We Spoke To The Winners Of Samsung's Solve For Tomorrow Competition To Find Out How They're Changing The World

I fully believe that Gen Z is going to save the planet.

ICYMI: Samsung Australia recently hosted an incredible competition called Solve for Tomorrow — which challenged young Australians to unleash their creativity and come up with a plan that could change the world for good.

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The comp ran from Nov 22–Dec 31, 2021 and was all about supporting the next generation of Australian innovators to tackle the issues impacting their community — and igniting young Aussies' interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).

The task was for young Aussies to identify an issue facing their community — whether around sustainability and the environment, diversity and inclusion, or more — and to tell Samsung their idea for a solution that would help solve it.

Samsung

The applicants were in with the chance to win a share of $20,000 prize money, plus some incredible Samsung tech to help bring their ideas to life!

And oh man, the entries were exceptional — from innovative tech to help hospitals during COVID-19, to road safety engineering that would prevent roadkill, the creativity and problem solving was off the charts!

We sat down with the winners to hear all about how their ideas came to life, as well as what it means to be a Solve For Tomorrow winner:

Major winner: Meg Phillips and the RFID Roadkill Reducer.

Meg Phillips

For Meg's entry, she proposed an on-road system to warn animals of approaching cars, using RFID technology and electronics engineering.

Meg Phillips

What inspired you to approach the community issue that you did?

I’ve lived in Tasmania my whole life, so it’s no surprise the adorable wildlife here helped me develop a passion for animal conservation. However, Tasmania’s reputation for natural beauty and unique wildlife is juxtaposed by its reputation as the world’s roadkill capital. It’s estimated that up to half a million animals are killed on Tasmanian roads each year, which is absolutely devastating for native species, many of which are endangered.

Despite it being a huge problem, I haven’t seen many solutions be put forward to tackle this, so it was the perfect opportunity for innovation. At the time the idea sprung, I was working as an engineering intern with security and access systems that had RFID swipe cards and geofencing capabilities. This got me thinking about how I could apply one of these wireless communications systems between cars and animals and worked on the idea from there!

Meg Phillips

How do you feel about being selected as one of the winners of the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Competition?

I was absolutely thrilled to hear the news! It feels so rewarding that after all my years of study and hard work, I have the capability to make functional and viable solutions to real-world problems, especially to one so close to home. That’s why I decided to pursue science and engineering in the first place! The prizes are also incredible and I’m hopeful that with these resources and exposure, I’ll be able to further develop the idea with local organisations and see it become a reality one day.

Meg Phillips

What advice would you give to other young Australians interested in studying STEM?

This is an example of how STEM gives you the tools to problem solve in any context, in any industry. There aren't many disciplines that give you a skillset so versatile and powerful — the application opportunities are literally endless, and no matter what you are passionate about, STEM can enable you to make a difference to that. It is absolutely worth the hard work!

Minor winners: James Wooden and Casey Tumbers of Intervergent and their app, HILFE

intervergent.com

HILFE is a mobile application that connects users to professionals through telehealth and virtual booking systems.

@intervergent

Thank you to @samsungau #samsungaustralia for the #solvefortomorrow inspirational initiative for young Aussies to share innovative applications of STEM. This is our entry 'Hilfe'. A mobile application that connects users to professionals through telehealth and virtual booking systems. Come check us out on https://intervergent.com or on facebook: facebook.com/intervergent

♬ original sound - Intervergent

What inspired you to approach the community issue that you did? 

Casey and I (James) experienced firsthand the difficulties of getting help from a mental health professional. We both understand the basic struggle of taking the first step to get help. The impact of COVID-19 on our mental health motivated us to investigate how to bridge the gap between outdated health processes and new innovative technology. 

In my experience as a health professional, the pandemic thrust face-to-face interactions with clients into the virtual space and I felt unequipped to deliver the holistic care I aspire to uphold. With this lack of interaction between client and patient, we felt the need to offer additional opportunities to build a more collaborative environment where patients felt heard. That's why we founded the company Intervergent and are developing our mobile application HILFE.

How do you feel about being selected as one of the winners of the Samsung Solve For Tomorrow Competition? 

We are humbled to be recipients of the very generous prize, which will be pivotal in bringing our product to life. It was critical for us to hear some credence behind what we were creating to enable us to innovate and grow as a company and as individuals. We were impressed by other submissions and what the Solve For Tomorrow Competition has encouraged. We hope similar ideas can be reciprocated by different corporations and appreciate Samsung’s involvement as advocates for inspiring ideas that could change the world. 

What advice would you give to other young Australians interested in studying STEM?

STEM is such a diverse field that offers many different opportunities for anyone. You can never be limited to one aspect as working with STEM has endless possibilities and propels us forward in an evolving technological society. You don’t need a degree nor do you have to be a certain age, all you need is to find a problem and create a solution. Young Australians have countless opportunities to get involved in STEM activities — from science and engineering challenges at school, to solving the problems you encounter everyday, like working out what banging outfit you will wear!

Minor winners: The MedMakers Team and their powered air purifying respirator.

MedMakers

This team comprised of Angela Domingues, Isaac Gill, Joseph Bauer, Nick Hough and Phoebe Hollott, who all sought to design a prototype for a portable air purifier for PPE use in hospitals. 

@themedmakers

Powered Respirator. Helping fight Covid! @samsungau #solvefortomorrow #samsungaustralia

♬ original sound - TheMedMakers

What inspired you to approach the community issue that you did? 

Face masks are the staple of COVID-19 PPE in hospitals, but still so many healthcare workers are becoming infected whilst caring for their patients, adding considerable strain on the healthcare system. We wanted to use our skills as student medical engineers to address this issue, and so developed our own powered air purifying respirators that provide another level of protection. It works by blowing filtered air into a hood over the user’s head, removing the reliance on a perfect face mask fit, whilst adding further protection from droplets and spray.  

How do you feel about being selected as one of the winners of the Samsung Solve For Tomorrow Competition? 

We’re so thankful to Samsung for hosting the challenge and giving everyone an opportunity to showcase their innovative STEM ideas. We’re very excited to be awarded a prize, as it gives us the confidence to continue pursuing our dream of building our engineering start-up, Codex Innovations. Our team hopes to design and manufacture medical equipment — such as our powered air purifying respirators.  

What advice would you give to other young Australians interested in studying STEM? 

Our favourite advice is to take as many opportunities as you can, you never know where they could take you. We were able to take part in this challenge because we joined our university’s medical engineering student club, The MedMakers, and went on to creating this device together.  

Making friends at uni is so important, yet sometimes very difficult (especially when classes are online). We have found the best ways to make friends are to join student clubs and work on group assignments together.

If you've got an idea that could change the world, Samsung has got the innovative tech to help you do it! Discover more here.