23.09.2024

The republican startup contest Solve for Tomorrow has ended. This social project established by Samsung Electronics is held in Kazakhstan for the fourth year. AYALA Private Charity Foundation is a partner. The final, in which Kazakhstani high school students took part, was held on September 21 in Astana.

This year, the Solve for Tomorrow contest lasted more than 6 months. This year it brought together a record number of schoolchildren — over 2,500 from all over Kazakhstan. The participants had a task to create a solution to an acute social problem through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). After a thorough selection, 35 teams made it to the semifinal. According to the results of mentoring sessions, 10 teams managed to make it to the final. They were invited to Astana to present their projects.

The defense and award ceremony were held at Astana IT University. The works of schoolchildren were evaluated by IT experts: CodiPlay, QazInnovations and others. The event was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of Digital Development of Kazakhstan and Samsung Electronics. This year, the contest was extremely competitive, the participants presented their developments that make life easier for people with disabilities, help in solving problems in the agricultural industry and environment.

After careful review and analysis of the projects, four winning teams were selected.

• The 1st place and a prize of 4 million tenge were awarded to the team from BIL Astana boarding lyceum. The high school girls presented their KazRobotiX project. This is a robot that helps to cultivate fields and produce heavy crops.
• The 2nd place and 2.5 million tenge were awarded to schoolchildren from NIS Almaty. Their Jana Arba project allows people with disabilities to overcome easily obstacles on the road.
• The 3rd place and 1 million tenge were awarded to two teams from NIS Taraz. The first team presented a smart apiary and the second team presented a device that allows one to control various technical devices with the help of a tongue: from a computer to a wheelchair.

The rest teams have not gone unnoticed, too. A certificate to the amount of 300,000 tenge was awarded to each team that has reached the contest final stage.

«Solve for Tomorrow has become more than just a contest. This is an association of like-minded people striving to change the world around them. I am happy that every year the number of participants is growing rapidly. We will always be happy to support such initiatives of Kazakhstani teenagers,» Berik Umarov, the Head of Corporate Communication at Samsung Electronics Central Eurasia, said.

The activity of the schoolchildren is not finished by participation in the contest. They will be further provided a comprehensive support from Samsung Electronics in development of their projects. For more information about the project please visit the official website solvefortomorrow.kz.