Students gain inspiration, skills in technology contest

Yang Weixin, a junior from Ludong University in East China's Shandong province, said he learned much from taking part in the 2015 Solve for Tomorrow contest and especially improved his manual dexterity.

The 20-year-old and two of his classmates finished in third place in the final of the wind power utilization segment in Beijing on Nov 27. Teams in the final were required to use only wind power to make a loaded device move. The device that carried the heaviest load and moved the fastest won.

The Solve for Tomorrow National Youth Scientific Innovation and Experiment Contest, sponsored by Samsung Electronics, aims to inspire high school and college students across China to participate in scientific and technological activities and become more capable of innovating, the contest's organizing committee said.

Yang said he would share his experience with his school friends who also took part in the contest sections but failed to make it through to the finals. He may not have time to take part in next year's contest as he expects to be busy studying, but said he hopes his schoolmates will succeed in his place.

Ni Guangnan, a professor at the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said, "We are positive about a contest like Solve for Tomorrow and hope more competitions like this will be hosted."

Ni has been the chief expert of the event since it began in 2013.

Ni said participating in such competitions is different from attending classes, sitting exams or doing homework. It is "a process of solving practical problems", he said, and can "better test knowledge acquisition".

He said the contest would inspire participants to pursue scientific and technological accomplishments.

Contestants gain a sense of achievement if their work is awarded, Ni said. They realize through the contest that they can make contributions to society by applying their scientific and technological knowledge.

Ni said he hopes the students display a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship, which has long been advocated by the Chinese government. "It is necessary for them to notice what industries demand and, more pertinently, to acquire knowledge," Ni said.

Ni Yaoqing, a graduate student at the Harbin Institute of Technology, was a member of the winning college team in the creative work segment of the contest. He said his team's work, a wheelchair that can be accurately steered by brainwaves and slight head movements, is market-oriented and has already attracted investors.

According to the organizing committee, the potential for commercialization is among the criteria of the creative work segment final.

Ni Yaoqing said he chose to take part in the contest because he wanted to understand current innovation trends and learn from other scientific and technological innovators.

"Another creative work in the final that can assist in the medical treatment of elderly people enlightened us," he said, adding that it made him realize wheelchairs could also support medical treatment if related information was collected.

He said his experience in the contest made him decide to continue his scientific and technological studies and he will probably apply to participate in the contest again.

Winning teams, including Ni Yaoqing's, visited Suwon in South Korea, where the Samsung Electronics' headquarters is located. Other prizes were Samsung smartphones and televisions.

Samsung Electronics said sponsoring the contest shows that the company pays attention to the scientific growth of young people and the development of science and technology.

Samsung Electronics, as a responsible corporate citizen, is pleased to share its leading scientific and technological resources and help develop young people's interest in science and innovation, according to the company.

More than 7,000 teams comprised of nearly 30,000 students applied to take part in the contest. The competition also included a smart transport segment, where contestants used mobile phones to remotely control devices, and a segment with the theme of safety protection.

Ni Guangnan said Samsung Electronics did a great job in organizing the contest in China and hopes it will continue to fulfill its social responsibilities.

Samsung Electronics also started the Solve for Tomorrow Campus Forum in 2014. The event consists of keynote speeches by professionals in scientific and technological fields and hands-on experience with high-tech products. Samsung Electronics said the forum offers opportunities to meet and communicate with scientific and technological heavyweights. The event is designed to not only broaden students' horizons, but also to help develop their spirit of exploration, innovation and change.

On May 29, Ni Guangnan delivered a speech at Xidian University in Northwest China's Shaanxi province on developing controllable mobile operating systems designed by Chinese. He said he hoped more students could help build an ecosystem for such systems.

Access to high-tech products showcased at the forum is intended to arouse students' interest in science and spur them to pay more attention to scientific and technological developments.

Samsung Electronics also launched an online competition this year to encourage netizens to film and upload novel scientific experiments. It aims to spread scientific and technological knowledge and arouse the public's interest in science.

The multinational company has diversified business areas, including the manufacturing of televisions, smartphones, wearable devices, cameras, medical equipment and semiconductors. It has made achievements in the field of the Internet of Things, especially digital medical treatment and home automation, according to the company.

Samsung Electronics has about 319,000 employees in 84 countries.