CHENNAI – After intense training sessions and pitching by Top 50 contesting teams, Samsung India today announced the Top 10 teams of the inaugural edition of its national education and innovation competition, ‘Solve for Tomorrow’, that celebrates the spirit of innovation, enterprise and social responsibility amongst India’s Gen Z.
A three-day Design Thinking Bootcamp and pitch event was conducted by FITT and Samsung at the IIT Delhi campus. A total of 118 participants attended the camp and made their pitches to a Samsung jury.
The Samsung jury picked the Top 10 teams that came up with the best ideas in the areas of environmental conservation, making healthcare more accessible to the less privileged, menstrual hygiene for rural women and stress management.
Solve for Tomorrow, a CSR initiative of Samsung, had invited applications from 16-22 year-olds in India to apply for this innovation competition to promote a culture of innovation amongst youth, and support ideas that will transform the lives of people and communities. A record 18,000 plus registrations were received in the inaugural edition.
The top 10 teams will now hone their skills further through engagements with Samsung and its knowledge partner FITT, IIT Delhi, improve their ideas, create prototypes, and pitch to an eminent jury at a Grand Finale in New Delhi scheduled for November. These 10 teams will also feature in a TV series that will be produced by the Network18 Group and be telecast on their national channels and OTT platform Voot through October and November.
For the top three winning teams, Samsung will offer a total of up to INR 1 crore in grants, getting them one step closer to turning their ideas into their dream startups that can help address India’s key concerns in the areas of Agriculture, Education, Environment, and Healthcare.
“We are absolutely delighted to see a variety of transformational ideas from these young participants. What warms our heart more is that they come from diverse backgrounds and from every nook and corner of India. A silent revolution is taking place in India today with the rise of an innovation ecosystem, and Gen Z is at the forefront of it. Solve for Tomorrow, our flagship CSR program, will continue to mentor and support young minds who are trying to transform the lives of people around them,” said Mr. Partha Ghosh, Head, CSR, Samsung India.
“A platform like Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow is a stepping stone in building a community of young innovators. The innovation ecosystem in India requires a major push and Solve for Tomorrow is just that platform. Indian youth has the capability and the intent to enable change and we are certain that together with Samsung, we will be able to drive that change for the betterment of society,” said Prof. Rangan Banerjee, Director, IIT Delhi.
Here are the top 10 finalists:
Backyard Creators – The identical twins from Tamil Nadu – Raman R and Lakshmanan R – are developing a non-surgical adhesive hearing device that is cheaper than traditional hearing aid implants and eliminates the need for risky skull surgery. The device is suitable for all ages, does not have any restrictions even for children, and offers speech capabilities post-therapy.
Udaan – An all-girls team – of Prisha Dubey, Anupriya Nayak, and Vanalika Konwar – want to help underprivileged women with their menstrual health. Present-day sanitary pads are both expensive and non-biodegradable. The trio is developing eco-friendly, affordable, and washable sanitary pads using shredded sugarcane bagasse.
Alpha Monitor – Hemesh Chadalavada from Telangana has developed a smart wristband to monitor Alzheimer’s patients and alert their caregivers about changes in their behavior. Himesh’s grandmother was also an Alzheimer’s patient. The device monitors the patient’s health parameters such as pulse and blood pressure. A caregiver and doctor are automatically alerted if the patient gets out of bed and starts wandering.
Able Innovation – The team of Pratik Raghuwanshi and Aryan Thosariwal from Maharashtra has developed a smart aid solution for deaf, mute, and blind individuals called Able Glasses that will help them communicate better with people around them. With the help of patented Bone Conduction Transducer technology, these glasses enable the deaf to hear sound. The built-in camera sensor and speaker will speak for the deaf and mute. Combining it with image processing and AI and machine learning will help the blind to visualize their surroundings.
Sputnik Brain – Shankar Srinivasan from Karnataka is developing a wearable device that helps reduce stress. He is productizing pleasure through safe brain modulation to tackle the global issue of fatal stress and fulfilling the unmet need for a chemical & adverse-effect free tech. His safe brain modulation wearable device for mental health transmits waves within the FDA’s limit of frequency, intensity, and Pulse Repetition Period to mood centers in the brain.
Planeteers – The team of three young women – Riya P Dey, Nikita Pathak, and Akshita Gaba – from Uttar Pradesh is building an autonomous underwater vehicle called Aquarius that is capable of detecting micro-nano plastics inside deep ocean beds and collecting them in an accumulator.
CAD – Rushil Saraswat from Rajasthan is working on an affordable and portable device that can monitor the ECG of a person on the go. It gives a live update through a smartphone app and can even call an ambulance and some contacts if it detects the extreme condition of cardiac arrhythmia.
Biopatch – Hritik Jaiswal and Animesh Kumar from Delhi are developing a patch that one can wear on his or her shoulder or belly to track blood glucose trends and avoid diabetic complications. Their prototype has been tested by endocrinologists.
SVAR – The team of Tejas Kumar, Syed Mohd. Husain and Ujjwal Mathur from Delhi has developed a machine learning embedded mobile app that automates and personalizes speech therapy. The app, which is available in regional languages as well, offers a virtual speech therapist 24×7 at an affordable price. In the app, children who pronounce words correctly are rewarded with points, motivating them to work hard to enhance their speech.
JNV Fbd Maan – The team of Ajay, Akshaya, and Tarun from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Faridabad is developing a wheelchair that can convert into a crutch using automation. This can be used by the differently-abled or anyone who is injured to be self-reliant, reducing their dependence on caregivers.
At the end of the boot camp, each of the top 50 team members were awarded a certificate of participation. They also received vouchers worth INR 1 lakh for online courses in design thinking, STEM, innovation, and leadership, among others.
Over the next six weeks, the top 10 finalist teams will work with mentors from Samsung and IIT Delhi to fine-tune their ideas and build a prototype that they will showcase at the finale pitch event. They will also visit Samsung India’s headquarters in Gurugram and its R&D centers in Bengaluru and Noida where they will interact with young Samsung employees and researchers. They will also experience the Samsung product ecosystem at the iconic Samsung Opera House in Bengaluru.
The top 10 teams will be given Samsung hampers, which will include exciting Samsung products.
The top three winning teams will get a total of INR 1 crore in grants. In addition, winning teams will also get an 85-inch Samsung Flip interactive digital board each for their respective schools and colleges.
With the grant, winners will get the opportunity to work with mentors from IIT Delhi for 6 months and get access to an incubation center at the IIT Delhi campus. During these 6 months, they will work on their ideas and take them to the stage where they can seek consumer validation for their prototypes.
Samsung India announced the launch of the inaugural edition of Solve for Tomorrow in June 2022.
For more information, log on to – www.samsung.com/in/solvefortomorrow
