Environmental issues such as water pollution and climate change continue to pose a major threat to humanity. Across the world, a new generation of environmental activists is taking matters in their own hands and using technology to find innovative solutions to unprecedented challenges. The change starts now.
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Find out how Jazmin Florentin and Diego Fernandez are creating solutions to provide clean drinking water to impoverished communities in Paraguay.
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GENERATION CHANGE
CLEAN SOLUTIONS
FOR TOMORROW
Winners of Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow 2020 contest, Jazmin Florentin and Diego Fernandez hope to provide clean drinking water to impoverished communities.
IN THE SPARSELY POPULATED, ARID LANDSCAPE OF CHACO, PARAGUAY, ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER IS A REAL PROBLEM.
At least 5,000 Chaco natives, mostly from indigenous communities, have no access to readily available drinking water, while local pump systems are rife with salt and pollutants that deliver water requiring purification before it's safe for human consumption.
Motivated by the belief that clean water is a fundamental human right, Paraguayan students Diego Fernandez and Jazmin Florentin sought to create solutions to an issue which plagues the impoverished communities in their country.
ACCESS TO CLEAN DRINKING WATER
In 2010, the UN General Assembly explicitly acknowledged that clean water and sanitation were basic human rights.
The World Health Organization estimates that at least 2 billion people globally – a quarter of the world’s population – use contaminated drinking water.
In Paraguay only half of the poorest households have drinkable water, and only 10% of all sewage is treated.
Unsafe water is responsible for over one million deaths per year.
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“We saw the necessity for the community,” says Florentin. “And we thought, 'why do people not have clean water?' This is a basic need. And this was our motivation.”
The pair began working on a solution and soon, with help from Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow contest, they created MBARETICS, a portable, solar-powered water purification system that would provide access to clean water to those who need it.
Through feedback from judges throughout the competition, Florentin and Fernandez were inspired to push forward with their innovation, eventually finding a solution to a problem that is also being researched by prestigious institutions such as MIT.
“Young innovators are seeing that, as part of this contest we can do more, we change our communities,” says Fernandez.
Reframe, Ideate, Realize
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) based contest designed to foster problem solving skills among students, encouraging them to create innovative solutions that can resolve challenges and risks that their communities face. It offers participants the opportunity to work alongside Samsung experts to develop their prototype, and the chance to win an award and the latest Samsung smart devices for their school.
In 2020, MBARETICS won the award for the Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay region. The compact system, designed to desalinate, purify, and carry the clean water, while also addressing energy concerns associated with desalination by using solar power, was emblematic of the kind of products Solve for Tomorrow aims to celebrate.
Solve for Tomorrow nurtures technical aptitude while equipping students with skills including critical and creative thinking, and teaching them the value of collaboration. It shines a light on how innovative minds create solutions to global challenges, focusing on the three primary stages of problem solving:
Reframe
Defining real problems by asking unbiased questions
For Florentin and Fernandez the question was: “There must be a way to provide clean water so that people can drink without having to worry.”
Ideate
Identify the resources you need to refine your ideas for solving problems
The pair then brainstormed methods of ameliorating water sanitation issues, focusing also on the aspects of portability and power.
Realize
The process of improving the maturity of realization through constant trial and refinement
Using STEM knowledge, they developed MBARETICS, a handheld, solar-powered water purification system.
“Samsung is committed to supporting educational opportunities for future generations under our CSR vision, ‘Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People’. A key pillar of that is Solve for Tomorrow, our flagship program that focuses on strengthening students’ competencies for the future by offering mentorship from Samsung employees to support the creative ideas of students. We will continue to empower young people around the world, like those in Paraguay, to find solutions for their local communities, and help them grow in the process.”
EVP Ki-hong Na, Head of Corporate Citizenship Office, Samsung Electronics
Students around the Globe
Since its inception in 2010, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow has expanded to 50 countries worldwide and equipped more than 2 million young people with problem solving skills for the future.
Columbia
In 2020, four grade 11 students wanted a way to reduce Medellin's reliance on fossil fuels, especially coal, and improve its severe air pollution issues.
SOLUTION
Ciscombustible
They created ‘Ciscofuel’, a solution that reduces CO2 by approximately 10% through the creation of a new source of fuel made from coffee briquettes. In addition to improving air quality, the briquettes have the potential to be a new source of income for Colombian coffee farmers and their families.
CLOSE
United Kingdom
Ramneek Kaur Ahluwalia—a visually impaired, 19-year-old student from England—wanted to eliminate stereotypes associated with being visually impaired and update the widely adopted white cane.
SOLUTION
MyVision
Her solution was a tech-forward mobility aid that allows users to navigate their surroundings via AI, LiDAR and GPS technology. The groundbreaking mobile device helps with tasks such as obstacle detection and navigation support, while allowing owners to hide their need for mobility support if they wish.
CLOSE
Singapore
After learning about the impact of the leather industry on the environment,
Wong Sokwei and Ong Kai Lin two students at Singapore’s Republic Polytechnic, decided to find a way to
make a more sustainable leather alternative.
SOLUTION
Suskin
Their solution was to develop a leather-like textile out of food waste. The vegan leather looks and feels like leather, only it's 100% environmentally circular — eliminating harmful pollutants that are produced when raw materials are converted into leather.
CLOSE
A Personal Lesson
When Fernandez first heard about Solve for Tomorrow via a WhatsApp message from his friend, little did he know that the program would help him realize a technological vision that could save lives in his homeland and across the world.
But with the help of Samsung and his partner Florentin, MBARETICS became a reality and the pair developed life skills they can apply to future endeavors.
“Trying my best when I see a problem and doing what I think could help a community… and doing it right now,” says Fernandez, “that’s the personal lesson that I have learned from Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow.”
