Spotlighting young Filipino innovators shaping real-world change
Samsung Philippines has named the top student teams for its 2025 Solve for Tomorrow competition, marking the program’s 15th anniversary globally and its third year in the country. The initiative, supported by DepEd, challenges public science high school students to build technology-driven solutions for community issues — from sustainability to automation and AI-assisted tools.
Mangrove health tech takes the grand prize
Cavite Science Integrated School emerged as the overall champion with “Mangrove Health Monitor (MaHeMo),” a solar-powered water-quality buoy designed to track key ecosystem indicators such as salinity, turbidity, pH, temperature, and dissolved oxygen. The floating system automates environmental monitoring — a challenge often limited by manual field work and inconsistent sampling.
The team — Elisha Lhane Althea Ramos, Harly P. Bautista, Jhacis Miguel Causapin, Eileen Cassandra S. Datu, and adviser Jeremae V. Varias — takes home:
- ₱500,000 worth of Samsung devices for their school
- ₱250,000 worth of devices for the team and adviser
- ₱100,000 cash for the student members
- ₱30,000 cash for the adviser
AI-assisted egg analysis claims second place
Another Cavite Science Integrated School group secured second prize with “EGGNovation,” a conveyor-based egg sorting system paired with image recognition to gauge freshness and automatically classify produce. The project targets agricultural productivity, workforce limitations, and quality control.
They will receive ₱300,000 worth of Samsung devices for their school, ₱250,000 worth of devices for the team and adviser, plus ₱70,000 cash for the students and ₱25,000 for the adviser.
Solar pest-control tech earns third
Third place went to Tuguegarao City Science High School for “BANTALAY,” a solar-powered UV light trap that adjusts intensity based on humidity levels. The solution aims to reduce pesticide dependency and support sustainable farming.
Their prize package includes ₱200,000 worth of school devices, ₱250,000 worth of gadgets for the team, ₱50,000 cash for the students, and ₱15,000 for their adviser.
A pipeline of youth innovations
The remainder of the top 10 finalists take home ₱15,000 for their teams and ₱5,000 for teachers, representing projects spanning disaster response, renewable materials, agri-forecasting, and wearable health monitoring:
- FloodSafe Routes AI – Philippine Science High School Caraga
- SINAG – Bansud NHS Regional Science High School
- The S.W.E.A.T. Project – Philippine Science High School Main Campus
- S.A.G.I.P. – Cavite Science Integrated School
- ShellTer – Philippine Science High School Central Luzon
- Plasfix – Pasay City Science High School
- VITALBAND – Marikina Science High School
A decade-and-a-half of nurturing builders
Solve for Tomorrow began in 2010 as an essay contest; today, it functions as Samsung’s youth innovation lab — combining mentorship, problem-solving frameworks, and opportunity pipelines for emerging talent. The Philippines edition focuses on:
- Environmental sustainability
- Community-centered technology and social impact
- AI-driven solutions
Over 300 entries were evaluated this cycle, narrowing to 10, and ultimately three grand winners.
Roman Han, President of Samsung Philippines, framed the program as a community-building effort:
“We believe our success is inseparable from the progress of the communities we serve. Solve for Tomorrow embodies this belief by empowering the next generation of heroes in our own local communities nationwide.”
He emphasized Samsung’s continued commitment to supporting youth builders under its “Together for Tomorrow: Enabling People” vision.
