Samsung Wants Serbia's Youth to ‘Be Like Tesla’

In celebration of the 160 birthday of one of our all time favorite inventors and all around geeks, Nikola Tesla, Samsung launched a new initiative aimed at getting Serbia's youth interested in science and technology. The ‘Be Like Tesla’ project as it is dubbed incorporates multiple program elements designed to raise appreciation for Tesla as well as instill a passion for innovation among Serbian students.

Samsung Electronics Adria (SEAD) in cooperation with the Museum of Nikola Tesla in Belgrade, as well as the Institute for Educational Quality and Evaluation, recently organized the ‘Be Like Tesla’ project which first kicked off at the end of 2015 with the ‘Be Like Tesla’ caravan. A team of representatives from the supporting organizations along with popular young Serbian actor Biojan Dimitrijevic, who playing the part of Nikola Tesla, toured 17 cities across Serbia over a one-month period. The caravan housed interactive lectures for students utilizing the technology tools of the Samsung Digital Classroom.

The lecture and demonstrations were used to teach the children about the life and achievements of Tesla. In total, over 3,000 students visited the caravan during its tour throughout Serbia. In addition, a demo of the Samsung Digital Classroom was also organized at Kalmegdan featuring exhibits from the Museum of Nikola Tesla leveraging Samsung VR and other technology.

In 2016, the ‘Be Like Tesla’ project included a national competition for Serbian primary school students during May and June. Students were tasked to develop an invention inspired by the works of Nikola Tesla with about 150 schools from across Serbia taking part in the competition.

On July 10, the 160th birthday of Nikola Tesla, more than 5,000 people gathered at Kalmegdan to celebrate the winner of the national school competition. For the grand prize, primary school Mihajlo Pupin from Zemun, Belgrade was awarded for its project “Carousel.” The project featured operation of a toy carousel with a smartphone and sound recognition technology, leveraging wireless data transmission, one of Nikola Tesla’s inventions. As an award, the school and students received a fully-equipped Samsung Digital Classroom.

Following announcement of the winners, a Samsung representative also announced a three-year plan for continuing cooperation with the Museum of Nikola Tesla to further raise interest in science among Serbia’s youth leveraging the latest technology.

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