28.08.2026

Top 11 teams competed for a prize fund of more than KZT 10 million

On 25 August, the final of the annual nationwide Samsung Solve For Tomorrow 2026 start-up competition was held at alem.ai, the International Centre for Artificial Intelligence. This year, 11 teams of talented school students from across Kazakhstan reached the final, presenting innovative projects designed to address pressing social challenges. The AYALA Charity Foundation was a partner of the competition.

This year marked the sixth edition of Solve For Tomorrow in Kazakhstan. The competition attracted more than 2,800 school students, who submitted 858 unique ideas aimed at addressing today’s challenges. Participants were invited to develop projects that use science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to create effective solutions.

Following a rigorous selection process, 38 teams advanced to the semi-final and travelled to Almaty on 10 June to take part in a mentoring session on design thinking. The knowledge and experience they gained helped the finalists significantly refine and strengthen their projects.

After three months of intensive work, the 11 finalist projects travelled to Astana, where each team presented its idea to the jury and received valuable advice and recommendations following its presentation. The students’ work was assessed by an experienced panel of judges comprising experts from QazInnovations, MedHub HAQ, QAIRU, Astana Hub, Samsung Electronics and other organisations.

After a detailed review of the final projects and the participants’ presentations, the jury selected the three strongest teams:

1. First place and a prize of KZT 4 million went to team MKGA from Nazarbayev Intellectual School of Physics and Mathematics in Aktobe. The young innovators are addressing the limited accessibility of practical IT education for children by offering an affordable and easy-to-use alternative to complex or prohibitively expensive robotics kits. Their solution, OquBot, is a 3D-printed desktop animatronic robot controlled through the intuitive OquBotIDE block-based programming environment.
2. Second place and KZT 2.5 million were awarded to students from Nazarbayev Intellectual School in Kyzylorda. Their project, Endosim, is an affordable endoscopy training simulator that enables students and junior doctors to practise on a realistic model without the need for expensive equipment. EndoSim addresses the high cost of existing endoscopy simulators, which range from KZT 30 million to KZT 54 million, as well as their limited availability, as such equipment is currently concentrated mainly in Astana and Almaty.
3. Third place and KZT 1 million went to the Asian Sharks team from the Daryn specialised boarding school in Karaganda. The students presented SAMRUQ.AI, a hardware and software predictive safety system for underground mines based on IoT, wireless mesh networks and artificial intelligence. The system is designed to prevent underground accidents and save miners’ lives.

In addition to the prize winners, the other eight finalist teams received certificates worth KZT 300,000, which they can use to further develop their projects. Many finalists from previous years have successfully used similar certificates to take their ideas into production.

“For six years, Solve For Tomorrow has been giving young innovators from across Kazakhstan a unique opportunity to make a positive difference in the world. Every year, we receive a large number of applications, enabling school students from every region to gain valuable knowledge and experience in STEM education and the start-up industry. We are confident that the projects presented this year will not only help improve our society, but will also inspire teenagers across Kazakhstan by showing them how ideas that make the world a better place can be brought to life,” said Berik Umarov, Director of the Corporate Marketing Group at Samsung Electronics Central Eurasia.

Going forward, the winners and finalists will receive comprehensive support from Samsung Electronics and partner organisations to help them further develop their projects and progress to the next stage. More information about the project is available on the official Solve For Tomorrow website, solvefortomorrow.kz.