable energy,” said AY Young. “My mission is to get the world plugged into sustainability using music as a vehicle – and Samsung and UNDP are helping me scale sustainable impact globally.”

About the Podcast

Recorded from Samsung 837, our flagship experience center located in the heart of NYC’s Meatpacking District, Samsung Electronics America is back with a fourth episode of our Innovation Without Boundaries podcast, which explores how we’re solving evolving consumer and societal needs through new innovations and creating a more enriched, equitable, and sustainable future.

The post [Podcast] Inspiring the Next Generation of Changemakers appeared first on Samsung US Newsroom.

As Samsung is a global company, the U.S. is an important market for us, and our evolving sustainability approach reflects our dedication to being a responsible business – both within the U.S. and around the world.

This toolkit is a reference guide highlighting how everyday changes, at Samsung’s scale, result in a meaningful impact on our environment. Our holistic approach addresses sustainability at every stage of our product’s lifecycle. Highlights include:

Our thoughtfully designed and built products help customers live a more sustainable life. We also provide ways to close the loop on electronic waste. For instance, our Certified Re-Newed program gives older mobile devices new life, providing consumers the exceptional performance they expect from our products while avoiding up to 28X the carbon emissions of recycling or remanufacturing a device. And through our community engagement efforts, such as Solve for Tomorrow and Climate Superstars, we work to improve environmental literacy and support innovative solutions to address society’s greatest challenges – including climate change.

Samsung has a long history of sustainable action, and we’re proud of the strides we have made to enhance our positive impact. But we also recognize there is much more work to be done, and our business must continue adapting to changing societal and consumer needs. For instance, we are working to continue advances in product energy efficiency, expand our use of renewable energy, eliminate all single-use plastic from our mobile packaging by 2025, and recycle 7.5 million metric tons of e-waste and reuse 500,000 tons of recycled plastics globally in our products by 2030. We are committed to driving positive changes across our operations while meeting the needs of our consumers.

We invite you to further explore our sustainability commitments and progress in our 2022 Environmental Toolkit. To download the full toolkit, click here. To download individual briefs, please see Product Energy Efficiency, Product Stewardship, Sustainable Operations, Sharing Our Values, and Sustainable Materials.

The post Samsung in America Environmental Toolkit appeared first on Samsung US Newsroom.