Samsung Innovation Awards 2016 Helps Pursue Big Ideas for Young Innovators

Samsung India conducted the 6th annual edition of Samsung Innovation Awards 2016 at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay. Samsung Innovation Awards aim to recognize and reward innovations that have the potential to revolutionize everyday living and enable students to take their ideas to the next level.

The first prize went to the team comprising Shalaka Kulkarni, Umang Chhaparia and Mustafa Lokhandwala. Their work was on road quality measurement, monitoring and mapping solution.

Javed Shaikh won the second prize for proposing new materials to cool electronic equipment. The duo Ritesh Saurabh and Kumar Pratik won the third prize for designing smart trash cans to expedite and optimize garbage collection. The top three winners were given away prizes worth Rs 3.5 lakhs.

The awards were presented by Aloknath De, Chief Technology Officer, Samsung RnD Institute, India - Bangalore.

Samsung Innovation Awards 2016 saw an overwhelming response, with five teams getting an opportunity to present their ideas to the jury comprising. Aloknath De; Debjani Paul and Prof. Swaroop Ganguly, from IIT-Bombay.  The other finalists received merit prizes of INR 40,000. Samsung R&D Institute - Bangalore will engage with the award winners to further develop their innovations.

Speaking on the occasion,  Aloknath De, Chief Technology Officer, Samsung R&D Institute, India - Bangalore, said, “This platform is to encourage students to conceptualize and build innovative solutions in emerging topics of artificial intelligence, convergence, computer vision and sensor-based solutions. It is heartening to see entrepreneurial and multi-disciplinary approach adopted by young innovators. This is very much in line with Samsung India's mission to foster meaningful innovations at every level of research-to-market journey.”

Path-breaking innovations were showcased at the competition. The innovative product ideas and solutions presented were across themes including advanced materials, applications of intelligent solutions in smart spaces/cities and assistive technologies for health.

Prof. Soumyo Mukherji, Dean of Student Affairs, IIT-Bombay, said, “This collaboration between Samsung and IIT-B to identify and encourage young innovators will go a long way towards developing the critically required talent pool in India, which will be invaluable in years to come.”

The 2016 edition of the Samsung Innovation Awards was initiated at IIT-Bombay campus three months ago, through an open entry, where students submitted their innovative ideas. The shortlisting process was led by professors from IIT-Bombay and the SRI-B team, which also selected the finalists. The final teams presented their ideas to the jury at the IIT-Bombay campus. The winning project was selected based on the degree of innovation, feasibility, usability, relevance and overall impact on masses.

Conceptualised in 2011, the Samsung Innovation Awards seek to support and encourage young talent who have an innovative approach and look to improvise different systems and processes. Further, it aims to develop indigenous products and services for fulfilling mass needs thereby transforming lives and creating sustainable solutions for the benefit of the society at large.

Over the years, Samsung Innovation Awards have become one of the most eagerly awaited ideation contests at IIT’s due to enthusiastic participation from the student community. Samsung continues to provide the next generation of Indian innovators and entrepreneurs an avenue to showcase and advance their engineering skill sets.