LOGAN – Samsung named InTech Collegiate Academy in Logan as a state winner in its 15th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition.
The national competition is designed to help students in grades 6-12 to use STEM to create solutions for issues in local communities.
Out of 300 state finalists, including five from Utah, Samsung narrowed them down to 50, picking one winner from each state. InTech Collegiate Academy, a charter school in Logan, beat out other Utah schools with its idea.
Students at InTech Collegiate Academy proposed a solution using retroreflective paint instead of conventional thermoplastic paint as a means of painting road lines. Retroreflective paints are those made of special light-reflecting materials that would help maintain the visibility of road lines despite bad weather or low-light conditions. These conditions can be more common in Utah with rain and snow events. Normal thermoplastic paint doesn’t always effectively reflect back to drivers in poor-visibility conditions.
Samsung awarded a $12,000 Samsung technology prize package to the state winners, which includes a Samsung Video Kit to record and showcase their proposed STEM solution.
“Solve for Tomorrow was born from Samsung’s deep belief in the power of STEM to improve lives and transform communities,” said Allison Stransky, Chief Marketing Officer, Samsung Electronics America. “It’s truly inspiring to see these bright Gen Z and Gen Alpha innovators harnessing emerging technologies, with nearly half of their STEM solutions incorporating AI, to address critical societal issues with creativity, determination, and purpose.”
State winners were selected by demonstrating a plan to best focus on environmental sustainability and climate disasters, public health, accessibility, along with public safety and mental health. They will have until March 6 to submit their solution videos. Judges will review the submissions and select 10 national finalists, who will be announced in mid-March and participate in a live pitch event in April.
A month ago, five state finalists were chosen in Utah which included, InTech Collegiate Academy in Logan, Northwest Middle School and West High School, both in Salt Lake City; Tooele High School in Tooele; and, Jordan Academy for Technology and Careers in West Jordan. Of those five state finalists, each school earned a $2,500 Samsung technology prize pack of products for their school.
The Samsung Video Kit students will use includes a Galaxy Book and a Galaxy Z Flip to help create a three-minute STEM solution pitch video. The video must demonstrate how STEM is being applied to address the community issue they outlined in their student activity plans. Samsung employees will serve as one-on-one mentors to the state winners in the next phase of the contest by guiding student teams through project development and prototype building. Using their professional expertise, mentors will also help teams create compelling video pitches for their STEM solutions to advance to the national finalist phase, which will be in April, when three national winners will be selected and each earn a $100,000 prize package as part of a $2 million prize pool.
“These 50 State Winners are recasting the role of STEM in solving matters close to their lives and their communities,” said Salman Taufiq, Head of Brand Marketing, Samsung Electronics America. “By addressing real-world issues with empathy and advanced technology like AI, machine learning, drones, and virtual reality, they’re preparing to lead in a rapidly evolving, impact-focused workforce.”