QCOSTARICA — The five students from the Colegio Técnico Profesional de Atenas de Costa Rica were crowned champions of the 2024 edition of the Samsung ‘Solve for Tomorrow’ educational program, with their smart beehive project.
This is the third regional championship won by the Costa Ricans, who were also winners in 2020 and 2022.
At an awards ceremony held at the emblematic National Palace of Guatemala, the members of the three finalist teams, Costa Rica, Belize and Panama, representatives of the public and educational institutions and the media, met, and the winners of the Virtual Community and Samsung Community categories were also announced, which went to Ecuador and the Dominican Republic, respectively.
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In this new edition of the Samsung Educational Program, which has been running in the region since 2014, the registered projects reflected a broad social vocation and a connection with the reality of their communities. Students Valentina González Rodríguez, Dayanan Carvajal León, Alina Álvarez Guzmán, Constanza Camacho Herrera, Sofia Hernández Sequeira, along with teacher Yamil Vega Díaz, presented their Apyphore project, an intelligent hive divided into two sections, one for the bees’ habitat and another for the automated and noninvasive extraction of apitoxin (poison secreted by workers) through electrostatic shocks. It includes sensors and cameras for monitoring, which provide real-time data to ensure the well-being of bees and facilitate remote management by beekeepers, which promotes the sustainability and conservation of these insects.
The jury of the program, made up of professionals from the educational and social sectors, awarded the effort, creativity, work and originality of this technological solution to a local problem. The evaluation criteria focused on the innovation and transversal impact of the proposals, as well as on the teamwork and management of each of the members of the finalist teams.
A lot of learning: the greatest achievement of the winners
Amid the excitement of knowing that they were champions of the 2024 edition of SFT, the members of the Costa Rican team shared words of gratitude for this title that they proudly take back to their country, while also feeling like winners of the significant learning they received during the course of the program.
The young Constanza Camacho, Dayana Carvajal, Alina Álvarez, Sofía Hernández and Valentina González, and Professor Yamil Vega agreed on this final assessment. For Dayana Carvajal, the experience was very productive. “I was able to develop new skills and learn a lot. Thanks to the support of all the people who trained us. That’s why we got first place.” Her teammate, Alina Álvarez, also expressed her satisfaction and sent a message to the youth of the region. “I recommend that students be encouraged to participate since it is a unique experience,” she said. And the important role of tutor, Professor Vega, was emphatic in pointing out the importance of the training his students received: “SFT trains students in many skills, enhances their capabilities and empowers them to defend their projects.”
11 years of growth and innovation
During the opening remarks of the event, María Fernanda Hernández, Corporate Citizenship Manager at Samsung, thanked the joint effort of all the organizations allied to the Solve for Tomorrow program, whose work has made it possible for this educational program to grow exponentially since its launch in 2014. “After the pandemic, this program expanded its scope and this year we had 12,800 students from 11 countries in the region that includes all of Central America, the Caribbean, Ecuador and Venezuela as participants.”
The emblematic and imposing National Palace of Guatemala, a historical monument of incalculable value for the national culture of this country, was a special setting for the young members of the three finalist teams to share the spotlight in front of the attendees. There they presented their projects and defended them in a summarized manner based on their importance, viability, theoretical support, beneficiaries, interest and relevance.
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The Belize and Panama teams also received praise and congratulations for their technological proposals. Students Katherine Portillo, Ayssa Escobar, Christian Gibson, Aiden Aguilar, Adoabi Thomas, and Professor Ardeth Rudon, who represented Belize, designed a device to translate signals and movements in people who have suffered a stroke. The Panama team’s project, made up of Juan Montenegro Valdez, Angel Sebastian Rios Calvo, Alcibiades Nuñez Ibarra, Eyfran, Marlon Quintero Moreira and Professor Rafael A. Montenegro, who also stood out as a finalist, consists of a modular system programmed for the detection and removal of dead cables in power lines.
The judging panel was made up of professionals with knowledge and qualified experience in the academic, scientific, technological, business and management areas: Chris Martínez, who represented the Glasswing International organization; José Luis Olá, from the InterNaciones University (Guatemala); Monserrat Vidal, from UNESCO; Julio Zelaya, from the company Powerbites; Claudia Cifuentes, from the company ESI Latam; Rocío Pinto, CEO of Multiverse; and on behalf of Samsung Electronics, María Fernanda Hernández, Corporate Citizenship Manager for the company in the Central America, Caribbean, Ecuador and Venezuela region.
After the emotional presentation of the awards to the champion team and the other two finalist teams, Hernández greeted and gave special thanks to the large community of students from the 11 countries who responded to Samsung’s invitation to participate in SFT 2024 and who raised the motivation of the organizers and the institutions, both governmental and private, who participated as allies: there were 12,821 students and teachers, which meant an increase of 45% in the number of participants compared to the results of the SFT program in 2023.
This year, which corresponded to the 11th edition of this activity at the regional level, students and teachers from Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela participated.
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The Solve for Tomorrow educational program is one of Samsung Electronics’ educational initiatives, which expresses its Corporate Citizenship philosophy and is implemented in 20 Latin American countries. In addition to this region, it has projections in countries on the other four continents.
Source: Revista Summa
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