419 ideas, three winning projects in the Solve for Tomorrow contest: Samsung supports Romania's tomorrow's innovators
Samsung Romania announces the winners of the fifth edition of the Solve for Tomorrow national competition, which supports the development of STEM, entrepreneurial and digital skills among high school students. The program, dedicated to young people between 16 and 19 years old, works as an educational accelerator, where ideas are developed and refined through mentorship and expertise from the business and technology environment, supporting students to consolidate their ideas and bring them closer to the stage of applicable solutions.
This year, the competition registered 419 projects registered at national level, in the three thematic categories: Education and diversity through technology, Environmental protection through technology and Social change through sport and technology. Of these, 25 teams reached the finals.
The grand prize was won by the InSightEd team, from the National College “Ioan Slavici” Satu Mare, for a project registered in the “Education and diversity through technology” category. InSightEd proposes an innovative solution to increase blind students' access to quality education. The solution combines a mobile application based on artificial intelligence with a smart bracelet, providing autonomy in the educational process through voice commands, Braille keyboard and gestures.
Second place he came back to the HearMe team from the “Simion Mehedinți” High School, from Vidra. HearMe's proposed solution is a smart badge that automatically translates sign language into voice and text, providing the hearing impaired with barrier-free communication. The badge includes sensors that detect hand movements and a mini-camera that tracks gestures in real time, the data being transmitted via Bluetooth to a mobile app.
Third place was obtained by the team WaveMotion, from Mihai Viteazul National College and ILCaragiale National College, Ploiesti. The project of the WaveMotion team targets the problem of water pollution and the degradation of marine ecosystems, and the proposed solution is an intelligent modular underwater robot. The robot can analyze the chemical composition of water, map underwater areas or explore extreme depths.
In addition to the three grand prizes (1st, 2nd and 3rd place), the jury also awarded three special distinctions. Best Teacher Award – given to the coordinating teacher Otilia Cercel from the team SafeStep from the Ecaterina Teodoroiu National College, Târgu Jiu for the exceptional involvement and mentorship offered to the team; Social Media Ambassador Award – awarded to the team Vianu Cyber Security Club from the Tudor Vianu National College of Informatics, Bucharest, for the creativity and coherence of the project's communication in the digital environment; Sports-Tech Ambassador Award – awarded to the team AstrideX from Alexandru Ioan Cuza Theoretical High School, Bucharest, for the promotion of sport as an instrument of social change through technology.
This year's edition was held under the central message “AI the ideas. AI the technology. Make them count”, highlighting the role of artificial intelligence as a tool through which ideas can become scalable solutions and solutions can generate progress. The finalists went through an intensive development program that included design thinking workshops, workshops on entrepreneurship, critical thinking and presentation techniques, workshops on AI, deepfake and resilience, as well as 1:1 mentoring sessions with education, business and technology specialists.
“We are inspired by the creativity, courage and commitment of the young participants in the Solve for Tomorrow competition. Their projects show that the new generation is not only using technology, but turning it into a tool through which they can respond to real needs of communities. At Samsung, we want to bring innovation closer to people and collaborate with local ecosystems to support the development of breakthrough ideas. Global competitions like Solve for Tomorrow contribute not only to the development of relevant solutions, but also to the training of future innovation leaders“, he said Jaesung (James) Kim, President of Samsung Electronics Romania & Bulgaria.
“Solve for Tomorrow demonstrates, at each edition, that high school students in Romania are not only users of technology, but creators of solutions. This year's projects show us how technology – including artificial intelligence – can become a real tool to turn ideas into impactful initiatives in the community. We are happy to see young Gen Z people using technology creatively and responsibly, starting from concrete problems and building relevant solutions for the future“, he declared Simona Panait, Marketing Director Samsung Electronics Romania & Bulgaria.
In turn, Loredana Mihăescu, Programs Director, Junior Achievement Romaniaadded: “For students, the Solve for Tomorrow experience is more than just a competition. It is an applied learning process where they develop their critical thinking, entrepreneurial spirit and ability to work in a team. This year's projects confirm that when young people are given the right tools, they can build relevant solutions for their communities.”
The prizes offered in the competition consist of Samsung gadgets and technological solutions from the latest launched ranges, along with educational bundles designed to help students prepare for the Baccalaureate exam and for admission to college.
An educational program with national and global impact
Solve for Tomorrow is a global educational program run by Samsung in more than 68 countries, with a 15-year tradition at the international level, through which 3.3 million students have been supported to develop STEM skills and real-world problem-solving skills.
In Romania, the competition involved, in the five editions held so far, more than 4,300 high school students, consolidating its position as a landmark in the area of applied education and innovation with social impact. This year's final was attended by over 130 participants, bringing together the members of the 25 finalist teams and the coordinating teachers, mentors and partners of the program, invited to take part in the Solve for Tomorrow experience and the atmosphere of the competition.
The final of the program Solve for Tomorrow was organized sustainably, by digitizing the judging process, eliminating single-use materials, replacing PET bottles with reusable alternatives, to reduce resource consumption and CO₂ emissions.
The 2025–2026 edition has expanded the number of partnerships to strengthen ties with governmental factors, the business environment and student communities (associations, robotics clubs), being organized alongside the Ministry of Education and Research, Junior Achievement Romania, the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest – Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics, the Association of Private Schools, the National Council of Students, RoboHub, as well as with the support partners from the entrepreneurial and technological environment: Google Romania, 5 to go, Startarium and Impact Hub Bucharest.
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About Solve for Tomorrow
Launched in 2010, Solve for Tomorrow is a unique competition that encourages innovative thinking, teamwork and the development of social innovation ideas that solve the community's most pressing problems. Solve for Tomorrow took place in 68 countries around the world, with 3.3 million beneficiaries. For more details about the competition and the selected projects, visit www.samsung.com/ro/solvefortomorrow.
The final of the 2025-2026 edition was organized with a focus on environmental responsibility. The event integrated sustainable measures: the judging took place digitally, with tablets instead of printed sheets, saving about 1 kg of paper and avoiding about 1.3 kg of CO₂e; PET bottles were replaced by reusable glass bottles, reducing consumption by approximately 5.7 kg of plastic (≈13.6 kg CO₂e); using ceramic plates and stainless steel cutlery for the 140 participants eliminated an additional 5.6 kg of plastic (≈13.4 kg CO₂e). In addition, participants prepared 50 smoothies using a 'smoothie bike', generating energy through pedaling, and the teams were transported to the venue by a shared bus instead of individual car journeys, reducing emissions by around 31 kg of CO₂. Through these initiatives, the competition finale reflected in practice the program's values, which promote innovative solutions for the community and a more sustainable future.
About Junior Achievement (JA) Romania
Junior Achievement (JA) Romania, a non-profit organization, was founded in 1993 and is part of JA Worldwide® USA and JA Europe. In 2025, the organization climbed into the Top 10 NGOs in the world for the seventh time and received its fourth nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. In Romania, JA applied learning programs are followed annually by over 307,000 pupils and students from 1,949 educational institutions and are carried out locally in partnership with the Ministry of Education, educational institutions and the business community. More details: https://www.jaromania.org.
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